Bill began dancing and choreographing during the mid 1970's. The United States was at the tail end of the Vietnam War, and the protests and peace movements were running full force. People had a strong sense of political activism and were practicing their freedom of speech by opposing the war and the nuclear weapons being used. The end of the war also saw a large influx of people seeking political asylum arrive in the United States from southeast Asia The 1970's also played host to changes in the ongoing civil rights movement. Segregation versus integration between blacks and whites was prominently featured in daily life, an issue which was surely very important to Bill. The peaceful protest ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and the idea of Black Power from Malcolm X were still ringing in the ears of African Americans everywhere.

Bill's choreography often times speaks of the want and need of freedom. What is freedom? Why do we seek it so adamantly? In the early 2000's, Bill explored these concepts through three different pieces about Abraham Lincoln: Serenade/The Preposition, Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/ The Promised Land, and Fondly Do We Hope, Fervently Do We Pray. He says that growing up, Abraham Lincoln was one of the few white men he was allowed to love unconditionally.

Through the 1980's Bill and Arnie's choreography began to gain momentum as their works became increasingly successful. The homosexual, interracial couple were very proud and open about their sexuality and love for each other. They were very much a symbol for both racial and sexual equality.

The 1980's also saw the beginning of the AIDS crisis. The disease first made itself known by largely affecting the gay community. Young, otherwise healthy gay men were being attacked by rare cancers and infections, and it became known that it was both deadly and contagious. A wave of prejudice chased those who contracted the disease, as it was mainly found in homosexuals and intravenous drug users.

Arnie and Bill were no more immune to the epidemic than anyone else, and they both contracted the AIDS virus. On March 30, 1988 Arnie Zane passed away due to AIDS related causes. Bill survived. Dealing with the fear his disease caused in others and the survivors guilt felt from Arnie's passing, the evening length work Still/Here was created in 1997. 

As I am writing this blog, I realize that tomorrow will mark 24 years since the death of Arnie Zane. I'm sure that even after all of these years, tomorrow will be a somber day for Bill T. Jones.