Martha Graham Dance Company Performs in Week 8 of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

In the eighth week of the 2023 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the world-renowned Martha Graham Dance Company will perform Graham’s Cave of the Heart and Errand Into the Maze, and Hofesh Shechter’s CAVE, in the Ted Shawn Theatre from Aug. 16-20. Alongside the Martha Graham Dance Company in Week 8 of the Festival are several one-night-only performances on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage, featuring Danza Orgánica on Aug. 16, the American College Dance Association on Aug. 17, and Artists of the Berkshires, including Sayer Mansfield, Ian Spencer Bell, Fiona Scruggs’s Qualia Dance Collective, and 860 MVMNT AND STUDIO 860 on Aug. 18. Tickets for performances on the Henry J. Leir Stage are available on a Choose What You Pay model. Tickets for all performances are on sale now. 

In addition to these onsite and online performances is Community Day on Friday, a family-friendly, all-ages afternoon of on-campus programming. On Saturday morning, there will be a Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) Workshop, where participants will explore the life and legacy of modern dance icon Martha Graham in an interactive movement workshop. Later that afternoon, Neil Baldwin, author of the biography Martha Graham: When Dance Became Modern, will participate in a free PillowTalk on the illustrious choreographer in Blake’s Barn. On Saturday evening, Aug. 19, the School at Jacob’s Pillow will present their Tap Program in a performance on the outdoor Leir Stage, led by Dormeshia, Michelle Dorrance, and Derick K. Grant. Tickets for the School presentation are available now on a Choose What You Pay model. 

Following the August 19th, Saturday evening performance in the Ted Shawn Theatre, there is a Dance Party with Martha Graham artists. Tickets for this special themed, rave-like dance party are available now. Rounding out Week 8 of the Festival is a workshop on Sunday in Martha Graham’s technique with Graham artist Denise Vale, open to intermediate/advanced dancers ages 16+. Also on Sunday is Lighting the Fire at the Eastern Woodlands Homesite, a free event where Nipmuc citizen Andre Strongbearheart Gaines Jr., a builder of the site alongside Nazario TallHairRedDeer Garate, will lead an interactive talk. All are welcome to witness the making of the fire, as well as play traditional hand games and eat traditional food. In the afternoon that day, another free PillowTalk honors Deborah Jowitt, author of Errand Into the Maze: The Life and Works of Martha Graham, in Blake’s Barn. 

“When I look at the array of programming for this week, it truly represents the breadth and depth of all that the Pillow offers,” said Pamela Tatge, Executive and Artistic Director of Jacob’s Pillow. “Martha Graham was a student of our founder, Ted Shawn, and the Pillow has been an artistic home for the Graham company for decades. Audiences will have the chance to see two iconic Greek-themed works with sets by Noguchi alongside a thrilling showstopper by Hofesh Shechter. We are also welcoming everyone to celebrate Berkshire-based artists and celebrate Community Day with us with performances, workshops and family-friendly fun across the campus; it will be a joy-filled week here, for sure!”    

The Martha Graham Dance Company is a world leader in the ever-evolving art form of modern dance. Today, under the direction of former principal dancer Janet Eilber, the company is embracing a fresh vision that showcases Graham masterworks alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists. At Jacob’s Pillow, the company will perform Cave of the Heart, a one-act ballet choreographed by Martha Graham in 1946 to music by Samuel Barber, featuring sets by Isamu Noguchi. Cave of the Heart retells the ancient Greek myth of Medea, a woman consumed by love and jealousy, and has remained a central piece in the company’s repertory. Additionally, the company will perform London-based choreographer Hofesh Shechter’s CAVE, the hit of its 2022 New York season, inspired by communal nightlife dancing and the Rave scene. Rounding out the program is Errand into the Maze, a historic Graham masterpiece that was first performed at the Pillow in 1960. 

Danza Orgánica is a Boston-based dance theater company whose work centers around equity, social justice, and decolonization. On the Leir Stage on Aug. 16, Danza Orgánica will perform Âs Nupumukômun (We Still Dance), a theatrical composition created in close collaboration between Danza Orgánica and members of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe. Adhering to Indigenous storytelling, dance, song, and installation, Âs Nupumukômun explores what it means to be native today by highlighting traditional and contemporary stories of the Aquinnah Wampanoag People. This collaboration, which started in Winter 2018, was made possible through a partnership between the Aquinnah Cultural Center, The Yard, and Danza Orgánica.

On Aug. 17, the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage will host a range of college performance ensembles, as a part of the American College Dance Association (ACDA). The performance will include works choreographed by undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and guest artists, selected from a panel of expert adjudicators at ACDA regional conferences around the country. Ensembles included in this performance are from the University of New Mexico, University of South Florida, University of the Arts (Philadelphia), University of Oklahoma, and Modesto Junior College (California). 

Community Day, on Aug. 18, will culminate with a performance by local artists on the Leir Stage, including Sayer Mansfield, a Berkshire native based in New York’s Columbia County, 860 MVMNT AND STUDIO 860, from Hartford County, CT, and Ian Spencer Bell and Fiona Scruggs’s Qualia Dance Collective, both based in the Berkshires. Before the performance, free movement classes and dance-themed childrens’ activities and tours will be open to all, as well as an additional free performance featuring local dance groups on the Leir Stage at 3pm. 

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