Henri Oguike Dance Company comes to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

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Henri Oguike Dance Company, Photo submitted by Jacob's Pillow
Becket - Henri Oguike Dance Company comes to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival August 15-19 as one of four international companies making a U.S. debut during the landmark dance organization's 75th Anniversary Season. Though largely unknown in the United States, Henri Oguike has received strong press attention in his native England, garnering praise from London's Daily Telegraph, for instance, as "one of the brightest hopes of British contemporary dance." The program's four dances-White Space, Tiger Dancing, Expression Lines, and Second Signal-could be considered signature works from Oguike's repertory. Of that last piece, in which the British drumming ensemble Taiko Meantime goes head to head with the company's expressive, loose-limbed dancers to conclude the Pillow program, Jenny Gilbert of the Independent wrote, "The thundering beats of the three onstage drummers punched my rib cage with such force that I feared, momentarily, for cardiac cases in the house. I caught every flicker of detail in the dancers' response as they quivered like reverberating drum skins. For a riveting 20 minutes, I became less a spectator than a seismometer, registering the force of a physical phenomenon as powerful as theatre-dance gets." In a related free event, Oguike discusses his motivation to dance and to choreograph in a post-show talk Friday, August 17. Given the performances' appeal to audiences of all ages, the Saturday 2pm matinée offers a $10 ticket for children 13 and under when accompanied by an adult. Performance and Ticket Information for Henri Oguike Dance Company: Evening performances are Wednesday, August 15 through Saturday, August 18 at 8pm, with matinée performances at 2pm on Saturday, August 18 and Sunday, August 19. Tickets are $45 for all performances, with a 10% discount for seniors, students, and youth age 13 and under. In addition, $10 youth tickets are available for the Saturday, 2pm matinée. The Box Office is open seven days a week from noon through intermission. Pillow Members receive a 10% discount on performances; to become a member call 413-243-9919 x27. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Box Office at 413-243-0745, faxing orders to 413-243-0749, or ordering online at www.jacobspillow.org. Jacob's Pillow is located at 358 George Carter Road, Becket, Mass., 10 minutes east on Route 20 from Mass Pike Exit 2. The Jacob's Pillow campus and theaters are handicapped-accessible. Dinner reservations may be made for the Pillow Café at 413-243-0445. At just 36 years old, Henri Oguike (on-REE oh-GWEE-kay) is one of England's most admired choreographers, having founded his company only eight years ago. After studying dance at the renowned London Contemporary Dance School, he later performed with the influential choreographer Richard Alston, where he honed his expansive movement style. Oguike's "lithe, meticulous dancers can do anything he asks," observed London's Herald, as they go "strolling, rolling, cutting loose in flurries of adrenalised elasticity. Thrilling musicality." Oguike, who dances with his group, will perform on the Pillow program in his ruminative solo Expression Lines, dancing to blues by Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré. Oguike is frequently noted for the sensitivity he uses with scores-often newly commissioned from composers, and just as often played live-that reflect his training in music. Mark Monahan of the Daily Telegraph even called Oguike the "heir apparent" to Mark Morris: "his musicality, wit and intelligence are just blinding. The two also share a worker-ant's industry, and a passion for shows as varied as they are punchy." Oguike's program includes White Space, from 2005 and set to selections by Italian baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti. Ismene Brown in the Daily Telegraph, in noting the choreographer's characteristically propulsive movement sense, wrote that the work is "satirically attuned to the sharp, plucking violence of the harpsichord's musical mechanism." As Oguike's dancers engage in "exaggerated courtliness [that] develops a whiff of below-stairs rebellion," massive projections of Mondrian-style images hover behind the stage. Set to a lively score commissioned from contemporary composer Steve Martland, Tiger Dancing is a whimsical fantasy based on the visionary William Blake's searing poem, "The Tiger." Oguike's solo Expression Lines follows, in which the dancer's character fades "in and out of view like some sketchy memory, or half-forgotten dream, as spotlights by turns fired and then died completely" (Mark Monahan, Daily Telegraph). Second Signal is a 2005 reprise of the popular work Signal, made a year earlier for London's Phoenix Dance Theatre. Pitting three musicians of Taiko Meantime onstage against his eight dancers, Oguike uses the ferocious rhythms of this traditional Japanese form-such drums were once used in battle to intimidate the enemy-to create "the most explosive piece of British dance in years" (The Independent). Henri Oguike was born in West Glamorgan, Wales, to a Nigerian father and a Welsh mother, and studied music, drama and dance at Swansea College. He only began seriously training dance in while at the London Contemporary Dance School in his late teens, going on to dance with 4D, its postgraduate performance group, and from 1994 to 1997 was a founding member of the Richard Alston Dance Company. Just two years after his company's debut in 1999, he received the Time Out Live Award for "Most Outstanding New Company." Free Events at the Pillow This Week PillowTalks in Blake's Barn: At 5pm on Wednesday, August 15, in Creating Invisible Wings, Joanna Haigood and her collaborators discuss the process behind the following week's remarkable dance work, and on Saturday, August 18 at 4pm, More Men Who Danced offers newly found footage of legendary performer and one of Ted Shawn's Men Dancers, Barton Mumaw. Inside/Out performances at 6:30pm: Wednesday, August 15, Bridgman/Packer Dance gives audiences a taste of its repertory, to be seen in full in the Doris Duke Studio Theatre. Thursday, August 16, Ashleigh Leite, a