Dance
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Jacob's Pillow 2015 Season
World Dance in the Berkshires
By: - Dec 17th, 2014“Festival 2015 delivers a remarkable range of dance from ballet to tap, music from classical to jazz, brand new works commissioned by the Pillow, and the most astonishing performers in the world,” comments Ella Baff, Executive and Artistic Director of Jacob’s Pillow. “We start the season with Ira Glass’s Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host and the re-opening of the Jacob’s Pillow Archives as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of public access and a major expansion of its home, Blake’s Barn. We end with a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Martha Graham Dance Company, a world premiere by Mats Ek, and the up and coming company MADboots Dance. Quite a range indeed.”
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Carmen Choreographed to Bizet by Ballet Hispanico
White on Black Wrapped in Guernica Thrills at the Apollo
By: - Nov 23rd, 2014Carmen. How can you miss? To the incessant, erotic beat of Bizet's music, the dancers create jealousy, passion, lust and innocence in white and black against a back drop of Picasso's Guernica.
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Table of Silence for 9/11
Barefoot in Memorial at Lincoln Center Plaza
By: - Sep 11th, 2014The procession is silent, the dancers barefoot circle the fountain at the center of the Lincoln Center Plaza. Carrying plates, they could be the apostles going to the Last Supper. Gestures range from perfectly ordinary steps taken on an ordinary September Day to arms twisted in anguish. Three flutes and three singers, whose voices were magnified by horns, paraded and intermingled with the dancers.
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Tanz im August 2014 – Berlin
Assessment of Contemporary Dance
By: - Sep 06th, 2014'Dance in August' in Berlin, Germany, celebrated it's 26th season.Quite an accomplishment! 21 international companies representing 14 countries performed on several stages throughout Berlin. 'Tanz im August' and its current artistic director, Virve Sutinen, celebrated again the world of dance with well known companies and newly discovered dancers and choreographers during a two week long festival.
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Aspen Santa Fe Ballet at Pillow
82nd Season Ends with Neo Classical Modernism
By: - Aug 25th, 2014The 82nd season of Jacob's Pillow Dance ended with the fifth Berkshire performance of the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. With a program of works by three choreographers the company conflated classical traditions and contemporary variations. Post season we anticipate the annual collaboration with Mass MoCA.
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Dance Theatre of Harlem at Jacob’s Pillow
Conflating Classical Ballet and Post Modernism
By: - Jul 12th, 2014When Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook diverted from major careers in dance to teach classical ballet in Harlem there was a complex mandate. That was 1968 in the midst of civil rights and social/ political change. In 1970 Dance Theatre of Harlem first performed at Jacob's Pillow. They have returned many times as they have this week with a program of three diverse works.
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Hubbard Street at Jacob’s Pillow
Eclectic Chicago Dance Company
By: - Jul 05th, 2014A Jacob's Pillow favorite Hubbard Street Dance Chicago returned to Becket with an eclectic program of four pieces by different choreographers. The music ranged from minimalist, Steve Reich, North African, and can you believe it, hilariously, Dean Martin.
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Trey McIntyre Project’s Final Bows
Company Disbands at Jacob’s Pillow
By: - Jul 01st, 2014The final performance of the now disbanded, Iowa based, Trey McIntyre Project was followed by one of the longest and most raucous ovations we have ever encountered at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Theatre. The audiece was thrilled by a two part peformance based on the macabre innustrations of Edward Gorey and the magnificent music of the British rock group Queen. What a fitting send off for a superb dance company.
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Dance Theatre of Harlem
Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob’s Pillow, July 9-13.
By: - Jun 18th, 2014Dance Theatre of Harlem, led by Artistic Director Virginia Johnson, performs Donald Byrd’s smooth yet power-packed contemporary ballet Contested Space, which features a plethora of solos and duets. past-carry-forward, created for DTH by Tanya Wideman-Davis and Thaddeus Davis, conveys the spirit and significance of the Harlem Renaissance.
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Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Returns to Jacob's Pillow July 2-6
By: - Jun 15th, 2014Popular contemporary company Hubbard Street Dance Chicago returns to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival for the first time since 2010, bringing a sensational mixed-bill program. Directed by Glenn Edgerton, the 18-member company performs the dramatic Mediterranean-inspired Gnawa, choreographed by Nacho Duato, and Jiří Kylián’s vivid Falling Angels, a stark all-female work danced to “Drumming” by contemporary composer Steve Reich.
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Trey McIntyre Project at Jacob's Pillow
Related Events for June 25-29
By: - Jun 07th, 2014A bold company with a strong Jacob’s Pillow history including five engagements since 2005, Trey McIntyre Project will make its final appearance as a fulltime dance ensemble June 25-29 in the Ted Shawn Theatre. In addition there are a number of free events as the season commences in Becket
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Mark Morris Dancers Acis and Galatea
Nymphs and Shepherds Frolic at Boston's Shubert Theatre
By: - May 18th, 2014Nobody can set Baroque opera to dance better than Mark Morris, but his latest effort, a joyful Handel opera, often seemed dialed-in. Still, it was Mark Morris and it was filled with delights.
