THPAC 50th Anniversary — Jason Herbert: Lillian’s Blues Never Left
In 2014, Jason Herbert presented his first public paid choreographic commission, Lillian’s Blues, at Souls of Our Feet: People of Color Dance Festival, presented by Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center at the Mark O’Donnell Theater at the Entertainment Community Fund Arts Center. The expressive dance-theatre duet explored the complicated relationship between a mother and daughter—moving through regret, confusion, self-exploration, and ultimately, connection.
Performed by Alexis Johnson and Whitney Brown, the work juxtaposed two distinct yet interconnected female perspectives. Walter Rutledge of Out and About Magazine described Lillian’s Blues as “a mother’s lament of her amazing regret,” noting Herbert’s effective contrast between Johnson’s earthy quality and Brown’s spitfire, “kamikaze” attack.
Twelve years later, Herbert returns to Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center for its 50th Anniversary season with the sequel, Lillian’s Blues Never Left.
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Saturday, September 19, 2026
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Location: The Mark O’Donnell Theater at the Entertainment Community Fund Arts Center
160 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11201
The new work revisits the emotional terrain of the original while asking what happens when the daughter becomes the mother.
Now a single mother herself, the once-young girl is caught between heartbreak and an enduring, complicated love for her daughter’s father. At the same time, she finds herself confronting an artistic past she has tried to leave behind—only to discover that it has followed her into motherhood and is now emerging through her own daughter.
Lillian’s Blues Never Left examines inheritance beyond blood: the emotional patterns we carry, the dreams we abandon, the identities we suppress, and the parts of ourselves that inevitably find their way into the next generation.
For Herbert, the work represents more than a sequel. It is a return—to a story, to a choreographic lineage, and to the institution that helped launch his career as a choreographer. Twelve years after Lillian’s Blues first entered the world at THPAC, Lillian’s Blues Never Left asks what remains, what changes, and what refuses to leave us behind.
Experience the work live. Celebrate 50 years of THPAC. Be part of the next chapter.
Tickets are on sale now. Reserve your seat and join us for this historic anniversary celebration by clicking HERE.