THE LAND ON WHICH WE DANCE, GALLIM, And More Announced At Jacob's Pillow, August 7-11
By: A.A. Cristi Jul. 22, 2019
Gallim makes its Ted Shawn Theatre debut with a Pillow co-commissioned world premiere, August 7-11. Under the direction of perpetually groundbreaking artist Andrea Miller, Brooklyn-based Gallim embodies human connection through bold, raw, transformative works. As New York Magazine attests, "her viscerally physical movement wrings every inch of life from her dancers-and you'll be holding your breath, too."
The world premiere of True, very weaves together excerpts from Miller's most fascinating work from over the past ten years-including Pupil, Miller's first piece for Gallim, and her most recent work, To Create a World, inspired by her time as an artist-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition, Gallim performs Boat, a work dedicated to those searching for hope in the wake of oppression.
"I'm thrilled to see this Pillow co-commissioned work come to life as Gallim performs in the Ted Shawn Theatre for their first time," says Jacob's Pillow Director Pamela Tatge. "In addition, Boat is certainly an important work to present at this particular time in our history, and is sure to captivate audiences."
Miller brings unbridled vulnerability and sensitivity to her work. Capturing the intoxicating ecstasy of dancing, True, very is set to a mixed sonic score of original and contemporary music. "We got very excited at looking over the last 10 years of repertory since our first Pillow performances in 2008 and finding sections that speak to the raucous spirit of Pupil," said Miller. In her words, the work creates "a world where the body and imagination [are] liberated, with total freedom to be expressive and wild and uncensored."
Set to the mystical and sacred music of celebrated composer Arvo Pärt, Boat is influenced by the Syrian Refugee crisis. The work is dedicated to immigrants and their perseverance in the face of oppression, "and to all who are building new harbors and homes for their hearts to host," says Miller. Philadelphia Dance lauds, "Miller's torrent of perpetual motion is both eloquent and harrowing in depicting the plight of refugees trying to escape to a better life or just attempting to survive." Dressed in casual attire and partnering with "tactile physicality" (Dance Enthusiast), the nine dancers "move[d] liquid," (The Philadelphia Inquirer).
Brooklyn-based company Gallim celebrates elemental connections through the exploration of the human experience. Under the direction of founder, artistic director, and choreographer Andrea Miller, Gallim's international success spans the world of performing arts and cultural festivals, and includes collaborations in film, music, visual arts, and fashion.
Over the past decade, the company has performed at renowned venues and festivals including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Met Breuer, Frieze Festival, Art Basel, Lincoln Center, BAM, The Kennedy Center, Jacob's Pillow, Spoleto USA, The Glass House, Grace Farms, SLS Hotel Miami and Las Vegas, Theatre National de Chaillot in Paris, and the Grand Theatre de la Ville de Luxembourg, among others; as well as for brands including Hermès, Calvin Klein, and Lacoste. Gallim has made multiple appearances at The Joyce Theater since its debut as part of Joyce SoHo Presents in 2007.
Gallim first appeared at the Pillow in 2008 as part of the Inside/Out Performance Series. Their official Pillow debut was in the Doris Duke Theatre in 2009, when Gallim also performed in the Season Opening Gala. Andrea Miller taught and created a work on Contemporary dancers in The School at Jacob's Pillow in 2011, and Gallim was at the Pillow for a Creative Development Residency in March 2015.
PERFORMANCE & TICKET INFORMATION:
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Gallim at Jacob's Pillow
Ted Shawn Theatre
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 8pm
Saturday and Sunday at 2pm
$78, $65, $45
A limited number of $35 Under 35 tickets are available; adults ages 18-35 are eligible. One
Ticket per person; each guest must show valid I.D. when picking up tickets at Will Call.
Special Event: The Land on Which We Dance
August 7-11
Indigenous artists Sandra Laronde and Christopher K. Morgan facilitate a landmark gathering of Indigenous dance at Jacob's Pillow. Related events identified below.