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The Joffrey Ballet's Romeo and Juliet
Polish Choreographer Kryzsztof Masterful
By: - May 12th, 2014Romeo and Juliet is the most popular of Shakespeare’s plays which have been transformed into ballets. The Kenneth Macmillan choreography is seen most frequently and was made into a film which clearly set a barre for conventional presentation, although of course Macmillan allowed dancers to be dragged across the stage, which was both sumptuous and glamorous. The texture of the Joffrey production was rich, but rich mainly in its emotional variety and stunning dancers. No holds barred in this new production, but it is thrilling as it takes off from pointe work, always grounded and inviting.
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Trey McIntyre Project Farewell Performances
Jacob's Pillow June 25-29
By: - Jan 07th, 2014This June, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival will host the final farewell performances of Trey McIntyre Project as a full-time dance company. Following its six-show engagement in the Ted Shawn Theatre, June 25-29, the company will broaden its focus to include other new artistic projects.
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Jacob's Pillow 2014
Schedule for Summer Season
By: - Jan 06th, 2014The 82nd Festival season will feature more than 52 companies performing on three stages: the historic Ted Shawn Theatre; the intimate Doris Duke Theatre; and the open-air Henry J. Leir Stage, home to the Pillow’s free Inside/Out Performance Series, which served more than 21,000 community members last season. More than 350 free and ticketed dance performances, talks, tours, exhibits, films, classes, and community events will be offered June 14-August 24, 2014.
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Kiss and Cry at ArtsEmerson
Hands On Dance
By: - Oct 11th, 2013The Belgian company Charleroi Danses presents Kiss and Cry a dance for animation and hands at the Majestic Theatre of ArtsEmerson. Performances continue through October 12. This is one of the most astonishing and original "dance" perrormances we have ever experienced.
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Ailey II at Williams College
Residence and Performance
By: - Sep 18th, 2013In the program of Sandra Burton a major dance company is invited to reside at Willams College as an aspect of the fall curriculum. Last night at the "62 Center on its Main Stage there was a galvanic performance by Ailey II. The two hour program featured three works spanning from Revelations (1960) to Virtues (2012) and Streams (1970) in between.
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‘Tanz im August’ in Berlin
A Fantastic 25th Season
By: - Sep 02nd, 2013Germany’s most celebrated Contemporary Dance Festival just closed after presenting for two weeks choreographers and companies from around the globe. All performed to sold out houses and on public stages. Where is contemporary dance heading? Berlin may have given many indications.
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Martha Graham Company at Jacob’s Pillow
Program Ends 81st Season in Becket
By: - Aug 24th, 2013For the final performances of the Jacob's Pillow 81st season we were presented with the full gamut of the iconic Martha Graham Company. The program was bracketed with her own works also including variations of her solo, Lamentations, and a galvanic, pathos inducing commissioned work Rust exploring torture and terrorism. From 1948 the program began with her Diversion of Angels from 1948 and ended with the visceral Rite of Spring which, at 89, she created in 1984.
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Wendy Whelan at Jacob’s Pillow
World Premiere of Restless Creature
By: - Aug 18th, 2013Tall, slender and as tightly wound as a Swiss watch the body of Wendy Whelan, a dancer with the New York City Ballet since 1986, and principal dancer since 1991, is a precision instrument. Working with four male choreographers and partners Jacob's Pillow presented the world premiere of Restless Creature. She will tour with the new production for the coming months with a performance in Boston in March.
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La Otra Orilla U.S. Debut at Jacob’s Pillow
Deconstructed Conceptual Flamenco
By: - Aug 16th, 2013While rooted in Spain, as a tradition of music and dance flamenco is performed by companies all around the globe. This is the first American appearance by the experimental Montreal based group La Otra Orill. At Jacobs's Pillow Dance Festival it features the co-artistic directors, solo dancer Myriam Allard and singer, Hedi Garja. They are accompanied by three musicians.
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O Vertigo Danse at Jacob’s Pillow
La Vie qui bat Set to Reich’s Drumming
By: - Aug 11th, 2013In 1971 Steve Reich composed "Drumming" a masterpiece of the Minimal style of music. In 1999, now regarded as an icon of contemporary dance, it was choreographed as La Vie qui bat (The Beat of Life) by Ginette Laurin. It was retired and is now revived by O Vertigo Danse and Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) seen with live music at Jacob's Pillow Dance.
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3e Étage: Soloists and Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet
World Premiere of Le Pillow Thirteen
By: - Aug 04th, 2013The highlight of the 2011 Jacob's Pillow season was the American debut of 3e Étage: Soloists and Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet. For their sold out return artistic director and choreographer Samuel Murez created a new work Le Pillow Thirteen which had its world premiere this week in Becket. Yet again the audience was thrilled and utterly enchanted.
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Mark Morris at Tanglewood 2013
Something Old and Something New
By: - Aug 01st, 2013On the occasion of the 100th birthday of the British composer Edward Benjamin Britten (November 22, 1913 – December 4, 1976) last night Morris presented the world premiere of Curlew River. The chamber opera was inspired by a then young composer visiting Japan. It is adapted from Juro Motomasa’s medieval play Sumidagawa. For the second half of the program The Mark Morris Dance Group presented one of his most iconic works Dido and Aeneas (1989).
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L-E-V at Jacob’s Pillow in American Debut
Moonwalking and Beyond to Gaga Techno Beat
By: - Jul 27th, 2013To get a handle on the disembodied moves of the Israeli company L-E-V, making its American debut at Jacob's Pillow, think of a Michael Jackson Moonwalk. They have expanded his pop innovations into a stunning new style and vocabulary of dance. Their hour long work House left us hungry for more.
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