Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Offers Free Livestream Series for Summer 2024

Jacob’s Pillow has announced the launch of a new free livestream series, Jacob’s Pillow Live, which will feature nine select performances from this summer’s 92nd annual international Dance Festival. Jacob’s Pillow Live will provide audiences the opportunity to tune in from anywhere in the world to enjoy live performances on the scenic outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage and in the historic Ted Shawn Theatre.

Live performances will occur each week of the festival between June 22 and August 24—from the celebrated repertoire of The Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom to the unique thrill of Princess Lockerooo & The Fabulous Waack Dancers—with advance online registration available. Out of the nine livestream events, five will include access to a free “Encore” stream released the following week, allowing an additional 24 hours to watch the performance on-demand.

This new series provides an unprecedented level of livestream access to arts lovers and families who are not able to travel to experience these events in person, while affording local and regional audiences more opportunities to blend at-home viewing with in-person visits to the festival this summer. Registration for these free livestreams is now open to everyone at http://jacobspillow.org/live.

“Our dance and live music events really shine because they are brimming with creative talent from around the world,” said Jacob’s Pillow Executive and Artistic Director Pamela Tatge. “We want to honor the fact that our visiting audience is global as well, and always has been. We are delighted to bring lovers of dance this expanded, and more flexible, series of chances to experience live performances at our festival this summer for free, no matter where they are watching from.”

Livestreams will include access to Jacob’s Pillow’s Gala performance, as well as other highly anticipated performances from inside the historic Ted Shawn Theatre—which opened in 1942 as the first performance space in America designed exclusively for dance—and from the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage, a beloved venue with scenic views of the Berkshire hills.

The livestream on July 6 will bring viewers a performance by The Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom, from the Ted Shawn Theatre, on the company’s sole engagement in the United States this year—and their first touring performance in the country since 2015. In addition to classical and contemporary ballet, the series will feature performances that range in styles from Afro Latin and jazz to tap, flamenco, tango, contemporary, musical theater, hip-hop, house, vogue, waacking, and Indigenous masked dance. All livestreams in this series are family-friendly, and all include English-language captioning, available in browser while viewing.

Jacob’s Pillow Live comprises the following livestreams for summer 2024, in chronological order. Select livestreams also include an Encore stream, to be made available after the performance.

• Saturday, June 22 at 6:15PM EST — Performances from the Season Opening Gala

  • From the historic Ted Shawn Theatre

  • This event will include performances by members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, pianist Craig Baldwin and dancers from the New York City Ballet, Sekou McMiller and Friends, Caleb Teicher and Conrad Tao, Soles of Duende, and a world premiere by The School at Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Ballet Program. Details at jacobspillow.org/gala.

• Saturday, June 29 at 6PM EST — The School at Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Ballet Program

  • From the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage

• Saturday, July 6 at 8PM EST — The Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom

  • From the historic Ted Shawn Theatre

  • Includes an Encore stream, available from 12pm on Wednesday, July 10 to 12pm on Thursday, July 11.

• Saturday, July 13 at 6PM EST — The MasterZ at Work Dance Family

  • From the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage

  • Includes an Encore stream, available from 12pm on Wednesday, July 17 to 12pm on Thursday, July 18.

• Thursday, July 18 at 8PM EST — Social Tango Project

  • From the historic Ted Shawn Theatre

  • Includes an Encore stream, available from 12pm on Wednesday, July 24 to 12pm on Thursday, July 25.

• Saturday, July 20 at 6PM EST — The School at Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Program

  • From the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage

• Saturday, July 27 at 6PM EST — Dancers of Damelahamid

  • From the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage

  • Includes an Encore stream, available from 12pm on Wednesday, July 31 to 12pm on Thursday, August 1.

• Saturday, August 17 at 6PM EST — The School at Jacob’s Pillow Musical Theatre Program

  • From the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage

• Saturday, August 24 at 6PM EST — Princess Lockerooo & The Fabulous Waack Dancers

  • From the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage

  • Includes an Encore stream, available from 12pm on Wednesday, August 28 to 12pm on August 29.

Jacob’s Pillow has been experimenting with access to online performances and livestreams for several years, explained Tatge. Building on more than a decade of online access through Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive, the Pillow took its first real steps in 2020, when health and safety concerns required pivoting to an all-digital summer festival. This work continued in 2021, when Jacob’s Pillow aired an online series of streaming performances from the outdoor Leir Stage roughly two weeks after filming. In 2022 and 2023, Jacob’s Pillow produced a series of performance streams that aired during the fall, winter, and spring. “As we look toward the opening of our reimagined Doris Duke Theatre in 2025,” Tatge said, “we are excited to build and deepen our world of digital productions, livestreams, and interactive online events. We want to make these available to any arts lover, anywhere, who wants to see what the future of dance can look like.”

To learn more about technological innovation in the new Doris Duke Theatre, visit jacobspillow.org/duke. For full Jacob’s Pillow Live registration details, visit jacobspillow.org/live. 

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2024 features a rich array of family-friendly onsite and online events beginning with the Season Opening Gala on June 22, and running through August 25. All performances are family-friendly. The festival is pleased to offer “Choose What You Pay” pricing for all one-night-only performances on the outdoor stage, allowing audiences to set the price of their ticket however they choose. All in-person tickets are available to all events at jacobspillow.org/festival. 

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