Jacob's Pillow announces 2006 season

Print Story | Email Story
Photo from Jacob's Pillow 2005
Becket - Following last season's record-breaking year, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival announces its 74th season, June 17-August 27. With a striking international lineup, a number of premieres, and several presentations performed to live music, Jacob's Pillow continues to present the best in dance from around the world and, throughout the nearly three-month summer festival, provides a multitude of free programs to engage audiences of all ages in the art of movement. With groups visiting from Mexico, Finland, Denmark, Greece, Israel, Canada, India, and Spain, nearly half of the Pillow's 2006 schedule is composed of international companies. Seven works on the program are U.S. premieres. Also, in addition to a world premiere co-commissioned by the Pillow, there is one U.S. debut, and U.S.-based companies travel from Washington, Oregon, New York, California, and Washington, D.C. Ten celebrated companies appear in the Ted Shawn Theatre: from Spain, Nacho Duato's Compañía Nacional de Danza 2, which made its U.S. debut at the Pillow in 2003, returns for its third appearance with a U.S. premiere; the Limón Dance Company celebrates its sixtieth anniversary; the Suzanne Farrell Ballet makes its only East Coast appearance outside of its home base at the Kennedy Center; Mexico's Tania Pérez-Salas Compañía de Danza presents two U.S. premieres; from Finland, Tero Saarinen Company performs a U.S. premiere with the Boston Camerata live onstage; Eva Yerbabuena brings her company of dancers and musicians from Sevilla and Madrid for performances of pure flamenco; the Trey McIntyre Project brings a new work with music by the bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley; Shen Wei Dance Arts brings several inspired works including a new dance based on travels to Tibet; Pacific Northwest Ballet, with Peter Boal as the new Artistic Director, makes its first East Coast appearance since 1996; and, for the company's only Berkshires appearance this summer, the Mark Morris Dance Group celebrates its 25th anniversary. Kicking off an expansive international lineup in the Doris Duke Studio Theatre is a special showing of the documentary film Ballets Russes. Companies performing in the following weeks include ASzURe & Artists, returning with a new work; Israel's contemporary, award-winning Emanuel Gat Dance; the thought-provoking and passionate Robert Moses' Kin in their third Pillow visit; the extraordinary dancers and musicians of India's Nrityagram Dance Ensemble; Danish Dance Theatre with two U.S. premieres; Armitage Gone! Dance with its brilliant version of contemporary ballet; the premiere of Richard Move's latest project, MoveOpolis!, and the world premiere of a work co-commissioned by the Pillow; the U.S. debut of Choreftes, from Athens, Greece; and, fusing ballet, modern and hip-hop forms, Montreal's Rubberbandance Group closes the Duke season. Week of June 21-25: CND2 and Ballets Russes CND2 (Compañía Nacional de Danza 2), directed by the highly sought-after choreographic great Nacho Duato, made its resounding U.S. debut at Jacob's Pillow in 2003, and upon returning in 2004, cemented the affection of both Pillow audiences and American critics. The group's supple, technically accomplished, and musical dancers apply a polished yet passionate virtuosity to several works on the program by Duato, including Remansos (originally created for American Ballet Theatre) and Rassamblement, as well the U.S. premiere of Violon D'Ingres by Assistant Artistic Director Tony Fabre. Mr. Fabre is an accomplished choreographer in his own right and a former star dancer with Jirí Kylián's Nederlands Dans Theatre. Noted for a "luxuriously fluid aesthetic" by The Boston Globe, CND2 was founded in 1999 and has since toured throughout Europe and Asia. Ted Shawn Theatre, Wednesday, June 21 through Sunday, June 25. A very special film showing takes place in the Doris Duke Studio Theater on Friday, June 23 at 8:15pm. Narrated by award-winning actress Marian Seldes, Ballets Russes is an elegant and bittersweet examination of one of the most formative sagas in ballet. The documentary, which holds a number of connections to Jacob's Pillow, was called "enormously absorbing" by Variety, and focuses on the worldwide legacy of the original Ballets Russes, which from 1909 until its disbanding in 1929, embraced modernist pioneers of dance, visual art, and music. When two rival companies took up the mantle of the original, they generated feverish enthusiasm wherever they toured, and the ensuing glamorous drama (onstage and off) captured the attention of audiences all over the world. By weaving together rare performance footage of the two troupes (some of which was shot at the Pillow) and present-day interviews with their leading dancers, whose vibrant personas radiate as much humor and grace as they did decades ago, Ballets Russes is a moving testimony to lives lived