Re-Mapping Native Space in the Berkshires & Beyond
Aug 7, 4:30pm
FREE
The writings, voices, and homelands of Native people from the Berkshires and western Massachusetts are highlighted in this conversation with Amherst College professor Lisa Brooks, author of two books about the Indigenous traditions of this region: The Common Pot and Our Beloved Kin: Re-Mapping King Philip's War.
Inside/Out Performance Series: The Land on Which We Dance
Wednesday, August 7 at 6:15pm
FREE, LIVE MUSIC
This landmark gathering kicks off a week of celebrating contemporary Indigenous artists. The Pillow campus will be illuminated with an exchange of song, dance, and storytelling-bringing together local Indigenous peoples and inviting all to participate in this exchange.
Class with Inside/Out Artist: Stones and Stories with Christopher K. Morgan
Thursday, August 8 at 4pm
FREE
Native Hawaiian choreographer Christopher K. Morgan's dance theater piece PÅhaku (the Hawaiian word for stone) incorporates stones in the performance. For this workshop, Morgan shares stories about the role of stones in traditional Hawaiian culture and his own life.
Workshop participants will gather stones according to traditional Hawaiian protocols, including asking each stone for permission to be utilized in the performance. The workshop will incorporate storytelling, moving, and chanting. These same stones then become a part of the PÅhaku performance, charged with the energy of the workshop participants. Following the PÅhaku performance, the stones are returned to the locations from which they were originally gathered.
Weather permitting, class begins at the Inside/Out Stage and will move throughout campus. In the case of inclement weather, class takes place in the Ruth St. Denis Studio. Open to all ages and experience levels. Participants younger than 18 will require a parent/guardian's signature on a liability waiver. Pre-registration is required at jacobspillow.org.
Inside/Out Performance Series: Christopher K. Morgan
Thursday, August 8 at 6:15pm
FREE, LIVE MUSIC
Choreographer and performer Christopher K. Morgan performs PÅhaku, a unique dance and hula performance with live music by electric cellist Wytold and Hawaiian chanter/percussionist Elsie Kaleihulukea Ryder. The show tells the story of Hawaii's colonial past through the choreographer's personal story of his ache for the land he is from, but never lived in.
Christopher K. Morgan & Artists (CKM&A) is a professional contemporary dance company serving as a vehicle for Morgan's choreographic exploration of social and cultural issues. Voted Washington, DC's Best Dance Company in the 2015 CityPaper annual poll, the company has garnered support from The New England Foundation for the Arts, The National Performance Network, and The Native Arts and Culture Foundation, among others. CKM&A's work has been declared "direct, transcendent and entrancing" by Pulitzer Prize-winning dance critic Sarah Kaufman of The Washington Post and "charming and poignant" by Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times.
Storytelling Bonfire
Friday, August 9 after evening performance (around 9:30pm)
FREE
Following the evening performance of Red Sky Performance, the Pillow campus will be illuminated with an exchange of song, dance, and storytelling centered around a bonfire. This event is a moment to bring together local Indigenous peoples with contemporary Indigenous artists-anchored by the presentation of Toronto-based Red Sky Performance. In the event of rain, check jacobspillow.org for updates.
PillowTalk: Indigenous Dance
Saturday, August 10 at 4pm
Blake's Barn
FREE
Sandra Laronde of Red Sky Performance compares notes with Hawaiian Christopher K. Morgan, exploring the challenges of maintaining Indigenous dance traditions in today's increasingly diverse world.
PillowTalk: Isadora Duncan Forever
Friday, August 9 at 5pm
Blake's Barn
FREE
America's pioneering modern dancer is saluted by Lori Belilove of the Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation, keeper of the flame for generations of aspiring young artists.
Inside/Out Performance Series: The Art of Isadora
Sara Mearns, Guest Artist, performs with Lori Belilove & The Isadora Duncan Dance Company
Friday, August 9 at 6:15pm
FREE
New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns' interpretation of the work of Isadora Duncan has been hailed as "a revelation" (The New York Times). Capturing the essence of Duncan's feisty and romantic nature, today's pre-eminent Duncan interpreter Lori Belilove has staged The Art of Isadora with performance by Belilove herself, Mearns, and the senior members of her Company, which introduces Duncan's signature repertory set to music by Chopin, Brahms, Gluck, Schubert, and Scriabin.
