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.