Festival 2022, which will feature 10 weeks of on-site programming, opens June 22, and runs through August 28.
Jacob's Pillow has announced the full season lineup for Festival 2022, featuring world premieres, new commissions, 90th Anniversary Season celebrations, Pillow-exclusive engagements, and work developed at the Pillow Lab.
Festival 2022, which will feature 10 weeks of on-site programming, opens June 22, and runs through August 28, attracting dance audiences from across the globe to the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. The season-opening Gala will be held on June 18. The recipient of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award and the gala program will be announced on March 15.
"We simply can't wait to welcome the dance-loving community back to our grounds, archives, live performances and talks this summer," said Executive and Artistic Director of Jacob's Pillow, Pamela Tatge. "We're especially excited to kick off our 90th Anniversary Season by re-opening the Ted Shawn Theatre, now renovated with a new stage house, air-cooling and ventilation. It will be a sheer joy to gather together again in that magical theater."
The companies and engagements confirmed to perform in Festival 2022 this summer include: America(na) to me, Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE, BODYTRAFFIC, SW!NG OUT, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Limón Dance Company, Music from the Sole, Black Grace, Taylor Stanley, Michelle N. Gibson with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Liz Lerman, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Dance Heginbotham, and Miami City Ballet. (Please see below for more information about each performer.)
For Festival 2022, audiences will return to the newly renovated Ted Shawn Theatre, which will reopen for the Festival in June. The Pillow's flagship performance space, opened in 1942 as the first theater built for dance in the U.S., will have a new cooling and air ventilation system, orchestra pit, expanded accessibility for artists and audience members, an increased stage depth (by 10 ft.), and enhanced technology among other improvements. Companies will also perform on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage and at sites across the campus.
Upcoming world premieres this Festival season include: the Pillow-exclusive engagement America(na) to me, which includes three Pillow commissions (June 22-26); Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE performing The Equality of Night and Day, featuring an original score played live by composer, jazz pianist, and MacArthur Fellow Jason Moran (June 29-July 3); the Limón Dance Company performing Only One Will Rise by choreographer/dancer/musician Olivier Taparga, commissioned by the Pillow for the 90th Anniversary Season and made possible by the Joan B. Hunter New Work Commission (July 20-24); new works for Taylor Stanley, a celebrated principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, performing the world premiere of Pillow commissions by William Forsythe, Jodi Melnick, and Shamel Pitts (July 27-31); and two world premieres from a new collaboration between Dance Heginbotham Artistic Director John Heginbotham and composer Ethan Iverson: Dance Sonata and Adagio, which features two guest ballet artists (Aug. 10-14).
Taylor Stanley, a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, will make his Jacob's Pillow debut this summer in an evening-length performance titled Dichotomous Being: An Evening of Taylor Stanley. Several artists will make their Pillow debuts in the exclusive engagement America(na) to me, curated by Associate Curators Melanie George and Ali Rosa-Salas. Those dancers and choreographers include the Warwick Gombey Troupe, Mythili Prakash, Jasmine Hearn, and Alexandra Tatarsky.
As Jacob's Pillow strengthens its role in serving more artists year-round, the Festival also features several presentations of works developed at the Pillow Lab, a residency program now in its fifth year. Those performances include A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham's highly anticipated work, An Untitled Love, which was a Pillow co-commission developed over two Pillow Lab residencies as an exploration of love in the Black community, set to music by R&B legend D'Angelo (July 13-17); I Didn't Come to Stay, performed by tap and live music dance company Music from the Sole, which celebrates tap's Afro-diasporic roots (July 20-24); Dichotomous Being: An Evening of Taylor Stanley, developed across three Pillow Lab residencies in 2021 and 2022 (July 27-31); and Liz Lerman's Wicked Bodies, a multidisciplinary piece designed specifically for a unique setting at Jacob's Pillow, taking inspiration from the powerful and grotesque portrayal of witches throughout history (Aug. 10-14).
Along with week-long performances in the Ted Shawn Theatre and on the Henry J. Leir Stage, this summer Jacob's Pillow will host several one-night performances on the Leir Stage and a series of performances in Jacob's Garden, which will be announced at a later date. Liz Lerman and Michelle N. Gibson will present works sited across the Pillow's 220-acre campus.
Ticketed performances are enriched by talks, exhibitions, events, free performances, and more. Last summer's free On the Road performance series will also return to towns around Berkshire County, with details to be announced later this year. Digital offerings will include PillowTalk highlights and live streams of the Gala and School performances.
