Jacob's Pillow of Onsite and Virtual Programming During Pandemic

Jacob's Pillow is welcoming artists to its campus for residencies, new commissions, and virtual premieres this winter and spring in an ongoing commitment to provide a home for dance and for dialogue. In what continues to be a challenging time for dancemakers to find ways to make and present work, the Pillow has deepened many of its preexisting relationships with artists as well as opened its doors for new ventures, resulting in a diverse and provocative array of artistic projects from January through June. Following the devastating loss of the Doris Duke Theatre in November 2020, the organization continues residencies in the Perles Family Studio, the remaining winterized studio space on its campus. Amongst the success of a carefully executed fall season of COVID-19 compliant residencies, the organization continues to look ahead to a summer 2021 Festival, with planned on-site performances and activities including Professional Advancement Programs of The School at Jacob's Pillow and the newly-expanded Archives in Blake's Barn.

"Thanks to a major grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, we will be able to continue "bubble" residencies in the Pillow Lab, giving direct support to artists who are able to resume dancing together safely," said Pamela Tatge, Executive and Artistic Director. "Their support also ensures that we can continue the Inside the Pillow Lab docuseries, giving audiences in our region and around the world a window into what artists are creating during these turbulent times. At the same time, we continue providing virtual programs to stay engaged with communities in Berkshire county and artists and educators across the country. It's imperative that we continue to stay in conversation and gain insight and inspiration from this artform that connects us to ourselves and each other."

"Dance requires the creative interplay between bodies and space, something that has been impossible for dance artists over the past ten months," notes Emil Kang, Program Director for Arts and Culture at The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. "We are thrilled to support the return to artistic community through bubble residencies at Jacob's Pillow, allowing artists to resume their passion and purpose in the safety of a dance oasis."

Highlights include:

Residencies for six artists including Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE (2020 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award recipient), New York City Ballet principal dancer Taylor Stanley, and INSPIRIT directed by Christal Brown (formerly of Urban Bush Women)

A focus on percussive dance and music with residencies for Dorrance Dance, flamenco and Latin dance artist Nelida Tirado, and Afro-Brazilian influenced Music from the Sole, a tap and live music ensemble fronted by Gregory Richardson (co-music director of Dorrance Dance) and Leonardo Sandoval (Dance Magazine "25 to Watch" for 2021)

Virtual commissions from Chrybaby Cozie, whose film "Get the Lite" will highlight the contemporary hip-hop style Litefeet, and from Eiko (Otake), who will premiere a film created with Liz Sargent and Minos Papas in dialogue with the site of the Doris Duke Theatre, which burned down on November 17, 2020

Dance for Social Justice™ workshops as part of an ongoing residency with Boston-based choreographer Mar Parrilla in Pittsfield, as well as virtual Jacob's Pillow-hosted Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) workshops on dance history and pedagogy

Virtual convenings of field leaders in a Dance and Social Change working group supported by the Ford Foundation

Following a successful round of "bubble" residencies in the fall, and thanks to a leadership gift from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Jacob's Pillow will host six additional resident artists and companies, with digital presentations by each as part of the Inside the Pillow Lab series. Artists and company members will quarantine and undergo rounds of COVID-19 testing prior to arrival, and will remain onsite with all food and supplies delivered for the duration of the residency period. Pillow staff will provide contactless support to the companies, with mask-wearing and social distancing required during any interaction. From late December 2020 through June 2021, the Pillow welcomes Dorrance Dance, Taylor Stanley, Nelida Tirado, INSPIRIT, Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, and Music From The Sole for Pillow Lab residencies. In addition to residencies on the Jacob's Pillow grounds, a residency at nearby MASS MoCA for choreographer Zoe Scofield will receive funding and support from the Pillow Lab program.