former dancer with Stephen Petronio, makes her Inside/Out debut. Friday, August 17, Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects show work by this intelligent New York City-based choreographer. Saturday, August 18, the Jazz/Musical Theater Dance students from The School at Jacob's Pillow celebrate legendary Ted Shawn protégé and jazz dance pioneer Jack Cole with their third performance on the Inside/Out Stage. Ongoing free exhibits include: Memorable Moments from 75 Years, an exhibition of Pillow experiences from artists, staff members, and patrons, in Blake's Barn; 7.5 Seasons: Mike van Sleen, featuring insightful photographic images from the Pillow's own resident photographer, in the Ted Shawn Theatre lobby; Dancing Dutch, with photographic work representing some of the leading companies in The Netherlands today, in the Doris Duke Studio Theatre lobby; The Ballet Goes to Camp, with newly found photos from a 1941 spread on Jacob's Pillow in The New York Times, in the Reading Room at Blake's Barn; and on view in the Bakalar Studio whenever rehearsals and classes are not in session is Anniversary Salute: John Lindquist and John Van Lund, a series of photos by the Pillow's longtime resident photographers, spanning more than a half century. Amenities at Jacob's Pillow The Archives at Jacob's Pillow are open Tuesday-Sunday, noon through final curtain, in Blake's Barn. The library and reading room offer visitors the opportunity to view over 5000 selections of footage of dance icons at work from 1933 to yesterday, from Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis to Mark Morris and more; to browse through a collection of rare and unusual dance-related books; and to peruse the archival collections of Pillow programs and photographs. Guides are available to assist in sharing the resources of the Archives. New for the 75th Anniversary Season, an interactive viewing kiosk allows visitors to see rare footage of 75 different historic and current dance icons, including superstars Mikhail Baryshnikov and Savion Glover, among many others. Take a Guided Tour of this National Historic Landmark, once a family farm and station on the Underground Railroad and now a renowned dance festival, school, archives, and community programs. The public is invited to meet at the Welcome Center Saturdays at 5:30pm for a free guided tour or to pick up a Self-Guided Tour Map anytime. Dance Opportunities Morning Jumpstart Classes offered in Pilates, Ballet, Modern, and Yoga, Mondays through Fridays at 8am. All experience levels, 16 and older, $8 per class, Ruth St. Denis Studio. Call the Education Hotline at 413-243-9919 x57. Weekly Master Classes are led by Festival artists Sundays at 10:30am to noon for intermediate and advanced dancers, $15 per class. Pre-registration is required. Call the Education Hotline at 413-243-9919 x57. The School at Jacob's Pillow welcomes observation by the public. See classes and rehearsals of The School at Jacob's Pillow Tuesdays through Saturdays, 9am-5pm, featuring teachers from all over the world, at no charge, in the Sommers Studio. Interested groups of four or more should confirm space availability by calling 413-243-9919 x21. Dining The Pillow Café offers fine dining with wine service under the tent on The Great Lawn. Wednesdays through Saturdays, dinner is served 5-7pm. Saturday and Sunday brunch is served noon to 2pm. Reservations are required, call 413-243-2455. The Pillow Pub offers casual family fare, takeout for picnics and full bar service. Wednesdays through Fridays 5pm-midnight, Saturdays noon-midnight and Sundays noon-5pm. The Tea Garden serves gourmet teas and fresh bakery items in the charming and historic spot where Ted Shawn's Men Dancers served patrons during the 1930s. The Coffee Bar and Ice Cream Bar are open pre-performance and during intermissions. Sample menus for each dining venue are available at www.jacobspillow.org. Pillow Patrons are also invited to bring picnics and relax at one of many choice picnic spots on the Pillow grounds. Jacob's Pillow celebrates its 75th Anniversary Season in 2007. The Pillow encompasses an acclaimed international festival (the longest-running dance festival in the U.S.), a professional dance school, rare and extensive archives open to the public free of charge, an intern program, year-round community programs, and a creative development residency program. The historic site includes 163 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. In 2003, Jacob's Pillow was declared a National Historic Landmark and is the first and only dance entity in the U.S. to achieve this honor. As of April 1, 2007, major support for Community Programs at Jacob's Pillow has been provided by The Barrington Foundation; Central Berkshire Fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation; The Dana Foundation; The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation; Frances Alexander Foundation; Marshall Frankel Foundation; The Howard Gilman Foundation; The Harkness Foundation for Dance; The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; The Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation; The Leir Charitable Foundations, in Memory of Henry J. Leir; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Mertz Gilmore Foundation; Evelyn Stefansson Nef Foundation; New England Foundation for the Arts; Rudolf Nureyev® Dance Foundation; The William J. and Dorothy K. O'Neill Foundation; The Prospect Hill Foundation; The Shubert Foundation, Inc; The Starr Foundation; Trust for Mutual Understanding; Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism; National Endowment for the Arts; Alex®; Ameriprise Financial; Berkshire Bank Foundation; Big Y World Class Market; TD Banknorth Charitable Foundation; Jacob's Pillow Business Alliance; and Jacob's Pillow Members. Major endowment support is provided by The Barrington Foundation; The William Randolph Hearst Foundation; The Leir Charitable Foundations, in Memory of Henry J. Leir; Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Onota Foundation; The Prospect Hill Foundation; Puffin Foundation; and the Talented Students in the Arts Initiative, a collaboration of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Surdna Foundation.
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Possible Measles Exposure at Boston, Logan

