Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Reveals Week 5 Programming Featuring Sekou McMiller & Friends and More

Jacob's Pillow invites audiences of all ages to experience MOMIX—the dancer-illusionist company famous for their colorful and inventive touring spectacles—during Week 5 of this summer's Dance Festival. This marks the first appearance by MOMIX at Jacob's Pillow since their debut in 2002. The company will perform in the Ted Shawn Theatre from Wednesday, July 24 through Sunday, July 28—including a special Thursday matinee, added to the performance schedule due to popular demand. The company's performance of VIVA MOMIX, a collection of their most astonishing work, will showcase the company's extraordinary use of optical illusions. Tickets start at $65. 

On the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage, Week 5 of the Festival will also include a one-night-only performance featuring USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance on Wednesday, July 24, as dancers present a wide range of iconic and innovative works by acclaimed choreographers such as George Balanchine, Dwight Rhoden, and Ohad Naharin. New York and Chicago based choreographer and producer Sekou McMiller will perform a new work inspired by the golden age of mambo on Thursday, July 25. Tickets for all one-night-only performances are available on a Choose What You Pay model. In addition, the Indigenous masked dance company Dancers of Damelahamid will perform on Friday, July 26, and Saturday, July 27. Tickets for Dancers of Damelahamid start at $40. All performances are now on sale. 

“We are so excited to welcome MOMIX back after so many years,” said Pamela Tatge, Executive and Artistic Director of Jacob's Pillow. “Their work is so imaginative, and really pushes the limits of visual design to amplify the power and capabilities of the human body. It is fast-paced, athletic, and fun for audiences of any age. Our outdoor performances in Week 5 showcase remarkable work being done by young dancers at the USC Kaufman School of Dance, and a new work by Afro-Latin dance virtuoso Sekou McMiller. It is also an honor to host Dancers of Damelahamid, all the way from British Columbia, to bring us their extraordinary form of Indigenous masked dance as a means of both preserving and sharing their cultural traditions. An extraordinary range of dancers will appear during this week of the festival.”

In addition to onstage performances in Week 5, Jacob's Pillow will offer a community workshop on Wednesday, July 24 at 6pm in Pittsfield with Sekou McMiller as he engages with Caribbean dance and music cultures including Samba, Mambo, and Cha Cha while blending jazz and modern dance traditions. During Week 5, Jacob's Pillow will also offer public presentations by the 2024 artist cohort of the Jacob's Pillow Curriculum in Motion Institute. The event will showcase artist graduates' choreographic process through lively and interactive presentations, in Blake's Barn on Saturday, July 27 at 11am and 2pm. This event is free with online registration.

In Week 5, the Festival will also offer two free PillowTalks. “You, The Choreographer,” held on Saturday, July 27 at 4pm, will discuss Vladimir Angelov's new book on the dance-making process, and include conversation with Angelov and MOMIX Artistic Director Moses Pendleton. The second PillowTalk, “Obsessed With Light,” will be held on Sunday, July 28 at 4pm, and will feature a new 90-minute documentary film about pioneering dancer Loïe Fuller. 

To round out this festival week, Jacob's Pillow will welcome MOMIX dancer and The School at Jacob's Pillow alumnus Anthony Bocconi for a public workshop on Sunday, July 28 from 10-11:30am. This interactive workshop will feature a traditional ballet barre and floor warm-up, along with MOMIX-inspired centerwork, and will conclude with a Q&A.

ABOUT MOMIX

Famous across the globe for exceptional inventiveness and physical beauty, MOMIX is a company of dancer-illusionists under the direction of Moses Pendleton, one of America's most renowned and widely performed choreographers. A co-founder of the groundbreaking Pilobolus Dance Theater in 1971, Pendleton formed his own company in 1980. Based in Connecticut, MOMIX conjures thrilling and family-friendly performances that move from humorous to athletic, sensual to physical, and dynamic to lyrical, always using props, bodies, costumes, and screen projections in new and unique ways, with eye-popping visuals and an extraordinary sense of fun. 

Returning to the Pillow for the first time since 2002, the company will perform VIVA MOMIX, a magical collection of the company's most astonishing works. The company's “wondrously agile human dancers” (The New York Times) combine with innovative stage magic that have delighted audiences around the world for decades. 