Member Pre-Sale begins on March 7. Tickets go on sale to the public on April 6. To purchase tickets, visit jacobspillow.org or contact 413.243.0745. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination (ages 5+) and face masks are required of all site visitors. Jacob's Pillow will continue to assess COVID policies and procedures, under guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Massachusetts state government. Visit jacobspillow.org/health for more details.
Founded by American modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn in 1933, Jacob's Pillow is home to the longest-running dance festival in the United States, which celebrates its 90th season in 2022. Jacob's Pillow is a National Historic Landmark, a National Medal of Arts recipient, and a year-round center for dance research and development.
Festival 2022 Schedule
Artist dates 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. The Season Opening Gala kicks off the Festival on June 18, 2022.
June 22-26, Ted Shawn Theatre
In 1942, Jacob's Pillow presented the very first concert in the Ted Shawn Theatre. Conceived as a showcase of American Folk Dances curated by Shawn, the program included square dances and Agnes De Mille's Hell on Wheels, inaugurating the first theatre in the United States designed for dance. As we celebrate the renovation of the Ted Shawn Theatre and the 90th anniversary of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Associate Curators Melanie George and Ali Rosa-Salas revisit the theme of that first program by inviting dance artists to reflect on what American identity means to them.
Featuring an expansive array of artists including Warwick Gombey Troupe, Mythili Prakash, Jasmine Hearn, Nelida Tirado, Sara Mearns & Joshua Bergasse, Alexandra Tatarsky, and Dormeshia & Guests, this presentation offers an ever-timely reflection on how dance engages questions of heritage, tradition, and belonging.
June 29-July 3, Ted Shawn Theatre
Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE has deeply moved audiences for over 30 years. "No major choreographer has worked harder to bring spiritual awareness to the human heart than Ronald K. Brown," writes the Washington Post. "His dances concern our struggle to find love and connection, where compassion alone can ease the grueling physical journey of life."
In 2020, Jacob's Pillow honored Ronald K. Brown with the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award. For Festival 2022, EVIDENCE will perform a series of works including the world premiere of The Equality of Night and Day, featuring an original score played live by composer and jazz pianist, MacArthur Fellow Jason Moran. With text by civil rights activist Angela Davis and visuals by Deborah Willis, the sweeping and poetic work examines the concepts of balance and equity, in our history as well as in the current political climate as it affects young people, women, and people of color today.
Explore past Pillow performances on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:
Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE in New Conversations in 2018:
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/ronald-k-brownevidence/new-conversations/
Read more about Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/themes-essays/african-diaspora/ronald-k-brown-evidence/
June 29-July 3, Henry J. Leir Stage
BODYTRAFFIC uses the creative spirit of its Los Angeles home to fulfill its mission of delivering performances that inspire audiences simply to love dance. Since its inception in 2007, the company has held its place at the forefront of the concert dance world. BODYTRAFFIC will be performing SNAP by Miceala Taylor, among other works.
Co-founder and Artistic Director Tina Finkelman Berkett has taken the company to new heights, performing festivals in Holland, Diana Vishneva's CONTEXT Festival in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as touring as ambassadors with the U.S. State Department across Europe and the Middle East. They have quickly become known for their versatility, presenting works by a range of prominent contemporary dancemakers. This combination of superb dancers and accomplished choreographers led the Los Angeles Times to describe BODYTRAFFIC as "one of the most talked about companies-not just in LA, but nationwide."
Explore past Pillow performances on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:
BODYTRAFFIC in The New 45 in 2015:
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/bodytraffic/new-45/
BODYTRAFFIC in And at midnight the green bride floated through the village square... in 2013:
July 6-10, Ted Shawn Theatre
Fans of acclaimed choreographer Caleb Teicher and last summer's rollicking outdoor show LaTasha Barnes Presents The Jazz Continuum take note: Teicher brings the best of the swing dance world to Jacob's Pillow with SW!NG OUT, with live music by Eyal Vilner Big Band. Featuring a cast of 22 performers, including 12 dancers and 10 on the bandstand, Teicher conceived of this piece alongside their brain trust of collaborators: Evita Arce, LaTasha Barnes, Nathan Bugh, Macy Sullivan, and Eyal Vilner.
Called "a sweeping ride through contemporary swing dance" by The New York Times during its premiere run at The Joyce Theater last fall, SW!NG OUT features exciting Lindy Hop choreography and improvisation, and ends with an on-stage jam session for performers and audience members. The New York Times 'Best of 2021' mentioned SW!NG OUT as "...the contemporary swing-dance show that... gave me the most joy of any dance production in 2021."