Jacob's Pillow continues its regional engagement by supporting an extended community residency with Boston-based choreographer Mar Parrilla in the city of Pittsfield. Parrilla's activities during her residency include virtual Dance for Social Justice™ workshops alongside Pittsfield Moves!, engaging local organizations and individuals in pursuing avenues for storytelling and community building through movement with a decolonizing and antiracist framework. Meanwhile, dance educators and teaching artists will participate virtually in Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) workshops that engage with the Pillow's extensive digital archive while exploring an embodied approach to teaching dance history. DEL is a nationally-renowned dance education program that has served the field for nearly three decades.

For viewers everywhere, three commissioned works will premiere online across digital platforms, each with a unique thematic and stylistic point of view. Harlem, NYC-based Chrybaby Cozie and Jacob's Pillow Associate Curator Ali Rosa-Salas present "Get the Lite," a film co-directed by Rosa-Salas and Godfred Sedano that illuminates not only Cozie's practice and role as an originator of the hip-hop dance form Litefeet, but also its rich history and the importance of learning and respecting cultural foundations. Additional work will be created by Marjani Forté-Saunders and Everett Saunders as the collaborative duo 7NMS| E + M, known for award-winning textural, interdisciplinary performances. (This commission, originally slated for last fall, was rescheduled for the spring season.) And following the total loss of the Doris Duke Theatre in a November 2020 fire, site-based movement artist Eiko (widely known for her long-term project A Body In Places) and filmmaker Liz Sargent and Minos Papas will present a thoughtful, moving collaboration in response to the site of the theatre.

The Pillow also continues to share digital resources from its renowned Archives including monthly releases of newly curated playlists, interactive Themes & Essays written by leading dance scholars, episodes of the PillowVoices podcast.

2021 Winter/Spring Events & Programs

Descriptions and details of events below. For more information visit jacobspillow.org/virtual-pillow

- PILLOW LAB VIRTUAL PRESENTATIONS -

All Inside the Pillow Lab presentations will take premiere on YouTube at 7pmEST. Advanced RSVP encouraged.

Dorrance Dance

Inside the Pillow Lab: January 14, 7pm Eastern

Dorrance Dance returned to Jacob's Pillow for two weeks at the end of 2020 to develop new choreography and music, marking the company's first in-person rehearsals since March. Led by an artistic team of Michelle Dorrance, Josette Wiggan-Freund, and Nicholas Young, and with music direction by Donovan Dorrance and Gregory Richardson, Dorrance Dance is one of the nation's leading tap dance companies. Known for melding virtuosic dancing with musicality that is at once complex, thrilling, and melodic, the company has delighted Pillow audiences for years and features an astonishing collection of tap and multiform dancers of the highest caliber.

Taylor Stanley

Inside the Pillow Lab: February 18, 7pm Eastern
Already a celebrated principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, Taylor Stanley had a breakout moment in 2018 with what Dance Magazine called an "epic" performance in Kyle Abraham's The Runaway, a commission for NYCB that featured Stanley dancing to music by Jay-Z and Kanye West. Stanley now joins a growing number of ballet stars who are pursuing new movement frontiers, coming to the Pillow with a team of artists including Lloyd Knight (Martha Graham Dance Company), Jacquelin Harris (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater), Allysen Hooks (Gallim Dance), and Ned Sturgis (Dušan Týnek Dance Theater) in a new Pillow-commissioned ensemble work by postmodern choreographer Jodi Melnick. Recent Pillow Lab artist and 2020 Guggenheim Fellow Shamel Pitts will also choreograph a solo for Stanley. With an unpretentious movement style noted as being "elegantly forceful...calm, confident, divinely cool," (Brian Seibert, The New York Times) Stanley is a natural fit for these exploratory contemporary ventures.

