Bill T. Jones's Lincoln tribute is well-timed

When choreographer Bill T. Jones was growing up in the South, a self-described "child of potato pickers" in a family of 14, there was a picture in his house that he says was considered "sacred." Painted on black velvet were four key historical figures: John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Abraham Lincoln, one of young Bill's childhood heroes.

The spirit of Lincoln pervades Jones's new "Another Evening: Serenade/The Proposition," which gets its Boston premiere with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company at the Institute of Contemporary Art next month. The towering figure of the 16th president never actually appears in the hourlong work, but his momentous legacy drives a sprawling exploration of the nature of history, identity, and dislocation.

"Yes, he was an important part of freeing 3.5 million people, taking them out of slavery, a man of his time," Jones says by phone, "but he also had this fierce belief in our Constitution and was a great student of enlightenment thinkers. He had a genius for moral thought. He had this notion that there was something called right, and he had a ferocious hunger for learning. That's a legacy I can buy into."

"Serenade/The Proposition" is the initial segment of a larger project honoring the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth for the 2009 Ravinia Festival. Premiered in July at the American Dance Festival in Durham, N.C., the work sets sweeping, lyrical movement against video by company associate artistic director Janet Wong that ranges from impressionistic, fractured cityscapes to flames that crawl up the sides of set designer Bjorn Amelan's movable columns.

But the tone is most clearly set by the sound score, grounded in traditional songs as well as original music composed and performed by cellist Christopher Antonio William Lancaster, vocalist Lisa Komara, and keyboardist Jerome Begin. Sung and spoken text is derived from writings of the period, including sections of Lincoln's 1865 inaugural address and lyrics from "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," and it references the terror and trials of war, the necessity of freedom, and the power of community. Taped ruminations by Jones and company members reflect on personal identity and history. One recurring phrase eloquently defines the work's shifting perspective: "It could be said that history is the distance between that man and me."

Jones revels in turning his artistry to such provocative contexts. That and "luck tempered with stubbornness," he says, may partly account for how he has become one of the most celebrated modern dancer/choreographers in the world, winner of numerous awards and a MacArthur "genius" grant. Though his works are replete with striking beauty and emotional power, he has made his mark with dances that rankle and push, ask questions, and often get to the very heart of who we are as human beings. "Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The Promised Land" addressed racism and spirituality. "Blind Date" questioned what Jones calls the "toxic certainty" of unquestioning patriotism. The controversial "Still/Here," which prompted a charge of "victim art" by the New Yorker's Arlene Croce, dealt with AIDS and mortality. Last year's "Chapel/Chapter" plumbed court transcripts and jailhouse interviews for an examination of how our culture deals with violence.

This visit marks the 25th anniversary of Jones's company and a quarter century in which he has been coming to Boston. His troupe is returning to the ICA, where it presented "Chapel/Chapter."

"I think he's brilliant," says ICA director of programs David Henry. "The innovation and creative spirit he brings to choreography reach far beyond the bounds of dance."

Oct. 24-26. 617-478-3103, www.icaboston.org