The 2017 Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2017, the first programmed exclusively by new Director Pamela Tatge, is full of exciting programming featuring world premieres, commissions, site-specific work, International Artists, live music, and Pillow-exclusive engagements, all to celebrate a momentous 85th Anniversary Season. Running June 21-August 27, Festival 2017 includes more than 200 free events, performances, exhibits, and talks, as well as many new offerings and initiatives launched under Tatge's leadership. In keeping with the Jacob's Pillow mission to engage and educate the community through the depth and breadth of dance, the genres and styles presented as part of the 85th Anniversary Season are far-reaching and inclusive, encompassing modern, contemporary, ballet, hip-hop, improvisation, flex, tap dance, step, Brazilian social dance, dance theater, traditional Native American, Bharatanatyam, musical theater dance, classical Cambodian, Latin ballroom, capoeira, and traditional Korean movement styles.
Highlights of the 85th Anniversary Season include the Pillow-exclusive engagement TIRELESS: A Tap Dance Experience Curated by Michelle Dorrance with artists Reona and Takashi Seo of Japan, Jumaane Taylorof Chicago, Joe Orrach of San Francisco, and Joseph and Josette Wiggan of Los Angeles; a new site-specific work by the world-renowned Pilobolus commissioned for the open-air Inside/Out stage; the world premiere of The Principles of Uncertainty, a collaboration between modern dance artist John Heginbotham and acclaimed author and illustrator Maira Kalman; the U.S. debut of Israeli Dance Company Roy Assaf Dance; and rare U.S. appearances by Compagnie Marie Chouinard of Canada and Cuba's Compañía Irene Rodríguez, whose program will also include a world premiere. Notably, 11 companies with female artistic directors are represented amongst the Festival 2017 artists, more than half of the Pillow's programmed season in the Ted Shawn and Doris Duke Theatres. Tickets for all Ted Shawn Theatre and Doris Duke Theatre performances are on sale now; online at jacobspillow.org, and via phone 413.243.0745, and at the Jacob's Pillow Box Office at 358 George Carter Road, Becket, MA, 01223.
"The entire Jacob's Pillow team -- staff, artists, faculty of The School -- have been hard at work to ensure that our 85th Anniversary Festival is a true celebration for all. I'm excited to share companies that are either new to the U.S. or to the Festival like Canada's Compagnie Marie Chouinard, Roy Assaf Dance of Israel, Compañía Irene Rodríguez of Cuba, and Faye Driscoll Dance from the U.S. In true anniversary fashion, I've invited iconic American companies whose history has been entwined with ours including Paul Taylor Dance Company, Trisha Brown Dance Company, and Eiko & Koma." comments Pillow Director Pamela Tatge. "The joy and intrigue of dance can and should be experienced anywhere and everywhere, on the Pillow's beautiful grounds and beyond. This mission will be realized through a number of site-specific performances, each inviting audiences to appreciate the Pillow's natural beauty. We are also launching new programs that take dance "off the mountain" and into the community, bringing the power of this artform to new audiences."
Jacob's Pillow is a National Historic Landmark, recipient of the National Medal of Arts, and home to America's longest-running international dance festival. This season, dance companies from across the U.S. and around the globe travel to Becket, Massachusetts to take part in the 85th Anniversary Season. Festival 2017 international companies include Israel-basEd Roy Assaf Dance; Japan-based Reona and Takashi Seo of Dorrance's TIRELESS; Compagnie Marie Chouinard of Canada; Aakash Odedra of the U.K.; and Compañía Irene Rodríguez of Cuba. American companies hail from Miami, FL (Miami City Ballet); Washington, DC (The Washington Ballet); Portland, OR (NW Dance Project); Los Angeles, CA; (Ate9 dANCEcOMPANY); San Francisco, CA (Joe Orrach of TIRELESS); and New York City (Paul Taylor Dance Company, Ballet Hispanico, Doug Varone & Dancers, Trisha Brown Dance Company, and others). Live musical accompaniment will also be featured in nearly half of all Festival engagements including Dorrance's TIRELESS, Jessica Lang Dance, Compagnie Marie Chouinard, Camille A. Brown's BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, The Washington Ballet, Compañía Irene Rodríguez, and the Heginbotham/Kalman The Principles of Uncertainty, among others.