Nelida Tirado

Inside the Pillow Lab: March 11, 7pm Eastern
Hailed as "magnificent" and "utterly compelling" by The New York Times, Nelida Tirado has received international recognition for her grace, style, and dynamics as a Spanish/flamenco and Latin dancer. Noting immense differences in the two genres stylistically, and links between the two due to histories such as Spain's colonization of Puerto Rico, Tirado connects deeply to the musical qualities of both and their capacity to reflect deeply personal themes and sentiments such as loss, love, pain, and joy. Based in New York City, Tirado choreographs, performs, and teaches in both styles, earning accolades such as Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch'' and presenting her work at venues such as Joe's Pub, Gibney, and many others including an appearance in the forthcoming film version of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical In The Heights. During her Pillow Lab residency, Tirado and collaborators will continue development on Dime Quien Soy, an exploration of Andalusian flamenco and Nuyorican salsa that offers a prismatic perspective on politics, race, and diaspora.

INSPIRIT

Inside the Pillow Lab: April 22, 7pm Eastern
INSPIRIT began as a performance ensemble and educational conglomerate dedicated to gathering female choreographers to collaborate, show new works, and expand perceptions of women. Founding Artistic Director Christal Brown's vision has grown to encompass an all-male ensemble and to contribute to the legacies of JoyeMovement, Angela's Pulse, Sydnie L. Mosley and Dancers, Brotherhood Dance, and Maverick Dance Ensemble. Brown has an extensive history as a performer, appearing with Chuck Davis' African-American Dance Ensemble, Andrea E. Woods/Souloworks, and Gesel Mason Performance Projects as well as apprenticing with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company before finding a home with Urban Bush Women, where she spent three seasons as a principal performer and community specialist. Brown will continue work on a multiyear project entitled What We Ask of Flesh, which began in collaboration with poet and scholar Remica Bingham. Aligning Bingham's text with personal narratives, soundscapes by Faria Malianga, and the clarifying eye of dramaturg Arielle Brown, What We Ask of Flesh delivers a comprehensive analysis of the capacity of a human life.

Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE

Inside the Pillow Lab: May 6, 7pm Eastern
2020 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award recipient and frequent Festival artist Ronald K. Brown will return to the Pillow with his ensemble to develop The Equality of Night and Day, a new work examining balance, equity, and fairness in light of the conflicts and issues that young people, women, and people of color face amidst rising exploitation, gentrification, racism, and xenophobia. The Equality of Night and Day, which draws its title from the two times a year when day and night are nearly equal in length, will portray ease and disruption, peace and rapture, awakening and effort, resolving in an honest reflection of reality. With an original score by Jason Moran, text by Angela Davis, and visuals curated by Deborah Willis, the project will result from a collaborative process that includes conversations via artistic expression about shared responsibility and safety, among other timely themes. Brown is celebrated for his pioneering work portraying the struggles, tragedies, and triumphs of the African-American community through dance for more than three decades. A highly sought-after choreographer, he has created over 100 works for his own company, in addition to companies like Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, PHILADANCO, and Ballet Hispánico.

Music from the Sole

Inside the Pillow Lab: May 20, 7pm Eastern
Directed by tap dancer and choreographer Leonardo Sandoval (recently named one of "25 to Watch" in 2021 by Dance Magazine) and composer and multi-instrumentalist Gregory Richardson, Music from the Sole is a ten-member tap dance and live music ensemble. Richardson, who is the co-musical director of Dorrance Dance, and Sandoval, a dancer with the company, incorporate various Afro-diasporic dance and music styles in their creations with Music from the Sole, drawing on traditions from Sandoval's native Brazil such as passinho (Brazilian funk) and samba as well as house and other social dances. These juxtapositions allow not only for insight into the similarities and common roots of different styles, but also for the development of narratives and questions surrounding race, cultural identity, and the intersectionality of the Black experience. During their Pillow Lab residency, Richardson, Sandoval, and their ensemble will continue developing a new work commissioned by Guggenheim Works and Process.