to their fullest. Frederic Franklin, a central figure in the film, makes a rare personal appearance and gives a PillowTalk on Saturday, June 24 at 4pm, marking the 60th anniversary of his Pillow debut and the Pillow debut of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Doris Duke Studio Theatre, Friday, June 23 at 8:15pm. Week of June 28-July 2: Limón Dance Company and ASzURe & Artists Heartily acclaimed wherever it travels, the Limón Dance Company celebrates its 60th anniversary at Jacob's Pillow. Renowned for a distinctive spirit that unites abstraction and lyricism through heartfelt interpretations, the company was founded in 1946 in New York City by the Mexican-born dancer José Limón, who made his first appearance at Jacob's Pillow that same year. Now led by Carla Maxwell, who worked closely with José Limón before taking over as Artistic Director in 1978, and who celebrates forty years of working with the company this year, the thirteen dancers show repertory bridging the company's considerable history. Works on the program include Jirí Kylián's Evening Songs, set to Dvorák; two passionate solos, Dance in the Sun by Daniel Nagrin and Angelitos Negros by the Limón company's Artistic Mentor and Pillow Board Member Donald McKayle; a suite from the recent revival of Limón's masterful A Choreographic Offering, to the music of J.S. Bach; and Lar Lubovitch's 2005 work Recordare, a vivacious interpretation of Mexico's Day of the Dead ceremonies, set to a potent score by Eliot Goldenthal. Ted Shawn Theatre, Wednesday, June 28 through Sunday, July 2. ASzURe & Artists was spotted a few years ago by Pillow Executive Director Ella Baff, who invited the company to make its Pillow debut at Inside/Out in 2004, and to return in the Doris Duke Studio Theatre in 2005. The performances made such an impression that the company was immediately invited to return again this season. With a company roster boasting some of today's most arresting young artists and an invigorating, multilayered repertory, choreographer Aszure Barton has accomplished much in the brief life of her company, founded in 2002. In addition to her major choreographic awards, she has won recognition from Mikhail Baryshnikov, who has compared her in The New York Times to a young Mark Morris, and from key dance writers such as Deborah Jowitt, who wrote in The Village Voice, "The news that Aszure Barton trained and/or performed with the National Ballet of Canada, Jirí Kylián and Maurice Béjart; danced with Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal; and prowls New York's downtown dance scene hardly prepares you for her daring, craftsmanship, and originality." The company's program features a new piece, Over/Come, set to a wide range of music, from '50s love songs to samplings of hip Euro tunes. Doris Duke Studio Theatre, Thursday, June 29 through Sunday, July 2. Week of July 5-9: Suzanne Farrell Ballet and Emanuel Gat Dance In a unique opportunity to see this outstanding company outside of its home base at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, for its first performances at the Pillow, brings several of the best-known works of George Balanchine and some of his rarely seen gems. The Suzanne Farrell Ballet was founded in 2000 by the legendarily talented muse of Balanchine, whose unforgettable performances with the New York City Ballet brought a new standard to the form. The Suzanne Farrell Ballet is the resident dance company of the Kennedy Center and, with its very limited touring schedule, has never performed in the Northeast. Said to be "renewing the Balanchine legacy with maximum luster" by The Los Angeles Times, Farrell's twenty dancers perform the thrilling masterpiece Divertimento No. 15, a pas de deux from the jazzy Clarinade, Tzigane's gypsy tale, "Tempo di Valse" from The Nutcracker, and Variations for Orchestra, the final solo Balanchine created for Farrell, who was recently awarded the National Medal of the Arts. Ted Shawn Theatre, Wednesday, July 5 through Sunday, July 9. Israel's Emanuel Gat Dance brings a definitive and passionate style for the group's first appearance at Jacob's Pillow. Working both independently and with his company in Israel and throughout Asia and Europe, the award-winning choreographer Emanuel Gat is now regarded as a key figure in Israel's fertile contemporary dance scene. Gat's program comprises two of his most psychologically incisive pure-dance works and underscores his sophisticated understanding of music. In Winter Voyage, set to "Winterreise," Schubert's beloved lieder cycle, two men sketch out their relationship with unpredictable tension and sleek vigor. Then, in Gat's retelling of The Rite of Spring, Stravinsky's timeless, primal score seamlessly melds with the syncopations of salsa dance, which in this context take on shades of eroticism and even danger. As Theodore Bale wrote in The Boston Herald, Gat's choreography is "rooted in sharp intuition and an unpretentious search for new paths." Doris Duke Studio