July 13-17, Ted Shawn Theatre
Kyle Abraham's highly anticipated work An Untitled Love is a creative exaltation that serves as a thumping mixtape celebrating culture, family, and community. Composed of the catalogue of R&B legend D'Angelo, the evening-length work is an ode to Abraham's intense, personal connection with the Grammy Award-winning artist's music. In his own words, Abraham explains, "That love has never waned. D'Angelo's music has played an integral part in my deep appreciation for the richness of Soul - R&B music. Within his music exists the histories and Neo-romanticism of Black love in America."
A Jacob's Pillow Dance Award winner, Doris Duke Artist Award winner, and a MacArthur Fellow, Kyle Abraham is one of today's most in-demand choreographers. His company's evocative, interdisciplinary work has been praised for its "lush mix of modern and hip-hop dance" (The Boston Globe). An Untitled Love is a Pillow co-commission and has been developed through two residencies in the Pillow Lab.
Explore past Pillow performances on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in Dearest Home in 2018:
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/kyle-abraham-abraham-in-motion/dearest-home/
Kyle Abraham in Inventing Pookie Jenkins in 2010:
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/kyle-abraham/inventing-pookie-jenkins/
July 20-24, Ted Shawn Theatre
Celebrated as one of the world's greatest modern dance groups, the Limón Dance Company marks its 75th anniversary this year. Founded in 1946, Limón Dance Company is a thriving legacy of José Limón and his mentors Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, whose innovative works revolutionized dance in America with their dramatic expression, technical mastery, and expansive yet nuanced movement.
The celebratory program will feature works by Limón, Humphrey, and a new work titled Only One Will Rise by choreographer/dancer/musician Olivier Taparga, originally from Burkina Faso, a world premiere commissioned by the Pillow for the 90th Anniversary Season, made possible by the Joan B. Hunter New Work Commission.
Explore past Pillow performances on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:
Limón Dance Company in Corvidae in 2018:
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/limon-dance-company/corvidae/
José Limón performs Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías in 1946:
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/jose-limon/lament-for-ignacio-sanchez-mejias/
July 20-24, Henry J. Leir Stage
Performing I Didn't Come to Stay, originally developed in a Pillow Lab residency and in a 2020 bubble residency facilitated by Works & Process at the Guggenheim, Music From The Sole, co-founded by Leonardo Sandoval and Gregory Richardson, is a tap dance and live music company that celebrates tap's Afro-diasporic roots, particularly its connections to Afro-Brazilian dance and music, and its lineage to forms like samba, house dance and passinho (Brazilian street funk).
As part of its mission to bring tap dance - America's original vernacular dance form - to new audiences, the company appears at both music and dance venues. Sandoval, an alum of The School at Jacob's Pillow, is well known to Pillow audiences as a performer in Dorrance Dance, where Richardson also serves as Musical Director. I Didn't Come to Stay was commissioned by Works & Process at the Guggenheim, and the company's recent credits include appearances at Lincoln Center, Harlem Stage, Caramoor Jazz Festival, Teatro Ipanema in Rio, and The Yard.
July 27-31, Ted Shawn Theatre
Dedicated to the rich storytelling traditions of the South Pacific, New Zealand-based Black Grace masterfully blends contemporary and Samoan dance genres, expressing them with "phenomenal strength, stamina and spirit" (The New Zealand Herald). The company has been praised as "the most positive, living expression of any New Zealand art" (Sunday Star Times). Founded by Neil Ieremia, ONZM, in 1995, leremia creates work "that crosses geographic and social boundaries, often with innovative flair and theatricality" (The Boston Globe). The company made its U.S. debut at the Pillow in 2004 and came back by popular demand the following season, but has not returned since then.
