BECKET, Mass. — The party was held Sunday but it was Wednesday night's ribbon cutting that officially opened the Doris Duke Theatre at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.

 

The opening night included nearly a half-dozen performances in the new space, including "OTMO Live," which used motion capture to connect a dancer in the Duke space to one in the Ted Shawn Theatre for a dual performance. 

 

"This theater is more than wood, glass and very comfortable seats. This theater is a promise to keep the arts accessible, ambitious, alive and looking to the future of dance," Trustees Chair Mark Sena said. 

 

"This theater is a commitment to nurture talent, inspire innovation and expand opportunity. This theater is a celebration of our belief in what the arts make possible, especially in times when the arts are challenged, when the world needs them the most and this theater is an achievement for Jacob's Pillow as a leading organization for the presentation, education and preservation of dance." 

 

The 30-year-old theater burned down in a fire in 2020. Dance company officials vowed to rebuild and launched a campaign drive three years later to construct a modern facility more than double in size and that can seat up to 400. The new 20,000-square-foot theater was estimated to cost $30 million and funded through a coalition of public and private donors and foundations.

 

"When the Doris Duke Theatre was lost to a fire in 2020 it felt like losing a part of our soul," said Executive And Artistic Director Pamela Tatge. "People all over the world tell me they remember where they were when they heard that the Duke burned down. That space held nearly three decades of boundary-pushing world premieres, thrilling explorations with groundbreaking artists and audience encounters that shifted perceptions."

 

Built for dance, the Duke is also built for the future and with the dangers of fire in mind. Sena said the wood-clad structure has been made as flame retardant as possible. 

 

"This beautiful wood you see behind us on the theater was bought in Canada pre-COVID, pre-tariffs and has a three-hour fire retardant rating," he said. 

 

A contest was held to determine who would build the new theater and Jacob's Pillow chose Norwegian company Mecanoo, led by Francine Houben.

 

"First, they know theater. They've built theaters all over the world. Second, their innovative use of wood. And third, because they think so intently about the values, the people, the place, the poetry of a site. And we felt that resonance with that firm," Tatge said.

 

Mecanoo brought in New York City's Marvel Architecture and worked with local contractor Allegrone Construction and artist Jeffrey Gibson to help design and construct the theater.

 

Tatge also introduced President Shannon Holsey of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians.

 

"The land that this theater is built on is the land of Muh-he-con-ne-ok or Mohican people. Despite tremendous hardship at being forced from here, they continue to reside in Wisconsin, where they are known as the Stockbridge Munsee community. We pay honor and respect to their elders, past and present, as we seek to create a more equitable and inclusive organization," Tatge said.

 

Jacob's Pillow had asked all the design teams to include an indigenous artist to help design the new theater.

 

The festival also inaugurated an Indigenous Garden designed by Stockbridge-Munsee members to serve as a way to honor and recognize the land's original inhabitants.

 

"I look around and I see hopefulness, I see inclusion," said Holsey. "I feel energy, and especially now where there needs to be renewed attention around the things that are happening in our world, especially with regards to the social injustices of people of color and people like our nation, who were dispossessed at this place we now call Jacob's Pillow and and we're able to return in a joyful and hopeful way and help celebrate the diversity that exists within all of us."

 

The festival held a open house for the community on Sunday with tours of the theater, dancing and other activities. The ribbon cutting on July 9 held special significance, say Pillow officials, as it was the same date 83 years ago of the opening of the Ted Shawn Theatre, the first performance space in America designed exclusively for dance.

 

The international dance festival is now in its 93rd summer and will offer nine weeks of performances on its campus, and in streaming and online events through Aug. 24. The 2025 summer festival will mark the first time in six years that all three onsite performance venues are open to the public: the historic Ted Shawn Theatre, the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage, and the new Doris Duke Theatre.

 

A long line of Pillow officials, supporters, Duke designers and contractors, and community leaders lined up to each cut the red ribbon opening the theater — and then the singing and dancing began.