The Pillow continues its decades-long commitment to presenting, commissioning, and supporting the creation of new work. Compañía Irene Rodríguez's program will feature a world premiere and several U.S. premiere works, in addition to the Pillow-commissioned world premieres by Pilobolus, Jessica Lang Dance, and Dance Heginbotham. Many Festival 2017 artists have also developed work during Creative Development Residencies at Jacob's Pillow, including John Heginbotham and Mark Dendy.
The 85th Anniversary Season offers a range of special engagements taking place outside of the Pillow's traditional theatre spaces. Two works will be created in conversation with its iconic natural setting, including the aforementioned Pilobolus commissioned world premiere, kicking off the outdoor Inside/Out Performance Series with an extended three-day run, June 21-23. Japanese artist Eiko Otake's site-specific A Body at the Pillow will take place across the grounds with three performances on Saturday, July 22; while her longtime partner, Koma, will present his solo work, The Ghost Festival, an interactive visual art installation presented on the Pillow grounds in post-show performances August 9-11.
Jacob's Pillow will offer more than 200 free Festival events, including photography and art exhibits, a variety of talks, and the popular Inside/Out Performance Series. PillowTalks are one-hour conversations and film screenings with today's top choreographers, authors, artists, and dance experts. Highlights include PillowTalks with famed author and artist Maira Kalman, 2017 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award winner Liz Lerman, dance photographer Rose Eichenbaum, and a bevy of Festival artists including Mark Dendy, Camille A. Brown, Kyle Abraham, Doug Varone, Jessica Lang, and Eiko Otake. Inside/Out performances will encompass a wide variety of dance genres and artists including James Whiteside Presents, The Black Iris Project, Canada's Red Sky, Gemma Bond Dance, Preeti Vasudevan & Amar Ramasar, Charya Burt Cambodian Dance, and many other companies. The Inside/Out series also features an unusually large number of School at Jacob's Pillow alumni, many of whom now direct their own companies, including tap artist Caleb Teicher, American Ballet Theatre dancer Calvin Royal III, choreographer Adam H. Weinert, 860 Movement, Good Foot Dance Company, and Leonardo Sandoval. In February 2017, online participants voted among six dance companies to select the first-ever audience curated Inside/Out performance; winner Samuel Samways, a Brazilian dancer and choreographer, will perform on July 21.
Classes will be offered at a range of levels for anyone wishing to participate, from beginner dancer to advanced. Offerings range from free Community Day workshops to Sunday master classes, weekday morning classes, a Families Dance Together partnership with Becket Arts Center, and opportunities to dance with and learn from artists performing as part of the Inside/Out Performance Series (nominal fee to participate).
The artist faculty members of The School at Jacob's Pillow are as impressive and
diversely experienced as the Festival artists. The 2017 Program Directors include ballet luminary Anna-Marie Holmes; noted master teacher Milton Myers; Broadway choreographer/director Chet Walker; acclaimed tap artist Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards; and choreographer, MacArthur 'Genius' Fellow, and Jacob's Pillow Dance Award recipient Michelle Dorrance.
Under the direction of Pamela Tatge, Jacob's Pillow has a renewed approach to collaboration with and investment in the Berkshire-area community. New initiatives include the following events and programs, with additional details to be announced:
FESTIVAL 2017 EXHIBITS & ARCHIVES - ONGOING
The following exhibits and offerings are free and open to the public June 19 through August 27, 2017.
JACOB'S PILLOW JUMPS
Blake's Barn
Open Wednesday-Saturday noon to final curtain (approx. 10pm) and Sunday-Tuesday noon to 5pm
Free Offering
Celebrating 85 Jacob's Pillow seasons, this exclusive new collection of original images connects today's artists with the pioneering dancers of yesteryear. From John Lindquist's iconic photos of the Men Dancers to Christopher Duggan's current season image of Camille A. Brown-with scores of others in between-these dancers truly soar.