Theatre, Thursday, July 6 through Sunday, July 9. This program contains partial nudity. Week of July 12-16: Tania Pérez-Salas Compañía de Danza and Robert Moses' Kin Tania Pérez-Salas Compañía de Danza performs its first full program in the U.S., showing how this visually dramatic contemporary troupe has taken the lead in modern dance in Mexico. For her prize-winning choreography and film and television appearances, Artistic Director Tania Pérez-Salas, who typically performs with the company, was said in a Time Out Mexico City cover story to be "a major international presence." She founded her company a year after winning the prize for best female performer in Mexico City's 1993 National Dance Competition, and has since built up a body of work notable for its fluid articulation, intense connection among the dancers on stage, and unforgettable production elements. The company performs three works: The Hours, a striking, poetic encounter between three women, inspired by Michael Cunningham's 1999 novel; the U.S. premiere of Anabiosis, based on The Double Flame, the study of love and eroticism by Mexican Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz; and the U.S. premiere of Waters of Forgetfulness, a dreamy meditation in which the stage is bathed in over eight hundred gallons of warm water. Ted Shawn Theatre, Wednesday, July 12 through Sunday, July 16. This program contains partial nudity. Robert Moses' Kin returns with choreography by its artistic director, whose elegant, socially conscious programs led a Chicago Sun-Times reviewer to call Moses' work and dancers "nothing short of electrifying." Founded in 1995 in San Francisco, where the company is still based, the group was last seen at the Pillow in 2004. Moses has received national acclaim for his broad though textured choreographic style, and his dancers display keen artistry and technical skill when taking on issues surrounding race, spirituality, or social injustice. With past choreographies set to taiko drumming, Handel, spoken word, and Philip Glass, Moses employs a rich musical taste to drive his expansive movement and spiritual momentum. Included on the Pillow program, among other works, is The President's Daughter, a piece inspired by the life of Thomas Jefferson and defined by Moses' invigoratingly personal tone. Doris Duke Studio Theatre, Thursday, July 13 through Sunday, July 16. Week of July 19-23: Tero Saarinen Company and Nrityagram Dance Ensemble In what is sure to be one of the most talked-about events of the season, Finland's Tero Saarinen Company joins the world-renowned vocal ensemble Boston Camerata in an exclusive engagement at the Pillow for the U.S. premiere of Borrowed Light. In London's Independent, Jenny Gilbert summed up the work by writing, "I've not seen, or experienced, anything like it." Inspired by the Shaker movement of the 17th and 18th centuries, this evening-length work of dance and music is arranged in a simple, thrilling progression, and culminates as a vision of dramatic clarity. While the eight-person Boston Camerata ensemble sings 250-year-old a capella Shaker songs onstage, dancers curve and wheel across the stage or appear on raised platforms at its perimeter, articulating the wanderings of the soul with magical force. Artistic Director and choreographer Tero Saarinen followed an impressive career with the Finnish National Ballet with a year-long journey to Japan and Nepal to study butoh and traditional dance, and upon returning to Europe, he performed as a guest in contemporary works all over the continent. As he drew from this diverse background in his choreography, he garnered further acclaim. Impressed by a 2002 performance of mixed repertory from the Lyon Opéra Ballet which included work by Saarinen, Octavio Roca wrote in The San Francisco Chronicle that, of a program "full of discoveries?chief among these was the talent of Saarinen, an exceptionally gifted Finnish choreographer." Ted Shawn Theatre, Wednesday, July 19 through Sunday, July 23. Nrityagram Dance Ensemble exemplifies what is compelling about Indian dance and music throughout history and what is new to celebrate. The company, noted for its "personal beauty, rich costuming, and superbly articulated movement" in The Village Voice, resides on a commune in Bangalore, in southern India, and the members' devotion to dance informs not only their artistry but their daily existence. As Joan Acocella observed in The New Yorker, "You couldn't believe what you were seeing-dancing so rich, so deep-diving. Nrityagram's technical achievement is exceedingly high...But the technique is just the foundation." In a program called Sacred Space, Artistic Director Surupa Sen displays her unique adaptation of the 2000-year-old odissi classical Indian form, as she and four female dancers perform to traditional Indian songs (played by five musicians onstage). Through outstanding technical mastery and stage presence, this group brings ancient myths to life. Doris Duke Studio Theatre, Thursday, July 