Lincoln Center and Buglisi Dance Theatre present “Table of Silence Project 9/11”
On Monday, September 11, 2023 at 8:05 a.m., Buglisi Dance Theatre and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts present an in-person and livestreamed performance of the Table of Silence Project 9/11, an annual free public performance ritual and call to action for peace conceived and choreographed in 2011 by Jacqulyn Buglisi, Artistic Director of Buglisi Dance Theatre.
Artistic collaborators for this year’s program include Buglisi Dance Theatre Co-Founder/Conductor/Principal Dancer Terese Capucilli, Principal Dancer Virginie Mécène, Composer/Violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain, Conch/Flute John Ragusa, Sopranos Ximena Borges and Carla López-Speziale, Film/Livestream Producer Nel Shelby and Nel Shelby Productions, and 150+ peace warriors.
“Together, through a timeless universal language of the body, we transcend all boundaries, recognizing the imperative for human connection and the miracle that is human existence,” says Jacqulyn Buglisi, Artistic Director of Buglisi Dance Theatre.
The company will present the evolution of the original full-scale version of the work. To the sound of the conch shell’s Call to Action for Peace, a multitude of more than 150 dancers ascend onto the Josie Robertson Plaza at Lincoln Center creating improvisational stories of grief and hope. Following a prologue on electric violin, the plaintive strains of the flute, heartbeat of bass drums, trumpet, bells, and the cries of a chorus, the dancers form patterns of three concentric circles around the iconic Revson Fountain to create an ancient Peace Labyrinth while repeating twelve symbolic ritualistic gestures.
Conceived and choreographed by Jacqulyn Buglisi in 2011 as a multi-cultural performance ritual for peace to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Table of Silence Project 9/11 aims to bridge boundaries in a shared experience for compassion and unity. During the pandemic, the project was reimagined with both virtual and in-person elements. Now in its thirteenth year, the work continues to evolve as a healing ritual, relevant to the present-day issues facing humanity, inclusive of environmental and social justice, and freedom for all people suffering from systemic oppressions.
“We are proud to present this stunning work, and hope it provides an opportunity for New Yorkers and viewers around the world to honor those lost,” said Shanta Thake, Chief Artistic Officer of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. “The arts are pivotal to finding community, solace, and collective understanding as we move forward. We’re honored to present this project year after year with Buglisi Dance Theatre.”
Table of Silence Project 9/11is presented by Lincoln Center in partnership with Buglisi Dance Theatre as a project of the Arnhold Dance Innovation Fund. Through community partnerships with Dance/NYC, Chelsea Factory, The Juilliard School, Gibney Dance Center, Martha Graham Center, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Paul Taylor, Steps on Broadway, among others, the performance ritual is streamed live around the world, reaching international viewership to date by over 4.4 million people, and growing in all 50 states and 235 countries/territories.
“All this is possible through the visionary leadership of Jody and John Arnhold, whose vision for dance and dance education reaches into the soul of humanity and allows the message for healing and peace to be heard and seen around the world,” says Jacqulyn Buglisi, Artistic Director of Buglisi Dance Theatre.
Jacqulyn Buglisi is honored to have received the 2022 Juilliard President’s Medal presented by President Damian Woetzel, citing her vision and leadership as a “shining model of citizen artistry” in creating the Table of Silence Project; a 2020 Bessie Award; and NYS Gubernatorial and NYC Mayoral Proclamations for uniting the community through the art of dance. The work is universal and allows access through its TOS Technique and BDT’s Meditation Variations. The Table of Silence Project is commissioned and performed beyond Lincoln Center in universities, churches, and museums, and is being archived in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and preserved in a Labanotation score by the Dance Notation Bureau.