Zoe Scofield

Inside the Pillow Lab: June 10, 7pm Eastern
Zoe Scofield, a dance and visual artist whose work often incorporates complex multimedia elements, will be in residence at nearby presenting partner MASS MoCA with additional funding and support provided by Jacob's Pillow. During her residency, Scofield will continue to develop always now (AN), a dance, video, and sound performance (originally developed in a 2018 Pillow Lab). Designed for a non-proscenium space, AN redesigns the relationship between audience and performer by literally shifting the audience's perspective, creating a work that is viewed from lying on the ground. This shift of orientation expands notions of power, and of how and where dance can exist in space and time. Scofield is also developing a Virtual Reality version of AN to be experienced at home, as well as a durational installation version with the audience free to move about while a soloist performs a ritual for an extended period. Based in Seattle, Washington since 2002, Zoe Scofield is the Co-Artistic Director and choreographer of zoe | juniper (zj), a dance and visual arts team comprised of Scofield and visual artist Juniper Shuey. A 2015 Guggenheim Fellow, Scofield has been commissioned by and presented work at Jacob's Pillow, On the Boards, Dance Theater Workshop/NYLA, ICA Boston, The Joyce Theater, and others.

About MASS MoCA's Artist-in-residence program:

For over two decades, MASS MoCA has been one of the nation's most productive venues for nurturing and creating new art-especially art which requires sophisticated equipment, generous spaces, and extended time-by offering excellent infrastructure and professional support and facilities. Over 500 artists have participated in extensive artist-in-residence and technical workshops including Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, William Kentridge, Helga Davis, Laurie Anderson, David Byrne/Fatboy Slim/Annie-B Parson, and many others.

In response to the new needs of artists in the wake of COVID-19, MASS MoCA has dramatically expanded its residency program, providing vital opportunities for artists to come together safely to create new work under these extraordinary circumstances.

- VIRTUAL COMMISSIONS -

7NMS| E + M

7NMS| E + M is the work of collaborative music and dance duo Everett Saunders and Marjani Forté-Saunders, now operating bi-coastally (Pasadena, CA and New York, NY). They are students and descendants of black liberation movements, and radically engage music and dance forms as alchemic mediums of elevation, healing, and futurity. Their latest work is A Prophet's Tale: Portrait of the Lyricist, a multi-year film, literary, music, and performance project discussing the life journey, the mystic pilgrimage, of hip-hop music's emcee/lyricist. The project marks their eighth collaboration, and is an awardee of the MAP Fund 2020 and New Music USA Award 2020. Thus far the work has been incubated in residencies at the Petronio Residency Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, and 7NMS' own #SatelliteResidency (in response to COVID-19) in partnership with co-commissioners Abrons Arts Center and Kelly Strayhorn Theatre. A Prophet's Tale and #SatelliteResidency were featured in the September issue of Dance Magazine. 7NMS are the architects behind Art & Power, a platform dedicated to Black Purpose and Innovation, fueling the initiative behind #SatelliteResidencies and a burgeoning network of Black radical experimenters and innovative critical thinkers.

Everett Saunders's work as a composer/sound designer includes projects with violinist Juliette Jones, award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter Damon Colquouhoun, Sony Music, and Urban Bush Women. His most recent work can be heard in Jaamil Olawale Kosoko's multimedia project and film Chameleon (2020). Marjani Forté-Saunders is a three-time Bessie Award-winning choreographer and performer. She is a Foundation for Contemporary Arts grantee, an inaugural recipient of the Jerome Foundation Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, Dance/USA Artist Fellow, UBW Choreographic Center Fellow, and a two-time Princess Grace Foundation awardee. Her work has been incubated in residencies at MANCC, LMCC Extended Life Residency, BAX, CUNY Dance Initiative, 651 Arts, and Movement Research.