20 through Sunday, July 23. $10 Youth Tickets are available for the Saturday Matinée performance. Saturday, July 22: Community Day at Jacob's Pillow On July 22, from 10am-1pm, Jacob's Pillow's popular annual Community Day takes over the Great Lawn, the Inside/Out stage, and dance studios. The entire Pillow site becomes a celebration of dance and offers multiple ways to learn about the art form. With an array of free performances, hands-on activities, and giveaways, the day is designed for families and people of all ages. In the afternoon, Alumni Day draws former participants of The School at Jacob's Pillow, interns, staff, and Board Members to a special reception, which this year celebrates the 30th anniversary of Pillow Director of Preservation Norton Owen and the 20th year on faculty of the revered master teacher, Milton Myers. $10 Youth Tickets are available for the Saturday Matinée performance of the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble. Week of July 26-30: Ballet Flamenco Eva Yerbabuena and Danish Dance Theatre Eva Yerbabuena is widely acknowledged to be the greatest flamenco dancer in Spain today. Her Madrid-based company, Ballet Flamenco Eva Yerbabuena, boasts some of the country's finest dancers, singers, flautists, guitarists, and percussionists, each of whom exemplifies the complex rhythms, technical prowess, and soul-stirring communication with audiences that is flamenco. Yerbabuena was the recipient of Spain's 2001 National Dance Prize, and has toured all over the world, collaborating several times with Pina Bausch and with Oscar-winning director Mike Figgis on films, including the documentary Flamenco Women. Said to be "like multiple gyroscopes, and a mystifying warmth you don't want to resist" by London's Evening Standard, Yerbabuena packs her work with richness, whether in costuming, spiritual evocation, or rhythmic layering. Ted Shawn Theatre, Wednesday, July 26 through Sunday, July 30. $10 Youth Tickets are available for the Saturday Matinée performance. The piercing, revelatory work of Tim Rushton, Artistic Director of Danish Dance Theatre, comes to life in an exclusive U.S. performance at the Pillow. Celebrating its 25th year, the company has flourished under Rushton's directorship and is now considered the foremost presence in Denmark's contemporary dance scene. Comprising two U.S. premieres, the program is a must-see for anyone who caught (or missed) the company's U.S. debut at the Pillow in 2004. This summer, with the 2005 piece Kridt, Rushton completes his trilogy of works investigating the union between movement and text. Also on the program is the U.S. premiere of Silent Steps, which utilizes the elevated beauty and intricate structure of Bach harpsichord concertos to chart human relationships. Tim Rushton, from Birmingham, England, trained at the Royal Ballet School, and while a member of the Royal Danish Ballet in the mid-1990s, he began to choreograph, taking over as director of Danish Dance Theatre in 2001. Doris Duke Studio Theatre, Thursday, July 27 through Sunday July, 30. Week of August 2-6: Trey McIntyre Project and Armitage Gone! Dance Trey McIntyre is one of the most sought-after ballet choreographers today, with commissions from companies including American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, and The Washington Ballet. In 2005, after the formation of his own group, the Trey McIntyre Project was immediately invited to make its East Coast debut at the Pillow, resulting in packed audiences in the Doris Duke Studio Theatre. Called "one of ballet's most surprising talents" in The New York Times, McIntyre shows his unpredictable range of movement and a fresh, stylish version of ballet that injects new momentum to the form. The company performs a program of several works, including the full version of Go Out (seen in a preview excerpt at the Pillow last season), set to bluegrass music by the legendary Ralph Stanley; and the sunny Like A Samba, which, as one of McIntyre's most popular works made during his freelance days, is in the repertory of Oregon Ballet Theatre and Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, among many others. The company's debut at the Pillow last season was hotly anticipated by audiences and critics who have been following McIntyre's ascent since the mid-1990s, when he began making dances at Houston Ballet. Ted Shawn Theatre, Wednesday, August 2 through Sunday, August 6. $10 Youth Tickets are available for the Saturday Matinée performance. Armitage Gone! Dance confirms the return of renowned choreographer Karole Armitage to America's contemporary ballet scene. Having worked almost exclusively as a director and choreographer with prestigious theaters in Europe for fifteen years, Armitage, the group's powerhouse artistic director and choreographer, reconstituted her company last year in New York City. She has populated her group with gifted and unique dancers of beautiful line and diverse origin, and organizes her bold visual ideas, which