The historiography and legacy of the Abraham Lincoln phenomenon is at the heart of Bill T. Jones' latest work, "Fondly Do We Hope ... Fervently Do We Pray," which his company performs at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts beginning Thursday. More than two years in the making, the work is a commission, by Illinois' Ravinia Festival for the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, but it's also a project that has grown close to Jones' heart.Q: You've talked about the struggle between the vision of Lincoln you had as a 5-year-old versus that of your older, more cynical self. How did that factor into "Fondly"?
A: Initially, I thought the approach was going to be prosecutorial, to challenge the theory of history. Let's challenge this great man, whom modern scholarship has revealed to be definitely just a man of his era and a politician to boot. I thought it was going to be about finding the person that I loved as a child, through what I now know about him as a man. And I found ultimately - after reading and working and thinking quite a bit - that he deserves my respect and, I would say in a more emotional way, he deserves my heart.
Read more on the SF Chronicle website.
Photo: Todd Heisler / NYT
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