Lori Belilove & The Isadora Duncan Company, critically acclaimed by the international press, performs over 80 authentic dances that highlight the unique qualities of Isadora Duncan's repertoire, from the early lyrical pieces to the tragic solos, all with a purity of style aimed to keep Isadora's original works alive as priceless jewels of American Modern Dance. The Company breathes new life into Duncan's legendary solos and group work through public performance and education programming, most recently at Lincoln Center and New York City Center and on tour in China and Greece. Lori Belilove's direct lineage and prestigious performing career have earned her an international reputation as the premier interpreter and ambassador of the dance of Isadora Duncan. As a third generation Duncan dancer, Belilove is considered the living embodiment of Duncan's grace, power, and mastery of weight. She was coached for performance by 1st generation Duncan Dancers Anna Duncan and Irma Duncan, two of the six adopted artistic daughters of Isadora, also known as the Isadorables, and then with 2nd generation Duncan Dancers Julia Levien, Hortense Kooluris, and Mignon Garland.
Inside/Out Performance Series: The School at Jacob's Pillow Tap Program
Saturday, August 10 at 6:15pm
FREE
Dancers of the Tap Program have journeyed from around the world to study with Tap Program Directors Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards and Michelle Dorrance for three weeks. For Inside/Out audiences, they perform traditional tap vocabulary, cutting edge styles, improvisation, and acapella compositions as soloists and ensemble performers, all in preparation for Gotta Dance, a benefit for The School at Jacob's Pillow held in the Ted Shawn Theatre on August 18.
Additional artist faculty that dancers are trained and mentored by are among the most talented and celebrated artists in tap today including Brenda Bufalino, Derick K. Grant, Jason Samuels Smith, Maria Torres, Dianne Walker, Sam Weber, and Josette Wiggan-Freund.
Sunday Master Class: Red Sky Performance
Sunday, August 11 at 10am
Doris Duke Theatre
Led by Red Sky Performance Associate Artists, this master class will provide participants with an energizing and refreshing movement experience. Participants will be led through a series of exercises and prompts including a warm-up, improvisation, repertoire, and Indigenous cultural movement.
Open to all levels ages 16 and over. Quiet observation is welcome; $20 per class or $100 for a 6-class card. Participants younger than 18 will require a parent/guardian's signature on a liability waiver. Pre-registration is required at jacobspillow.org.
Special Event: Pillow Case
Sunday, August 11 at 11am
Celebrate the magic of Jacob's Pillow at this intimate garden party performance at a private home in Tyringham, which features exclusive performance and company. Taylor Stanley, Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet, performs one of the most talked about solos from Kyle Abraham's critically acclaimed NYCB commission The Runaway; Maleek Washington and Timothy Edwards of Camille A. Brown & Dancers perform excerpts from Brown's ink, the final work in a trilogy about culture, race, and identity; and Craig D. Black Jr. and Anna Lopez of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago perform excerpts from resident choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo's Silent Ghost.
Proceeds will support dance-enhanced community partnerships throughout the Berkshires, dancers attending The School at Jacob's Pillow, nascent choreographers, and the ongoing work of dance research and scholarship. This event is hosted by Jacob's Pillow Trustee and Community Engagement Committee Chair Jennie Kassanoff & her husband Dan Schulman at their Tyringham home, Wildbrook.
Special Workshop: Gaga/people
Sunday, August 11 at noon-1pm
Gaga/people classes are open to people ages 16+, regardless of their background in dance or movement; no previous dance experience required. Gaga/people classes offer a creative framework for participants to connect to their bodies and imaginations, increase their physical awareness, improve their flexibility and stamina, and experience the pleasure of movement in a welcoming, accepting atmosphere. Bobbi Jene Smith is leading the class. From 2005-2014, Smith was a member of the Batsheva Dance Company under the Artistic Direction of Ohad Naharin. Smith is a certified Gaga teacher and has taught the repertory of Ohad Naharin in schools and universities around the U.S.
$20/class; Pre-registration required online or call 413.243.9919 x166. Registration opens Monday at 9am the week of class. Walk-ups are accommodated as space permits.
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