We respect the past and the 75 years of combined knowledge and expertise that New York Live Arts is founded on, and we are wild about the future.
— Bill T. Jones

New York Live Arts strives to create a robust framework in support of the nation's dance and movement-based artists through new approaches to producing, presenting and educating. In addition to our deep commitment to individual artists at all stages of their careers, we endeavor to create rich, meaningful experiences for our audiences by engaging them in ways that are intimate and thought-provoking. With our audience, we seek to become a place for dance that is vital to the fabric of social and cultural life in New York, America and beyond.

Formed in February 2011 by a merger of Dance Theater Workshop and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, New York Live Arts is a re-imagining of the legacies of these two extraordinary organizations. New York Live Arts is located at 219 West 19th Street in New York City and is led by Bill T. Jones as Executive Artistic Director, Carla Peterson as Artistic Director, and Jean Davidson as Executive Director and CEO.

Now in its 29th year, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company has shaped the evolution of contemporary dance through the creation and performance of over 140 works. Founded as a multicultural dance company in 1982, the Company was born of an 11-year artistic collaboration between Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane (1948–1988). During this time, they redefined the duet form and foreshadowed issues of identity, form and social commentary that would change the face of American dance. Today, the Company has performed worldwide in over 200 cities in 40 countries on every major continent and is recognized as one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the modern dance world. Some of the celebrated creations from the Company’s repertoire include Intuitive Momentum (1983), D-Man in the Waters (1989), Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin/The Promised Land (1990), Last Night on Earth (1992), Still/Here (1994), We Set Out Early... Visibility Was Poor (1996), The Breathing Show (1999), Reading, Mercy and the Artificial Nigger (2003), As I Was Saying... (2005), Blind Date (2005), Chapel/Chapter (2006) and Fondly Do We Hope … Fervently Do We Pray (2009).

Founded as an artist collective by Art Bauman, Jeff Duncan and Jack Moore in 1965 Dance Theater Workshop was a stalwart supporter of over 2,500 artists and companies. Under the artistic and executive leadership of David R. White (from 1975 - 2003), Dance Theater Workshop was one of the few organizations in New York that provided direct support to artists through commissions and performance fees, international research and travel subsidies, rehearsal space and rental subsidies and touring support. With a record of over 45 years of innovation and service, Dance Theater Workshop furthered the development of dance and performance through original programming that addressed the ever-shifting needs of artists and audience members alike. Among the hundreds of other visionaries who found an early artistic home at Dance Theater Workshop are artists such as Johanna Boyce, Ronald K. Brown, Donald Byrd, Ann Carlson, H.T. Chen, Tina Croll, David Dorfman, Molissa Fenley, Whoopi Goldberg, David Gordon, Bill Irwin, John Jasperse, Bill T. Jones, Keely Garfield, Ralph Lemon, Susan Marshall, Bebe Miller, Mark Morris, Michael Moschen, David Neumann, Tere O’Connor, Pepón Osorio, Annie B Parson and Paul Lazar, David Parsons, Stephen Petronio, Lenny Pickett, Susan Rethorst, Stephanie Skura, Merián Soto and Reggie Wilson.