Explore past Pillow performances on Jacob's Pillow Interactive: 

MOMIX 2002:

https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/momix/passion/

ABOUT USC Glorya Kaufman SCHOOL OF DANCE 

Founded in 2012, USC Kaufman is a world-class art school at the forefront of developing dancers, choreographers, and dance leaders for the future. In addition to bringing together a stellar list of faculty and Artists in Residence, the program features the repertory of several iconic and innovative choreographers including Founding Director Jodie Gates, as well as George Balanchine, Jiří Kylián, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Dwight Rhoden, Sonya Tayeh and Rauf “RubberLegz” Yasit, among other significant dance-makers. 

Graduates of the BFA program have gone on to secure contracts with Broadway productions and dance companies including Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Ballet BC, BalletMet, Ballet Hispánico, BODYTRAFFIC, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Oregon Ballet Theatre, RUBBERBAND, and The Joffrey Ballet, among others. 

ABOUT Sekou McMiller

Sekou McMiller is a New York City/Chicago-based choreographer, teacher, curator, and producer at the forefront of a new movement in Afro Latin dance. McMiller's unique fusion style has a strong Afro-Caribbean essence that is laced with many different dance techniques combined with an explosive energy. His new work, Shine, is inspired by the golden age of mambo at the Palladium nightclub in New York City during the 1940s, '50s and '60s. To bring the work to life, McMiller has curated a collective of skilled dancers, musicians, composers, and performers. The result is a masterful show that fuses music anddance while uniting interconnected cultures. 

McMiller's choreographic work has been featured at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Dance Chicago, The Actors Fund Theater, New York City Center, Ailey CitiGroup Theater, Symphony Space, Edison Ballroom, and the United Nations General Assembly. He has appeared in films including In the Heights (2021), performed off-Broadway, choreographed for television, and performed and choreographed for top Latin music artists including Gilberto Santa Rosa, Willie Colón, Ismael Miranda, Cheo Feliciano, Johnny Pacheco, Tito Rojas, Tito Nieves, Pitbull, and Madonna. He is a choreographer/director of this summer's Musical Theatre program at The School at Jacob's Pillow. 

Related content on Jacob's Pillow On Demand: 

Inside the Pillow Lab: Sekou McMiller, 2023 

https://watch.jacobspillow.org/detail/videos/inside-the-pillow-lab-film-series/video/634512943 3112?autoStart=true

ABOUT DANCERS OF DAMELAHAMID

Dancers of Damelahamid is an Indigenous dance company from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia with a rich history of masked dance. Through dramatic dance, captivating narrative, intricately carved masks, and elaborate regalia, the company finds innovative ways to bring all audiences into the art, history, language, and traditions of Indigenous culture. Through “breathtaking” (Vancouver Arts Review) performances, the company offers a deep appreciation of the richness of Indigenous dance in the Pacific Northwest. After many decades of suppression from the illegalization of the potlatch (gift-giving feasts) by the Canadian government from 1885 to 1951, Dancers of Damelahamid emerged in the 1960s out of an urgency to ensure that these artistic practices were not lost. 

Founded upon generations of dance revitalization, the company's performances are relevant to current innovation, influence, and insights. Dancers of Damelahamid's “amazing” (Artsfile) performances—full of story dance and song—and their annual Coastal Dance Festival of international Indigenous artists(founded in 2008) honor a legacy while offering new pathways between communities and cultures. 

PERFORMANCE & TICKET DETAILS

Tickets are on sale now; online at jacobspillow.org and via phone at 413.243.0745

MOMIX
July 24-28, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 8pm; Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2pm
Ted Shawn Theatre | Tickets from $65

USC Glorya Kaufman School Of Dance
Wednesday, July 24 at 6pm
Henry J. Leir Stage | Choose What You Pay

Sekou McMiller & Friends 
Thursday, July 25 at 6pm
Henry J. Leir Stage | Choose What You Pay

Dancers of Damelahamid
July 26-27, Friday and Saturday at 6pm
Henry J. Leir Stage | Tickets from $40

ADDITIONAL EVENTS

Morning Classes

June 25-28; Tuesday through Friday, 9-10am

Open to all dance experience levels, ages 16+. Offered weekly through the summer in Sommers Studio. $12 per class; $50 for 5 class card. Pay via online pre-registration or cash/card at the door.

• Ballet: Tuesdays through August 20

• Contemporary: Wednesdays through August 21

• West African Dance & Spiritual Well-Being: Thursdays through August 22

• Hip-Hop/Street Styles: Fridays through August 23

Pittsfield Community Workshop
Afro Latin Jazz and Soul Experience with Sekou McMiller

Wednesday July 24 at 6-7:30pm
Sekou's Afro Latin Jazz and Soul Experience takes a rhythmical journey through African American, Afro Latino, and other African cultures looking at similarities, intersections, and fusions. This class will explore the fundamental elements and movement principles of social dance and Embodied Africanist Aesthetics. Join us as we engage with Caribbean dance and music cultures including Samba, Mambo, and Cha Cha while blending jazz and modern dance traditions. Click here to learn more about Sekou McMiller.