Chrybaby Cozie, Get the Lite

Chrybaby Cozie is recognized as one of the founders of Litefeet, a contemporary hip-hop dance form developed on Harlem's basketball courts in the early 2000s. As moves like the Harlem Shake and Chicken Noodle Soup, which originated in Litefeet, have entered popular culture, Cozie has dedicated his work to teaching not only the practice but the context of this form. "Get the Lite" is a testimony to these efforts, bringing the viewer to the Kingdome, a famous basketball court in Harlem that is regarded as one of the birthplaces of Litefeet culture. Co-directed by Jacob's Pillow Associate Curator Ali Rosa-Salas with Godfred Sedano and produced by Devlin Claro-Resetar, the film features original music by Tony Seltzer and Not Your Ordinary Producer. The creator of dance organizations such as The Bwreckfast Club and Litefeet Nation, Chrybaby Cozie has appeared with artists such as A$AP Ferg and Kiesza and at events such as The Breakin' Convention at the Apollo Theater and Hot 97's Summer Jam.

Eiko

Eiko (Otake) collaborates with filmmaker Liz Sargent (2020 NY Emmy® award-winner) on a site-based creation with The Remains of the Doris Duke Theatre at Jacob's Pillow after it was destroyed completely in a fire on November 17, 2020. Filmed less than 30 days after the fire took place, this new work captures a haunting absence on the wintry Pillow landscape. Eiko, widely known for her decades of collaborative work as Eiko & Koma as well as her ongoing solo project A Body in Places, has also undertaken a multi-year Duet Project, an open-ended series of cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural, and cross-generational experiments with a diverse range of artists both living and dead, provoking questions of when people (and places) cease to exist, and how to remain in dialogue. Eiko is the recipient of a Sam Miller Performance Award (2020), a Bessie Special Citation (2016), a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award (2012), and with Eiko & Koma a joint recipient of a United States Artist Fellowship (2006) and MacArthur Fellowship (1996) among many other honors.

- CONVENINGS -

Legacies of Change: A Retreat for Dance & Social Change Leaders

This event is open to invited participants only.

Jacob's Pillow virtually hosts a second gathering of dance and social change artists and practitioners, framed as a retreat for this edition following the upheaval forged by the multiple pandemics of 2020. This closed event will take place under the direction and guidance of Founding Artistic Director and Visioning Partner of Urban Bush Women Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, and choreographer, performer, writer, teacher, and founder of Dance Exchange Liz Lerman. Working at the intersection of dance, social change, and community practice for over three decades, Zollar and Lerman are pioneers of this practice. Twenty participants will join from around the United States for the opportunity to critically examine past practices, current opportunities, and challenges around community practice and the use of dance as an agent of social change at this pivotal moment. This restorative platform of deep listening and reflection is made possible by funding from the Ford Foundation and is integral to placing the Pillow's community engagement programs and practice in a national context while advancing dialogue in the dance field as a whole.

- COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS-

Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) at Jacob's Pillow: DELving Into Dance History

Fee: $99 per course (includes access to Dance Education Laboratory resources and materials)
Designed for K-12 dance educators and college dance history enthusiasts, "DELving Into Dance History" invites participants to consider new modalities for dance history pedagogy. Led by Ann Biddle and Felice Santorelli, this workshop proposes an embodied approach while highlighting the extensive video and multimedia resources of the Jacob's Pillow Archives and Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive. Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) connects dance educators, college dance students, classroom teachers, and professional dancers to the DEL model of dance education. Jacob's Pillow collaborates with the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) as a satellite of the nationally renowned dance teacher education program, founded by Jody Gottfried Arnhold with Ann Biddle as Founding Faculty and Joan Finkelstein as Founding Director.

DANCE ON! A Virtual Community Dance Party

Pittsfield's 10 x 10 Upstreet Arts Festival

February 20, 8:00-9:00pmEST via Zoom

FREE; Donations benefit Berkshire Immigrant Center & Volunteers in Medicine

Hosted by Christal Brown, Founding Artistic Director of INSPIRIT, and New York-based DJ DP One.

Dance enthusiasts can join in a global moment of movement (with a live DJ set!) via Zoom, offering a chance to celebrate and enjoy music and dancing together, from home. Attendees will be invited to use the chat function in Zoom to connect with new and old friends, and volunteers will be spotlighted throughout the evening for moments of dance exchange.

