Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Welcomes Parsons Dance

01:09PM / Saturday, August 03, 2024Print Story | Email Story

BECKET, Mass. — Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival welcomes the internationally-touring modern dance company Parsons Dance back to the Ted Shawn Theatre, 25 years after their last engagement with the festival in 1999.

Parsons Dance will perform pieces choreographed by founder David Parsons, Robert Battle and Jamar Roberts from Wednesday, Aug. 7, through Sunday, Aug. 11. Tickets start at $65.

Also during this week — the seventh of Jacob's Pillow's nine-week festival this summer — contemporary dance company Gibney Company will perform on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage from Wednesday, Aug. 7, through Sunday, Aug. 11. Tickets start at $40. All performances are now on sale.

On Saturday, Aug. 10, a PillowTalk will be held in Blake's Barn featuring Diana Byer, founder of New York Theatre Ballet, unveiling a new initiative documenting the teachings of Margaret Craske, a famed ballet teacher and core faculty member at Jacob's Pillow for more than 20 years.

An additional PillowTalk in Blake's Barn will follow on Sunday, Aug. 11, which will highlight the current Pillow photographic exhibition "John Lindquist: As of Today." This Sunday talk will include Lindquist's protégé, Stephan Driscoll, and exhibition curator Norton Owen, in addition to an excerpt from a documentary film on John Lindquist.

Also on Sunday, Jacob's Pillow will offer a modern dance workshop with Parsons Dance Company, which welcomes participants ages 16 and up and with all levels of dance experience.

"The return of Parsons Dance to the Pillow is a gift to all of us," said Pamela Tatge, executive and artistic director at Jacob's Pillow. "They have put together a program of greatest hits along with the Pillow debut of choreographer Jamar Roberts, who has created a stunning work for the company set to music by jazz great Miles Davis. On the Leir Stage, we will host the return of a re-imagined Gibney Dance Company, presenting masterworks by Twyla Tharp and Swedish choreographer Johan Inger's Bliss with music from 'The Köln Concert' by Keith Jarrett. I can't wait to see this joy-filled piece presented against the iconic backdrop of the Berkshire hills."

This seventh week of the Festival also includes the final two events in this summer's free Jacob's Pillow On the Road series: a performance on Railroad Street in Great Barrington on Friday, Aug. 9, at 7 p.m. (as part of Berkshire Busk!), and a lecture/demonstration at the Becket Arts Center on Saturday, Aug. 10. Both events will feature the Boston-based salsa troupe Querencia Dance Company.

Jacob's Pillow On the Road was created in 2021 as a series of free pop-up performances across Berkshire County, featuring touring and Berkshire-region dance artists. Lead support for Jacob's Pillow On the Road is provided by Mill Town Foundation.

Tags: dance, jacobs pillow,

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Great Barrington Public Theater Appoints Artistic Director

09:57AM / Monday, December 29, 2025

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Great Barrington Public Theater announced that Associate Artistic Director Judy Braha will now join Jim Frangione at the helm as Artistic Director of Great Barrington Public Theater.

"We at Great Barrington Public Theater are thrilled that Judy Braha will assume the role of Artistic Director alongside myself. I couldn't have asked for a better partner to help advance the interests of the theater as we move into the next phase of growth as the region's premiere developmental theater," Founder & Artistic Director Jim Frangione said. "Judy brings a tremendous amount of experience and value to our company and has, in just a few short years, grown and greatly enhanced GB Public Theater's signature program, Berkshires Voices, where playwrights develop their work, leading to public readings and in some cases workshops and full productions. I look forward to working more closely with Judy to select the next generation of plays to be presented under the GB Public banner. It's a "Bear" of a job! But we feel great about the direction of our theater."

Judy Braha joined the GB Public artistic leadership team in 2023 as the Associate Artistic Director after 2 years directing for the company. She has since then been collaborating with Founder and Artistic Director Jim Frangione on the selection of new work for readings and full productions in the summer season. Her impressive portfolio of credits and accomplishments strengthened Great Barrington Public's creative programming and offered new perspectives to the body of works and events produced each year.

Judy Braha has been a career director, actor, teacher and artist for social justice for over four decades with directorial credits in theaters and universities throughout New England. She led the M.F.A. Directing Program at Boston University's School of Theater, retiring in 2022 after 29 years of service at BU.

"Judy has the strength of commitment, leadership and passion for theater and how it affects communities that fit hand-in-glove with our founding mission and core beliefs," Founder and Producing Director Deann Halper Simmons explains. "Her artistic integrity, sense of stage esthetic and ability to make important choices that craft life from the script continues to be a great asset to our company and growth."

"Judy's distinguished artistic voice has significantly contributed to the exceptional growth of GB Public in recent years," Managing Director Serena Johnson added. "We are truly excited to have her stepping into this leadership role in the 2026 season."

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