INSIDE THE DANCER'S ART
Ted Shawn Theatre Lobby
Open Wednesday-Sunday, noon to final curtain (approx. 10pm)
Free Offering
In her thirty-year career of photographing and interviewing veteran and emerging dancers, Rose Eichenbaum has elicited eloquent, poetic, and insightful descriptions of the inner world of the dancer's life and art. This exhibit encompasses highlights from her new book for Wesleyan University Press, Inside the Dancer's Art, including many Jacob's Pillow images.
MAIRA KALMAN'S PRINCIPLES OF UNCERTAINTY
Doris Duke Theatre Lobby
Open Wednesday-Sunday, noon to final curtain (approx. 10pm)
Free Offering
In tandem with her Dance Heginbotham collaboration, The Principles of Uncertainty, premiering at the Pillow August 23-27, one-of-a-kind artist and author Maira Kalman shares some favorite images in this exhibition, created especially for Jacob's Pillow. Both whimsical and brilliant, Kalman's work explores the intersections of dance, life, and art in unexpected ways.
A BODY IN FUKUSHIMA
Doris Duke Theatre Porch
Open July 5-30
Free Offering
Historian/photographer William Johnston captured these unforgettably powerful images of Eiko Otake, in Fukushima, Japan, in 2014 and 2016 after an earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdowns hit the area. The photographs capture Eiko's response to these events as well as the evolving landscape over their three visits.
JACOB'S PILLOW ARCHIVES/NORTON OWEN READING ROOM
Blake's Barn
Open daily, Wednesday-Saturday noon to final curtain (approx. 10pm) and Sunday-Tuesday noon to 5pm
Free Offering
This newly-expanded informal library and reading room allows impromptu visitors to view videos, browse through books, access the Pillow's computer catalog, or peruse Permanent Collections of Pillow programs and photographs from the Pillow's Archives. The Norton Owen Reading Room also features recent donations and more archival treasures from the Stephan Driscoll Collection. Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive, available on a popular touch-screen kiosk in the Reading Room, provides instant access to rare film clips ranging from the present day back to the 1930s.
ONLINE EXHIBIT: JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE INTERACTIVE
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org
This ever-expanding website allows new dance lovers and aficionados to enjoy highlights from the past 84 seasons of Pillow performances, anytime and anywhere. Discover video excerpts from artists including Savion Glover, Martha Graham Dance Company, Carmen De Lavallade, Trisha Brown, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Michelle Dorrance, and Pillow founder Ted Shawn and his Men Dancers, among countless others. A recent expansion features a series of multimedia essays from renowned dance scholars on three distinct themes: Tap, Women in Dance, and Dance of the African Diaspora. This newly-launched editorial platform features more than 30 essays on topics richly archived and relevant to conversations surrounding today's dance field. Each essay includes archival materials of various media, including video interviews with artists, scans of original printed programs, photographs, and rare performance excerpts, resulting in an expert-led tour through the extensive Archives.
FESTIVAL 2017 COMMUNITY CLASSES - ONGOING
Morning Classes
Ruth St. Denis Studio
June 5-August 25, Monday-Friday at 8am
Open to all experience levels, Jacob's Pillow Morning Classes take place each weekday morning in the historic Ruth St. Denis Studio on the Jacob's Pillow grounds. The class schedule includes Pilates with Pilates Certified instructor Sean P. Gallagher on Mondays; African Dance with Marilyn Sylla and live drumming by Jamemurrell Stanley on Tuesdays; Ballet with Sharon MacDonald and Ian Spencer Bell on Wednesdays; Zumba with Ilana Siegal on Thursdays; and Modern with Guest Artists Ryoko Kudo, Vincent Thomas, and Adam H. Weinert on Fridays. Other guest artists to be announced. All participants must be age 16 and over; $10 per class or $55 for a 6-class card. Participants younger than 18 will require a parent/guardian signature on a liability waiver.