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed Wednesday that an out-of-state adult visitor who spent time in Boston and Westborough earlier this month was diagnosed with measles and was present in a number of locations.
 
This could have resulted in other people being exposed to measles virus.
 
The visitor arrived at Logan International Airport on American Airlines flight 2384 from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, on Dec. 11 at 2:39 p.m. They stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Boston-Westborough in Westborough and departed the state on Dec. 12 via Logan at 9:19 p.m. on JetBlue flight 117 to Las Vegas.
 
DPH is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local partners to identify and notify those who may have been exposed to measles from this individual.
 
"Measles is a highly contagious, airborne disease, which has increased significantly in the United States because of the unfortunate decrease in vaccination rates. It is also a preventable disease," said Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein. "This current situation serves as an important reminder of the critical role vaccination plays in protecting our communities. While Massachusetts has not had a measles case this year, 2025 saw the highest number of nationwide cases in more than a decade — nearly 2,000 in 44 jurisdictions, and sadly, three deaths. 
 
"Fifteen years ago, measles had been considered eliminated in the United States, but that tremendous progress is at risk. Vaccines are one of the most important public health interventions ever — they are safe, effective, and lifesaving."
 
Measles is very contagious. However, the risk to most people in Massachusetts is low because the vaccination rate in the state is high. People who are not immune and visited any of the locations on the following dates and times may be at risk for developing measles.
 
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