This event is a part of Discover Pittsfield's 10x10 Upstreet Arts Festival. The Festival is celebrating its 10th Anniversary with virtual art shows and performances, encore presentations of past events, outdoor adventures, and live ice carving in Downtown Pittsfield. For more information and updates visit: www. Discoverpittsfield.com.

Dance for Social Justice™ Community Residency with Mar Parrilla and Pittsfield Moves!

Boston-based Afro-Indigenous/Afro-Taíno Borikua choreographer Mar Parrilla and collaborator Claudia Elena Varela from Parrilla's company Danza Orgánica will lead virtual Dance for Social Justice™ (DSJ) workshops that explore movement as a means of liberation and social change for Berkshire County residents, in partnerships with the community initiative Pittsfield Moves!. The aim of DSJ is to connect participants to their own creative expression, building an understanding of movement as a tool for communication. This workshop series takes place in collaboration with Berkshire-region community partners, artists, and organizations, collectively addressing historical perspectives, present struggles, and visions for a radical and equitable future. The DSJ creative process is guided and inspired by the sharing and input of the workshop participants.

Pittsfield Moves!, conceived by Jacob's Pillow with The Berkshire Bridges - Working Cities Pittsfield and Angela's Pulse, is an ongoing initiative led by Berkshire-based artists and community stakeholders rooted in developing a practice of storytelling and relationship building through movement to address issues that impact and affect Berkshire communities. Pittsfield Moves! launched in fall 2017 as a year-long artist residency led by choreographer Paloma McGregor (Director of Angela's Pulse) and MK Abadoo (Lead Facilitator of Angela's Pulse) alongside Berkshire County partner organizations Youth Alive!, NAACP - Berkshire County Branch, Manos Unidas Multicultural Education Cooperative, Railroad Street Youth Project, Berkshire Children & Families, and Transformative Development Initiative, among others.

Mar Parrilla is the founding artistic director of Danza Orgánica (2007) and the recipient of several awards from the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Boston Foundation, among others. She is currently collaborating with Native American communities in Massachusetts with a focus on best practices towards antiracist decolonization, and with Puerto Rico-based artists on a residency-based cultural exchange exploring the colonial relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States. Danza Orgánica has appeared as part of the Inside/Out series, facilitated a community movement workshop and performance in Pittsfield, MA as part of 10x10 Upstreet Arts Festival, and participated in a Creative Development Residency at Jacob's Pillow.

-ONLINE ENGAGEMENT-

Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive

A collection of dance videos filmed at Jacob's Pillow from the 1930s to the present, this digital resource continues to expand, adding new essays and playlists in addition to new videos. A new video playlist is released each month, gathering artists from across the depth and breadth of the Pillow's decades of presentations; recent playlist categories include Black Voices, Human Interaction, and Piano Music, among others. The in-depth Themes series, which includes extended video clips, archival photos and programs, and essays by guest historians/curators offers a deeper look into topics such as "Dance of the African Diaspora" (curated by John Perpener) and "What is Dance?" (curated by Maura Keefe).

PillowVoices: Dance Through Time

The new monthly podcast PillowVoices: Dance Through Time brings listeners closer to notable dance artists connected with Jacob's Pillow, from 1933 to today. Each episode utilizes archival recordings brought to life in the personal stories and narration of current thought-leaders and scholars. A recent episode, Choreographing the Social Consciousness: Part 1, Governmental Affairs, explored how artists respond to governmental programs and political figures. Using the example of choreographers Liz Lerman and Mark Dendy to discuss how artists derive creative inspiration from politics and socio-political content, the episode also features a conversation with political commentator Rachel Maddow and Pillow Scholar Suzanne Carbonneau on the role of government in the arts. PillowVoices is directed and produced by Jennifer Edwards, and Ellis Rovin is composer and engineer. The podcast's content curator is Norton Owen, and associate curator is Patsy Gay.

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