Families Dance Together
Bakalar Studio
July 7-August 18, Fridays at 5pm
Led by Pillow Artist-Educator Jeff Bliss, this intergenerational class is a unique opportunity for children and adults to experience the joy of creating simple dances together. Families Dance Together is for children ages 5-18, accompanied by an adult. Participants under 18 years require a parent/guardian signature on liability waiver. Classes are $5 per adult and $1 per child. Families Dance Together is a Jacob's Pillow/Becket Arts Center collaboration. Call 413.623.6635 to pre-register.
TALKS, TOURS, OBSERVATION - ONGOING
Pre-Show Talks
30 minutes prior to every performance
Free Offering
Pillow Scholars offer helpful insight prior to every performance; located in Blake's Barn for Ted Shawn Theatre shows and on the Doris Duke Theatre porch for Duke shows.
Post-Show Talks
Thursday and Friday, immediately following the performance
Free Offering
Pillow Scholars moderate entertaining and informative discussions with dancers, directors, and choreographers; offered Fridays for Ted Shawn Theatre performances and Thursdays for Doris Duke Theatre performances.
Observe Dancers of The School
Monday-Saturday, check jacobspillow.org or onsite signage for specific times
Sommers Studio
Free Offering
Festival visitors are welcome to observe dancers of The School at Jacob's Pillow in classes and rehearsals.
Guided Tours
Thursday and Saturday at 5:30pm
Free Offering
Visitors can learn about the history and legends of Jacob's Pillow, a National Historic Landmark, on guided tours of the grounds. Self-guided tour maps are also available in the Welcome Center.
FESTIVAL 2017 SCHEDULE
Festival events and descriptions follow. Select Festival artist descriptions include links to supplemental video clips within Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive, featuring past Jacob's Pillow performances.
Community Day
Saturday, June 10, 12pm-3pm
Free Offering
This event is a pre-Festival, family-friendly afternoon of free dance classes taught by local and regional dance artists; dance-themed children's activities and tours; and performances on the Inside/Out stage by Berkshire County and regional studios and companies.
Season Opening Gala
Saturday, June 17 at 5pm
The exclusive Season Opening Gala will include a special performance by Festival 2017 artist Miami City Ballet, a work-in-progress showing of a new work by New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns in collaboration with international hip-hop duo Company Wang Ramirez, and the dancers of The School at Jacob's Pillow Ballet Program in a world premiere created by acclaimed choreographer Bruce Wells. This signature fundraising event also includes the presentation of the 2017 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award to choreographer Liz Lerman, the opening of new exhibits, special pop-up performances, and a festive auction, followed by dinner and dancing to live music.
Pilobolus
Inside/Out Performance Series, June 21-23
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at 6:15pm
Free Event
Celebrating the power of Jacob's Pillow's pastoral setting, internationally acclaimed Dance Company Pilobolus will premiere a new work commissioned specifically for the Pillow's iconic outdoor Inside/Out Stage, set against the Berkshire hills. The world premiere will kick off the Festival's free 2017 Inside/Out Performance Series with an extended three-day run. "Pilobolus has always made our work in a rural environment, often looking to nature as a guiding reference for our imagination. That connection makes this commission a fitting way to commemorate the history of Pilobolus at the Pillow on the occasion of its 85th Anniversary," says Pilobolus Executive Producer Itamar Kubovy.
Related video in Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive: Pilobolus in Ocellus in 1985
http://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/pilobolus/ocellus/
Miami City Ballet
June 21-25, Ted Shawn Theatre
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8pm
Saturday & Sunday at 2pm
Described as "bold, light, immediate, intensely musical" (Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times), Miami City Ballet opens the 85th Anniversary Season in its first Festival appearance since 1998. Works on the program exhibit the company's wide range and prowess, including master choreographer George Balanchine's challenging and technically precise Allegro Brillante set to Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky's energetic "Third Piano Concerto No. 3". The program also includes Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon's elegant Polyphonia, danced to György Ligeti's complex and eerily melodious score and Peter Martins's contrasting Barber Violin Concerto, a work for two couples: one classical ballet and the other modern dance. Tickets start at $45.