draw from wildly diverse fields, into a cohesive, sumptuous whole. Famous for her fearless creativity and unique collaborations, Armitage has worked with George Balanchine, Madonna, Gyorgi Ligeti, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, and Michael Jackson. With Armitage Gone! Dance, she brings two recent works widely considered the most mature creations yet in her considerable repertory: Time is the echo of an axe within a wood, which Jennifer Dunning described in The New York Times as "one of the most beautiful dances to be seen in New York in a very long time"; and the much-heralded In this dream that dogs me, which features fluid invention and dancers in elegant command of seemingly impossible movements. The sets for both works are designed by the noted painter and longtime Armitage collaborator David Salle. Doris Duke Studio Theatre, Thursday, August 3 through Sunday, August 6. Week of August 9-13: Shen Wei Dance Arts and MoveOpolis! Making an anticipated return to the Pillow, Shen Wei Dance Arts will be familiar to audiences who were transported by the company's Rite of Spring in 2004. Shen Wei has become one of the most prominent choreographers of a new generation, receiving diverse and prestigious commissions and creating work for his own company. After training in traditional opera in his native China, he was an accomplished musician, painter, and filmmaker before co-founding China's first modern dance group, Guangdong Dance Company, and adding dance to his considerable talents. His virtuosic, natural brilliance soon found a home in the United States, where he founded Shen Wei Dance Arts in 2000. Critics have been virtually unanimous in praising Shen Wei's unprecedented fusion of music, movement, and visual art, and the choreographer indeed seems intent on taking an audience's understanding of what dance can encompass down a totally new path. Works on the program include an excerpt from the meticulous, fascinating Map, and a new work inspired by Tibetan travels, featuring photographs taken by Shen Wei, and music from both Eastern and Western traditions. Following a performance by the company, The New York Times wrote, "The audience?seemed momentarily stunned. A silence was followed by a prolonged ovation." Ted Shawn Theatre, Wednesday, August 9 through Sunday, August 13. Noted for his "first-rate work" by The New York Times, the continuously inventive Richard Move assembles an all-star team of performers and creative minds for the debut of his latest project, MoveOpolis!. Beloved by Pillow audiences, Move performed in his signature role of Martha Graham in Martha @ the Pillow in 2002, showed his Verdi for Three as part of Paradigm's run in 2004, and choreographed Lust from The Seven Deadly Sins in 2001, produced by Robert La Fosse and Chet Walker. This year, in addition to bringing Verdi for Three and Lust, Move presents Arjuna's Dilemma, originally choreographed for Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project, and a world premiere co-commissioned by the Pillow, featuring a sound score by New Yorker staff writer Hilton Als, costumes by Patricia Field (of Sex and the City), and video by Charles Atlas, a pioneering filmmaker whose collaborators include Merce Cunningham and Karole Armitage. Several of Move's dancers are also known to Pillow audiences: Francesca Harper, who brought her work to the Doris Duke Studio Theatre in 2002 and is in the cast of The Color Purple; and Katherine Crockett, a lead dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company. Doris Duke Studio Theatre, Thursday, August 10 through Sunday, August 13. Week of August 16-20: Pacific Northwest Ballet and Choreftes The Pillow is proud to present Pacific Northwest Ballet's first East Coast appearance in ten years and its first under Artistic Director Peter Boal, who was beloved by audiences in his former role as a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. Although Boal only took the reins of PNB last year, he has already expanded the horizons of the venerable Seattle ensemble, long known for a growing body of contemporary works and its continued connection to George Balanchine. For this exclusive Pillow engagement, Boal brings together three contemporary surprises with a neoclassical favorite: Ripple Mechanics is the magnetic new work by company member Sonia Dawkins; Lambarena is a joyous hybrid of West African motifs and Bach's eternal music; and, featuring live accompaniment, the colorful, contemporary Piano Dance by Paul Gibson, and George Balanchine's classic Duo Concertant. Wrote Moira Macdonald in the Seattle Times last year following the group's first performance under Boal's new directorship, "If this is what the new regime at PNB looks like, I can't wait to see more." Ted Shawn Theatre, Wednesday, August 16 through Sunday, August 20. Performing for the first time in the United States is Choreftes, a collaborative, mixed-repertory ensemble based in Athens, Greece. With a futuristic, dreamlike