Jacob's Pillow Welcomes San Fran Ballet

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BECKET, Mass. — The San Francisco Ballet will return to Jacob's Pillow this summer for the first time in seven decades.
 
Its residence will feature Hans van Manen, Helgi Tómasson, Tamara Rojo, George Balanchine, Akram Khan, and William Forsythe at the Ted Shawn Theatre Wednesday, Aug. 5 through Sunday, Aug. 9. 
 
Deemed "strikingly modern [and] technically stunning" by the Daily Californian, the nation's longest-running professional ballet company will return to the site of its heralded East Coast debut in 1956. The company is currently led by Artistic Director Tamara Rojo, formerly the artistic director of London's English National Ballet.
 
In an expansive two-stage engagement, San Francisco Ballet will also perform on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage in the same week. The company will perform different programs on the outdoor and indoor stages. The outdoor program will include pieces by Ben Stevenson, Hans van Manen, Liam Scarlett, Marius Petipa, and Sir Frederick Ashton. Audiences interested in attending both programs — in either order — will be able to do so in one visit with staggered showtimes.
 
In a collaboration, the Grammy Award-winning Albany (N.Y.) Symphony will provide live accompaniment with its 22-person orchestra for select works of San Francisco Ballet's engagement.
 
In the Doris Duke Theatre from Wednesday, Aug. 5, through Sunday, Aug. 9, Ephrat Asherie Dance will perform "Shadow Cities," a piece originally created in collaboration with Grammy-winning pianist and composer Arturo O'Farrill. Performed by seven dancers and four musicians, "Shadow Cities" is a contemplative, raucous, celebratory reflection on the unexpected ways we encounter our most enlivened selves.
 
During Festival Week 7, visitors are also invited to join a PillowTalk with Tamara Rojo, the artistic director of San Francisco Ballet, on Saturday, Aug. 8 at 4 p.m. Rojo will discuss her experiences since becoming artistic director in December 2022 and her dance career leading up to that moment. 
 
Preshow talks with Pillow Scholars will be offered 30 minutes before showtime for all performances in the Ted Shawn Theatre and Doris Duke Theatre, and Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday on the Henry J. Leir Stage. San Francisco Ballet's talks will be led by Scholar-In-Residence Janine Parker, and Ephrat Asherie's will be led by Scholar-In-Residence Ahtoy Juliana. Postshow talks with the artists will be held onstage following Friday afternoon performances in the Ted Shawn Theatre, Thursday evening performances in the Doris Duke Theatre, and Friday evening on the Henry J. Leir Stage.
 
All performances are now on sale here.

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Pryor & Peacock's Whimsical Furniture Environmentally Friendly

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
 

The company uses digital printing to create the upholstery fabric, saving water and saving vintage furniture from ending up in landfills.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A unique furniture store has popped up on Elm Street this month.

Mom-and-daughter store Pryor & Peacock is hosting the pop-up storefront from Aug. 13 to Aug. 25 at 6 Elm. The New Marlborough business is co-founded by Rosalina Wright and Luca Shapiro, who is also the creative director. 

Their online shop was created in 2024 but they wanted people to see the pieces in person, so they're renting the space for a limited time before a long-term tenant moves in.

The store sources prints to create unique fabrics and reimagines vintage and antique furniture acquired at auctions, local shops, and online.

"We source prints from all over the world that date from the late 1600s up through mid-20th century, and Luca turns those prints into fabric by manipulating them, scanning them, oftentimes has to add or subtract things, and then we manufacture the fabric using only digital printing, which is very environmentally friendly, unlike traditional textile printing," Wright said.

Upholstering the furniture can take weeks of work. Shapiro looks for the perfect design for each piece and, if need be, uses Adobe Photoshop to extend the art work to fit or enhance the print.

"One of the most difficult parts comes in marrying the fabric to a piece of furniture because we only use antique and vintage frames also to be earth friendly, and they're also more beautiful and durable than new furniture," Wright said. "So the image has to go with the furniture, so that takes a lot of work."

One of Pryor & Peacock's missions is to be environmentally friendly. Digital printing doesn't use the same amount of water as traditional textile productions do nor does it contaminate water with ink according to their website.

Not only are they saving water, but they are saving furniture from going into the landfill while also using more durable furniture that doesn't break as easily as current pieces. They started their business to create something unique and to help the environment together.

"It's creating something nobody else is doing. People can't continue to buy throwaway furniture. Six percent of American landfills is furniture, and digital printing not only opens up the possibility of being able to put unique images on a piece of furniture, but it also is, as I said, environmentally friendly. So, for us, the excitement is to take an old East Lake settee that somebody's going to store in their barn and forget about, and make it something completely new and surprising," Wright said.

They hope their furniture helps bring a pop of fun to someone's home.

"We think our furniture is very whimsical and surprising, and most furniture today is oatmeal colored couches and gray neutral chairs, and it's boring," she said.

The two named their business after their mothers' maiden names to honor them and believe the name reflects their pieces.

Shapiro works in interior design outside of the business and the two liked working together and thought it would be great to start a business together. Shapiro says they can work well together and that her and her mother, Wright, has flipped houses before and have the same eye for design.

"So it's very easy for us to work together. When we see something, generally we agree on whether it works or doesn't work on a piece. We agree on the color schemes and that sort of thing. So it's very fun and fulfilling to work together," Shapiro said. 

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