Explore past Pillow performances on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:
Black Grace in Minoi in 2004:
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/black-grace/minoi/
July 27-31, Henry J. Leir Stage
Already a celebrated principal dancer with New York City Ballet, Taylor Stanley pursues new movement frontiers for this program alongside special guest artists. Stanley developed a Pillow-commissioned ensemble work by postmodern choreographer Jodi Melnick and a solo by choreographer Shamel Pitts during two 2021 Pillow Labs. He will also perform an adaptation of Andrea Miller's sky to hold, originally created for the New York City Ballet's 2021 Fall Gala; a commissioned solo by William Forsythe; and to develop, Talley Beatty's renowned Mourner's Bench, a solo of great significance to the Pillow, having been danced here by Beatty himself. Stanley and his collaborators will return to the Pillow Lab again in March this year, ahead of the Festival performances,
Related Content on Jacob's Pillow YouTube Channel:
Inside the Pillow Lab with Taylor Stanley:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tpBhhXl9yc&feature=youtu.be
Talley Beatty in Mourner's Bench in 1948:
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/talley-beatty/mourners-bench-from-southern-landscape/
July 29-30; Site-Specific
Michelle N. Gibson is a cultural ambassador of the diasporic dance traditions of the Black community in New Orleans. A Second Line Grand Marshall, Gibson's choreographic work embraces the spaces between the secular and sacred, touching on Contemporary Modern, Afro Funk, Jazz, Afro-Modern and her own New Orleans Original BuckShop Second Line Aesthetic. Gibson will be performing Takin' it to the Roots in a roving performance across the Jacob's Pillow campus, a dance theater work that investigates the creative impulse in Gibson's choreography and practice, which is rooted in her New Orleans African American experience. A preacher's daughter, she grew up with knowledge of Congo Square and its significance to New Orleans dance history, and clear understanding that the influences of Senegambian and Angolan dance on the enslaved Africans in New Orleans had as much to do with her attraction to the communal experience of Second Line culture as the sound of the brass band blaring or the buck jumping community members improvising their lived testimonies.
NOJO 7, led by Grammy-Award-Winning drummer and Artistic Director Adonis Rose, is a dynamic ensemble drawn from the full New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Playing within the New Orleans Brass Band style, the group has the versatility to perform within various musical idioms and has a broad repertoire that encompasses traditional New Orleans music, funk, R&B, and original compositions. The band tours with Ledisi, and has collaborated with the rapper Slick Rick, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Eric Benét, and several other major performing artists.
Aug. 3-7, Ted Shawn Theatre
Lauded as creating "the most sophisticated modernism in classical dance" (Los Angeles Times), choreographer Alonzo King is renowned for imbuing classical ballet with new expressive potential. He has been hailed as a visionary and is the recipient of the 2008 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award. LINES Ballet returns, with dancers that are "handsome, sleek, accomplished, and individual" (The New York Times).
Alonzo King LINES Ballet will perform a stunning series of works set to music by composers including Gabriel Fauré, Edgar Meyer and Zakir Hussain, as well as AZOTH, inspired by the element mercury, set to music by venerable jazz musicians including saxophonist Charles Lloyd and pianist/composer Jason Moran. This bold work features a light installation by renowned Bay Area artist Jim Campbell. When the program premiered in LINES' native San Francisco, it was called "absolutely a triumph" (The Bay Area Reporter).
Explore past Pillow performances on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:
Alonzo King LINES Ballet in Biophony in 2015: danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/alonzo-kings-lines-ballet/biophony/
Alonzo King LINES Ballet in Migration in 2008:
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/alonzo-kings-lines-ballet/migration/
Aug. 10-14, Ted Shawn Theatre
Jacob's Pillow has been an artistic home for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago over the last four decades, now led by new Artistic Director Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell since 2021, after a career as a professional dance artist and educator. Fisher-Harrell was a dancer with Hubbard Street for three seasons, then a principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, among other notable accomplishments.
Founded in 1977 by dancer and choreographer Lou Conte, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's mission is to bring artists, art and audiences together to enrich, engage, educate and change lives through the experience of dance. The New York Times wrote that Hubbard Street Dance Chicago "ought to bottle itself as a cure for the ills of the era." The relationship between the company and the Pillow has been particularly close, encompassing more than a dozen engagements since 1983, and including an unusual two-week season in 1990.
Among other works, Hubbard Street will be performing Aszure Barton's poignant BUSK, called "nothing short of phenomenal" (WTTW Chicago). Barton is an innovator of form with an impressive career that includes choreographing for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the English National Ballet, and the National Ballet of Canada.