Related video in Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive: Miami City Ballet in Square Dance in 1989
http://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/miami-city-ballet/square-dance/
Jonah Bokaer Choreography
Rules Of The Game
Jonah Bokaer x Daniel Arsham
June 21-25, Doris Duke Theatre
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:15pm
Saturday & Sunday at 2:15pm
Hailed as "a visionary investigator who has redefined visual art and dance" (Vogue Italia), choreographer, artist, and alumnus of The School at Jacob's Pillow Jonah Bokaer brings his sleek, elegant aesthetic to the Doris Duke Theatre. His largest production to date Rules Of The Game (2016) is set to an original score by GRAMMY Award-winning artist Pharrell Williams for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, arranged and co-composed by David Campbell, with set design by visual artist and frequent collaborator Daniel Arsham. The program will also include Bokaer's solo Study for Occupant (2012) and the trio work OCCUPANT (2013), both collaborations of Jonah Bokaer and Daniel Arsham. Tickets start at $25.
Related video in Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive: Jonah Bokaer in 2011 in Why Patterns
http://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/jonah-bokaer/why-patterns/
Class with Inside/Out Artist: Artists of Pilobolus
Thursday, June 22, 3:30pm
Ruth St. Denis Studio
The artists of legendary company Pilobolus explore new ways of moving in this class. Open to all experience levels, ages 12+; $15 per person. Pre-registration is required at jacobspillow.org.
PillowTalk: Liz Lerman: Dance For Our Time
Friday, June 23 at 5pm
Blake's Barn
Free Event
2017 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award winner and trailblazing choreographer Liz Lerman considers dance to be a vehicle for insight and understanding, and she shares her vision in this intimate conversation.
PillowTalk: Pilobolus: Then & Now
Saturday, June 24 at 4pm
Blake's Barn
Free Event
Internationally acclaimed Pilobolus made its Jacob's Pillow debut in 1974 and has a deep Pillow history. The company returns this season with a new work commissioned especially for Inside/Out, which will be presented for three performances June 21-13. This talk explores the commission and other notable ventures.
Sunday Master Class with Festival Artist: Jonah Bokaer Choreography
Sunday, June 25, 10am
Doris Duke Theatre
Sara Procopio of Jonah Bokaer Choreography will teach a 90-minute master class open to all intermediate and advanced dancers ages 12 and over. Pre-registration is required at jacobspillow.org. Quiet observation is welcome; $15 per class or $80 for a 6-class card.
Inside/Out Performance Series: The School at Jacob's Pillow Ballet Program
Saturday, June 24 at 6:15pm
Free Event
Dancers of The School's Ballet Program are pre-professionals, apprentices, trainees, and early career professionals with leading ballet companies from around the world. They perform solos, pas de deux, and ensemble variations from classical ballets as well as a new work created on them for the 85th Anniversary Gala by choreographer Bruce Wells. Directed by acclaimed dancer, choreographer, and mentor Anna-Marie Holmes, the dancers have been coached by Arlene Minkhorst, Director of Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet School and Sharon Story, Ballet Mistress and Dean of the Centre for Dance Education at Atlanta Ballet, with class accompaniment by pianist John Sauer and Program Music Director Ramona Pansegrau. Dancers attend all Festival events, including weekly career-building interactions with Festival Ted Shawn Theatre and Doris Duke Theatre performers.
TIRELESS: A Tap Dance Experience Curated by Michelle Dorrance
Ted Shawn Theatre, June 28-July 2
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8pm
Saturday & Sunday at 2pm
Curated and introduced by Jacob's Pillow Dance Award recipient, MacArthur 'Genius' Fellow, and "tireless ambassador of tap" Michelle Dorrance (Gia Kourlas, The New York Times), TIRELESS exhibits the endless talent, depth, and perseverance of the international tap community. This Pillow-exclusive engagement includes tap dancer and bassist couple Reona and Takashi Seo of Japan in AUN; Chicago-based choreographer and performer Jumaane Taylor's ensemble work Supreme Love; Joe Orrach of San Francisco in his solo performance entitled In My Corner; and tap dancing siblings Joseph and Josette Wiggan of Los Angeles. Tickets start at $39.