repertory which upends conventional narrative through the use of improvisation and technology, Choreftes (the word means "dancers" in Greek, and is pronounced with a hard ch) was founded in 1993 by Maria Anthymidou, Aliki Kazouri, and Mihalis Nalmpantis, whose combined professional backgrounds span most of the Greek contemporary dance scene and stints in New York City and Europe. Called "cunning in its innovativeness" by Dance Europe, the ensemble performs the U.S. premiere of their signature piece Behind Her Eyes, an evening-length event choreographed by Kazouri, featuring an original sound score and eight formidable, dramatic dancers. Doris Duke Studio Theatre, Thursday, August 17 through Sunday, August 20. This program contains some adult content. Week of August 22-27: Mark Morris Dance Group and Rubberbandance Group Mark Morris Dance Group closes the 74th season with the only chance this summer for Berkshire audiences to see the work by the man TIME magazine called "the most prodigiously gifted choreographer of the post-Balanchine era." Celebrating the company's 25th anniversary and nineteenth Pillow appearance, the program features a selection of works both new and not recently seen from the intelligent, insightful repertory for which Morris is known, performed to live music by the Mark Morris Dance Group Music Ensemble. Ted Shawn Theatre, Tuesday, August 22 through Sunday, August 27. The award-winning adventurousness of Rubberbandance Group closes the season in the Doris Duke Studio Theatre. The Montreal-based company is led by Victor Quijada, who followed his b-boying childhood in South Central Los Angeles with steady training in classical ballet, and went on to join the ranks of the Twyla Tharp Dance Company and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. Upon founding his aptly titled group, critics immediately praised his intuitive, personal approach, which merges the thrilling dynamics of hip-hop with the emotional and physical clarity of contemporary ballet. Observed Victor Swoboda in the Montreal Gazette, "Quijada will try anything-and succeed." Quijada has assembled a program displaying the group's trademark: fiercely athletic explorations of the boundaries of classicism and the urban vernacular, all set to intriguing musical selections by Vivaldi, Verdi, Prokofiev, and several contemporary composers and hip-hop artists. Doris Duke Studio Theatre, Thursday, August 24 through Sunday, August 27. Festival Finale, Saturday, August 26 On the evening of August 26, celebrate the close of the 2006 Festival Season with members of Mark Morris Dance Group and Rubberbandance Group. Specially priced tickets benefit the Pillow and include preferred seating and an after-show dance and dessert party. For more information on pricing, please call the Pillow Box Office at 413.243.0745 after February 21. New to the Doris Duke Studio Theatre! Since 1990, when the Doris Duke Studio Theatre was constructed, it has offered a black-box, general-seating format. New for 2006, Jacob's Pillow is pleased to announce that the theater now features air-conditioning as well as reserved seating, offering greater convenience and comfort to Pillow audiences. Ticketing Information: Subscriptions (any five shows or more) go on sale to Member Subscribers on February 13, to renewing subscribers on March 6, and to new subscribers on March 27. Subscriptions are available through May 31, and include a 10% discount. Ordering via the Jacob's Pillow website begins on March 27. Member single tickets go on sale on April 10. Single tickets for individual performances go on sale April 24. Specially priced $10 Youth Tickets for Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, Ballet Flamenco Eva Yerbabuena, Trey McIntyre Project, and Rubberbandance Group are available for Saturday matinée performances for youth age 13 and under when accompanied by an adult. For information about group discounts, call 413.243.9919 x37. The Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Box Office phones open on February 21. Box Office hours are Monday-Friday, noon-5:00pm, with additional hours during the Festival. Box Office: 413.243.0745. To view performance information and video footage from each company, visit www.jacobspillow.org. As of January 2006, major support for Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival has been provided by ALEX®; Francis Alexander Foundation; Altria Group, Inc.; American Express Company; Berkshire Bank Foundation; Canon, U.S.A., Inc.; The Dana Foundation; The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation; The Harkness Foundation for Dance; The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; The Leir Charitable Trusts in memory of Henry J. Leir; Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; Mertz Gilmore Foundation; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; Evelyn Stefansson Nef Foundation; The William J. and Dorothy K. O'Neill Foundation; The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation; The