Jacob's Pillow Curriculum in Motion Institute Public Presentations 

Saturday, July 27 at 11am and 2pm 

Free with online registration encouraged 

Join the 2024 Jacob's Pillow Curriculum in Motion Institute artist graduates for lively, interactive presentations about their work. The Institute, “a dance-makers' think tank,” is a ten-month training in the Curriculum in Motion method: a co-creative workshop/residency model applying choreographers' methods to the curriculum, question, issue or theme of a community partner. The Institute is directed by Celeste Miller (Institute Director), Kimberli Boyd, and Michael Richter (Institute Co-Directors). 

Over the past 30 years, Jacob's Pillow Curriculum in Motion, a nationally-recognized arts-integration approach, has partnered choreographers with K-12 classrooms, museums, after-school programs, medical providers, businesses, civic and cultural organizations in Berkshire County and beyond.

PillowTalk: You, The Choreographer 

Saturday, July 27 at 4pm 

Blake's Barn | FREE

A comprehensive new book by Vladimir Angelov considers all aspects of dance-making, while Moses Pendleton has been creating works for MOMIX and others for decades. Here they discuss it all. 

Workshop with Festival Artists: MOMIX 

Sunday, July 28 from 10-11:30am 

Beginner dancers, ages 16+ 

Join MOMIX dancer and School at Jacob's Pillow alumnus Anthony Bocconi in a traditional ballet barre and floor warm-up, followed by MOMIX-inspired centerwork. This workshop will conclude with a Q&A. Comfortable clothing and socks or ballet flats recommended.

PillowTalk: Obsessed With Light 

Sunday, July 28 at 4pm 

Blake's Barn | FREE 

This new 90-minute documentary about pioneering dancer Loïe Fuller includes a jaw-dropping assortment of imagery and surprising interviews with Bill T. Jones, William Kentridge, MOMIX's Moses Pendleton, and more.

FESTIVAL EXHIBITS & ARCHIVES – ONGOING

JOHN LINDQUIST: AS OF TODAY

It’s impossible to overstate how the photographs of John Lindquist (1890-1980) have shaped public perception of the Pillow’s first four decades and influenced all subsequent photographers here. Now the institutional home for Lindquist’s body of work, Harvard University’s Houghton Library has digitized many thousands of images, and we are able to learn more about our past through these carefully-selected new prints, many of which are being exhibited for the first time. This exhibit will be discussed in a freePillowTalk on Sunday, August 11 at 4pm. Blake’s Barn; open Tue-Sun, noon through final curtain.

ROYAL BALLET CONNECTIONS

Even as this season marks The Royal Ballet’s Pillow debut, the links between these two iconic dance institutions run deep. Some of the evidence is on display here, in rare photos and footage spanning the decades. From Alicia Markova and Antony Tudor to contemporary artists including Pam Tanowitz and Wayne McGregor, the shared histories are surfaced and celebrated. Ted Shawn Theatre Lobby; open Tue-Sun, noon through final curtain.

FANTASY MEETS REALITY: THROUGH THE EYES OF A DENISHAWN DANCER

Curated by Phil Chan and Caroline Hamilton, this exhibition builds upon last year’s initial look at Denishawn’s 1925-26 Asian tour. With newly-discovered treasures, this re-examination of the tour focuses on the experiences of three Denishawn dancers: Ernestine Day, Mary Howry, and Jane Sherman. Included are costumes they retained, objects they purchased, and words they wrote—challenging viewers to ponder what it means to share culture with integrity. Co-curator Phil Chan will offer free public tours of this exhibition on Thursday, July 4 and Friday, July 5 at 4:30pm. Blake’s Barn; open Tue-Sun, noon through final curtain.

Jacob’s Pillow Archives/Norton Owen Reading Room 

This spacious, informal library and reading room allows visitors to view videos, browse through books, access the Pillow's computer catalog, or peruse permanent collections of Pillow programs and photographs from the Archives. The Reading Room and new Special Collections Room also feature recent donations and more archival treasures from the Stephan Driscoll Collection. Blake’s Barn; open Tues.-Sun., noon through final curtain.

Online Exhibit: Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive

This evolving online resource features breathtaking video highlights of Pillow performances from the early 1930s through today, with an expanded section of multimedia essays featuring talks, photos, and other exclusive content organized into various themes. danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org.

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