NW Dance Project
Doris Duke Theatre, June 28-July 2
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8:15pm
Saturday & Sunday at 2:15pm
Known for its "cutting-edge contemporary work" (Jason Vondersmith, The Portland Tribune), NW Dance Project makes its Jacob's Pillow debut. Based in Portland, Oregon and led by former Royal Winnipeg Ballet principal dancer Sarah Slipper, the company is composed of a cast of classically-trained, versatile dancers. The program includes works by a range of accomplished choreographers and rising talents: Post-Traumatic-Monster by Felix Landerer, choreographer in residence for Scapino Ballet in the Netherlands; At Some Hour You Return by former Nederlands Dans Theater dancer Ji?í Pokorný; Le Fil Rouge by 2011 Sadler's Wells Global Dance Contest winner Ihsan Rustem; and MemoryHouse by Artistic Director Sarah Slipper. Tickets start at $25.
STREET WEEK on Inside/Out
Wednesday, June 28 through Saturday, July 1; leading up to All Styles Dance Battle on Sunday, July 2
Inside/Out Performance Series: Passion Fruit
Wednesday, June 28 at 6:15pm
Free Event
Kicking off a week of hip-hop and street dance presentations, this all-female hip-hop crew performs Dance Within Your Dance, created by choreographer and director Tatiana Desardouin. This invigorating work illustrates how dancers influence each other's style within the hip-hop and house community, combining themes of connection and transformation with individual groove. Originally from Geneva, Switzerland and now based on the east coast of the U.S., Desardouin's first influences were Afro-Haïtian dance and dancehall, and she now specializes in hip-hop and house dance. She was a member of Geneva's very first hip-hop Dance Company and originally founded Passion Fruit in Geneva before moving to the U.S. In addition to her own company, Desardouin dances with Rennie Harris Puremovement.
Class with Inside/Out Artist: Flex with Reggie "Regg Roc" Gray
Thursday, June 29, 4pm
Ruth St. Denis Studio
A pioneer of flex dance, Reggie "Regg Roc" Gray teaches this energetic class. Open to all experience levels, ages 12+; $10 per person. Pre-registration is required at jacobspillow.org.
Inside/Out Performance Series: D.R.E.A.M (Dance Rules Everything Around Me)
Thursday, June 29 at 6:15pm
Free Event
After wowing the Berkshire County community last season with FLEXN, Reggie "Regg Roc" Gray returns with a new program for the Inside/Out Performance Series. Gray is a pioneer of the flex style, an electrifying street dance characterized by pausing, gliding, hat tricks, 'bone breaking', animation, and contortion that evolved from the Jamaican bruk-up dance style made popular in Brooklyn reggae clubs. He will teach a community class earlier in the day and present a new collection of dances and dancers for Inside/Out. Janine Parker of The Boston Globe comments, "Flexing is rooted in storytelling, and practitioners are encouraged to be both emotionally expressive and physically unique."
PillowTalk: Tap Today
Friday, June 30 at 5pm
Blakes Barn
Free Event
Enhancing this week's tap dance performances in the Ted Shawn Theatre and the School's Tap Program directed by tap starts Michelle Dorrance and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, these artists survey the current scene and preview a new tap-focused aspect of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive website.
Inside/Out Performance Series: 860 Movement
Friday, June 30 at 6:15pm
Free Event
This presentation is a celebration of youth and the next generation of hip-hop dancers from the surrounding region. 860 Movement is an all-styles street dance collective, under the direction of Jolet Creary, an alumna of The School at Jacob's Pillow; the troupe implements original street dance in collaboration with contemporary styles of hip-hop. Their Inside/Out program features dancers from Studio 860 in Hartford, CT, a studio specializing in a hip-hop, break dance, and b-boy styles, and will display the raw, intense energy of these genres.
PillowTalk: Radical Bodies
Saturday, July 1 at 4pm
Blake's Barn
Free Event
Radical Bodies, a new book and New York Public Library exhibition survey the work of pioneers Anna Halprin, Simone Forti, and Yvonne Rainer; with authors and PillowTalk speakers Ninotchka Bennahum, Wendy Perron, and Bruce Robertson.
Inside/Out Performance Series: The School at Jacob's Pillow Tap Program
Saturday, July 1 at 6:15pm
Videos