Explore past Pillow performances on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in The 40s in 2018:
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/hubbard-street-dance-chicago/the-40s/
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in N.N.N.N. in 2016:
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/hubbard-street-dance-chicago/n-n-n-n/
Aug. 10-14, Henry J. Leir Stage
Celebrated for its vibrant athleticism, humor, theatricality, and commitment to collaboration, Dance Heiginbotham, led by Artistic Director John Heiginbotham is celebrating its 10th Anniversary having established itself as one of the most adventurous companies on the contemporary dance scene. Praised by The New York Times as having "a true theater artist's instinct for commanding his audience," Heginbotham is known for striking choreography that is perceptive, bright, and witty. A past recipient of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award, he is most recently acclaimed for his choreography in the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
The company performs an evening of work in collaboration with Ethan Iverson, the critically acclaimed jazz composer and pianist, and Blue Note Records recording artist. The program features three works: a revival and two world premieres. Easy Win (2015) draws inspiration from the collaborators' shared experiences within a formal ballet class. A delightful ode to the repetition, drama, and humor of a dance class, Easy Win dissects its rituals with equal amounts of humor and sincerity through dancers that are "keenly alive to the main pulses of Mr. Iverson's music" (The New York Times). Adagio (World Premiere) features two guest ballet artists to be announced, and finally, Dance Sonata, the program's second world premiere, picks up where Easy Win left off. If Easy Win highlights the rigors and training in the context of a ballet class, Dance Sonata is the finale for which the performers have been preparing.
Explore past Pillow performances on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:
Dance Heginbotham in The Principles of Uncertainty in 2017:
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/dance-heginbotham/the-principles-of-uncertainty/
Dance Heginbotham in Twin in 2012:
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/dance-heginbotham/twin/
Aug. 10-13, Festival Tent
Witches, trials, and exhibitions fly around in Liz Lerman's new acclaimed evening-length dance-theater piece, Wicked Bodies. Liz and the unusual cast of performers have been exploring how our bodies become sources of evil and power - from fairy tales to government policies. Why is some knowledge celebrated, some criminalized, and some erased altogether? And who gets to document, describe, and save the remnants? In the presence of magic both old and new, and a surprising collection of witches, audiences will make their way through a restless story and a smashing of worlds. The multidisciplinary piece is designed specifically for a unique setting at Jacob's Pillow.
Aided by an award-winning design team and developed in part at the Pillow Lab, Lerman creates a world of old crones, shape-shifters, familiars, and imps leading us into a post-extinction tale. Lerman is a MacArthur Fellow and a Jacob's Pillow Dance Award recipient whose work is rooted in intense research, described as having "expansive range, emotional depth and singular beauty" (The Washington Post).
Explore past Pillow performances on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:
Liz Lerman in Nine Short Dances about the Defense Budget and Other Military Matters in 1986:
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/liz-lerman/9-short-dances-defense-budget-military-matters/
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in Hallelujah: In Praise of Fertile Fields in 2000:
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/liz-lerman-dance-exchange/hallelujah-in-praise-of-fertile-fields/
Aug. 17-21, Ted Shawn Theatre
Founded by master teacher, choreographer, and cultural ambassador Cleo Parker Robinson in 1970, this Denver-based distinguished modern dance company is renowned for a dynamic body of work inspired by the African American experience and rooted in dance forms and traditions worldwide. Now in its 51st Anniversary Season, the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble returns to the Pillow for the first time in two decades.
Their retrospective program features masterworks drawn from a richly diverse and historic repertoire, including works of the iconic Katherine Dunham, Donald McKayle, and Cleo Parker Robinson. Offered in contrast, are works of innovative young choreographers bringing new visions of movement to the stage.
Holding four honorary doctorates, Parker Robinson has received a Kennedy Center Medal of Honor, the King M. Trimble Community Award, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award, and the Dance USA Honor Award.
Explore past Pillow performances on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance in Barrelhouse Blues in 1996:
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/cleo-parker-robinson-dance-ensemble/barrelhouse-blues/
Cleo Parker Robinson Dance in Nocturne in 1996:
danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/cleo-parker-robinson-dance-ensemble/nocturne/
Aug. 24-28, Ted Shawn Theatre
Praised by The New York Times as "an exceptional troupe, by Balanchine standards, anywhere in the world," the Miami City Ballet is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Lourdes Lopez as Artistic Director and is known for nurturing new choreographic voices, creating innovative collaborations, and opening new avenues of inclusivity within classical ballet. Founded in 1985 by Miami philanthropist Toby Lerner Ansin and Founding Artistic Director and ballet legend Edward Villella, MCB is universally admired as one of the world's preeminent interpreters of the choreography of George Balanchine.
The program will feature Balanchine's Serenade and Jerome Robbins' Antique Epigraphs, both works new to the Pillow, among other selections performed with a live orchestra.
Explore past Pillow performances on Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive:
Miami City Ballet in Carousel Pas de Deux in 2017:
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/miami-city-ballet/carousel-pas-de-deux/
Miami City Ballet in Polyphonia in 2017:
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/miami-city-ballet/polyphonia/
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