Prospect Hill Foundation; The Ira M. Resnick Foundation; The Ridgefield Foundation; The Shubert Foundation, Inc.; The Starr Foundation; TD Banknorth Charitable Foundation; U.S. Department of Education; The Wallace Foundation; The Pillow Business Alliance; and Jacob's Pillow Members. Jacob's Pillow is funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, which receives major support from the National Endowment for the Arts with additional support from the state arts agencies of New England and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Major endowment support is provided by The Barrington Foundation, Inc.; The William Randolph Hearst Foundation; Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Onota Foundation; The Prospect Hill Foundation; and the Talented Students in the Arts Initiative, a collaboration of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Surdna Foundation. Jacob's Pillow is located in the town of Becket in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts. The Pillow, as it is affectionately known, was originally the Carter family farm in the 1700s, and in the 1800s served as a station on the Underground Railroad. Its pioneering spirit was furthered in 1933, when legendary dancer, teacher, and choreographer Ted Shawn founded the Festival as a showcase for his company of Men Dancers and as a home for dance in the U.S. Jacob's Pillow now encompasses an acclaimed international Festival (the first and longest-running in the U.S.), a professional School, rare and extensive Archives open to the public free of charge, an Intern Program, and year-round Community Programs. The historic site includes 161 acres, 31 buildings, three unique stages (including the first theater in the U.S. built specifically for dance), three dance studios, exhibition spaces, restaurants, the Pillow Store, residential housing, administrative offices, a health center, gardens, trails, and woodlands. The Pillow presents international dance in all forms, styles, and traditions, and approximately 200 free events each season, including performances, lectures, tours, film showings, exhibits, and talks with artists from all over the world, which yield approximately 80,000 visitor experiences annually. Pillow Founder Ted Shawn was instrumental in beginning the careers of Martha Graham and Jack Cole, and the Pillow has continued this mentoring role by providing early opportunities to artists such as Alvin Ailey, José Limón, and Mark Morris. Companies such as Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Parsons Dance Company have been seen at the Pillow for the first time anywhere, and international groups such as The Royal Danish Ballet and Nederlands Dans Theater have made their U.S. debuts here. World premieres have been commissioned from masters such as Merce Cunningham and Paul Taylor, and legendary artists such as Margot Fonteyn and Mikhail Baryshnikov have been showcased in new works. In 2003, Jacob's Pillow was declared a National Historic Landmark by the federal government as "an exceptional cultural venue that holds value for all Americans." It is the first and only dance entity in the U.S. to achieve this honor. The Pillow looks forward to celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2007, and has launched its first endowment campaign, The Fund for Jacob's Pillow, to help ensure its eminence and longevity for others to enjoy in years to come.
Share
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Senior Golf Series Returns in September

Community submission
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Berkshire County Fall Senior Golf series returns in September with events on five consecutive Wednesdays starting Sept. 18.
 
It is the 22nd year of the series, which is a fund-raiser for junior golf in the county, and it is open to players aged 50 and up.
 
The series will feature two divisions for each event based on the combined ages of the playing partners.
 
Golfers play from the white tees (or equivalent) with participants 70 and over or who have a handicap of more than 9 able to play from the forward tees.
 
Gross and net prices will be available in each division.
 
The cost is $55 per event and includes a round of golf, food and prizes. Carts are available for an additional fee.
 
Golfers should call the pro shop at the course for that week's event no sooner than two weeks before the event to register.
 
View Full Story

More Stories

Sports
image description

Big Second Half Lifts Hoosac Girls to Another State Title

Sports
Sports
image description

The Hunt for Red March: Hoosac Valley Girls, Boys Go for State...

Sports
Sports
image description

Kotek, Dupuis Win Individual State Titles

Sports
Sports
image description

Lee Bowlers Win State Championship

Sports
Sports
image description

McGovern Scores 1,000th as Hurricanes Advance

Sports
Sports
image description

Pittsfield's Mullen Takes Two Titles at State Alpine Meet

Sports
Latest Stories
Previous Next

What's Trending?