Ella Baff News

This June, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival presents Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host, a special pre-Festival performance starring Ira Glass, the host and executive producer of the famed public radio program This American Life. 'The Tina Fey of dance' (Sarah Kaufman, The Washington Post) Monica Bill Barnes and fellow dancer and collaborator Anna Bass perform with Glass, bringing the unlikely art forms of talk radio and dance together for a production that is 'unapologetically human and refreshingly relatable' (Brian Schaefer, The New York Times). This limited engagement will be presented in the Ted Shawn Theatre for two performances only, June 13 at 8pm and June 14 at 2pm.

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival announces today that Andrea Sholler, former Associate Director of The Tow Foundation and Executive Director of Dance Theater Workshop, will join the organization as General Manager. Sholler will assume the position on May 18, 2015, returning to the institution where she began her career from 1983 to 1985 as the Pillow's first Development Associate. Jacob's Pillow, located in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, is a National Historic Landmark, National Medal of Arts recipient, and home to America's longest running dance festival.

This year's Jacob's Pillow Dance Award, a prestigious honor carrying an unrestricted $25,000 cash prize, will be presented to contemporary choreographer Liz Gerring in recognition of her talent and outstanding contributions to the dance field. Active in the dance world for nearly 20 years, Gerring regularly garners acclaim for her 'enthralling and important' works (Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times) that also 'reveals the dancers as the splendid athletes that they are' (dance critic Deborah Jowitt). Gerring will accept the Award and members of Liz Gerring Dance Company will perform at the Pillow's Season Opening Gala on Saturday, June 20 in the Ted Shawn Theatre. The company will return to perform the evening-length work glacier in the Doris Duke Theatre August 19-23. Previous recipients of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award include tap artist Michelle Dorrance, the legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham, 2013 MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham, and Tony Award winner and director of New York Live Arts Bill T. Jones, among others.

Cultural partners Jacob's Pillow Dance and MASS MoCA present KEIGWIN + COMPANY, this weekend, April 11 at 8pm and April 12 at 3pm at the Hunter Center.

Dancer and choreographer Adam H. Weinert, an alumnus of The School at Jacob's Pillow, previous Pillow Research Fellow, and Festival artist, brings the works of legendary modern dance pioneer and Jacob's Pillow founder Ted Shawn to the Tate Modern museum in London, May 13-16.

Cultural partners Jacob's Pillow Dance and MASS MoCA present KEIGWIN + COMPANY, April 11 at 8pm and April 12 at 3pm at the Hunter Center.

Bryan A. Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) in Montgomery, Alabama, will receive an honorary degree from the College of the Holy Cross and address this year's graduates during the College's Commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 22 at 10:30 a.m. on the campus.

Cultural partners Jacob's Pillow Dance and MASS MoCA present KEIGWIN + COMPANY, April 11 at 8pm and April 12 at 3pm at the Hunter Center. A favorite among dance audiences and critics, KEIGWIN + COMPANY will bring a mixed program of high art and pure entertainment, featuring a variety of diverse contemporary works that embody the company's signature wit, broad musicality, and profound emotional capacity. Annual co-presentations by Jacob's Pillow and MASS MoCA are made possible by the Irene Hunter Fund for Dance.

November 20, 2014 – (Becket, MA) Following the record-breaking attendance and ticket sales of Festival 2014, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival moves into a new season of exciting activity. The year-round international center of dance breaks ground this month on an expansion project which will triple the areas for storage and public access to its rare and extensive dance Archives. The Pillow also announces four companies that will perform at Festival 2015: the legendary modern dance ensemble Martha Graham Dance Company, launching its 90th Anniversary Season; Jessica Lang Dance in The Wanderer, created in part during a Creative Development Residency at the Pillow; New York Theatre Ballet in a family-friendly production of Cinderella; and tap superstar Michelle Dorrance, her company Dorrance Dance, and composer Toshi Reagon and her band BIGLovely in a return engagement of The Blues Project.

A Jacob's Pillow Dance Award recipient, MacArthur 'Genius' Fellow, and critically lauded choreographer who pairs diverse movement styles with issues of social and historical significance, Kyle Abraham brings his newest work to MASS MoCA this weekend, October 18 and 19 in a co-presentation with Jacob's Pillow, made possible by the Irene Hunter Fund for Dance. The Watershed is an evening-length work in Abraham's signature blend of classical form, postmodern invention, and urban influences, performed by Abraham and his accomplished company, Abraham.In.Motion. Performances will be held at MASS MoCA's Hunter Center, in North Adams, Mass.

A Jacob's Pillow Dance Award recipient, MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, and critically lauded choreographer who pairs diverse movement styles with issues of social and historical significance, Kyle Abraham brings his newest work to MASS MoCA October 18 and 19 in a co-presentation with Jacob's Pillow, made possible by the Irene Hunter Fund for Dance. The Watershed is an evening-length work in Abraham's signature blend of classical form, postmodern invention, and urban influences, performed by Abraham and his accomplished company, Abraham.In.Motion. Performances will be held at MASS MoCA's Hunter Center, in North Adams, Mass.

A Jacob's Pillow Dance Award recipient, MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, and critically lauded choreographer who pairs diverse movement styles with issues of social and historical significance, Kyle Abraham brings his newest work to MASS MoCA October 18 and 19 in a co-presentation with Jacob's Pillow, made possible by the Irene Hunter Fund for Dance. The Watershed is an evening-length work in Abraham's signature blend of classical form, postmodern invention, and urban influences, performed by Abraham and his accomplished company, Abraham.In.Motion. Performances will be held at MASS MoCA's Hunter Center, in North Adams, Mass.

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (ASFB), one of the country's leading contemporary ballet companies, returns to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival for the 82nd season finale.

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (ASFB), one of the country's leading contemporary ballet companies, returns to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival for the 82nd season finale.

Bringing a contemporary variation on the traditional coming of age story, David Roussève/REALITY comes to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival with the company's latest dance-theatre work, Stardust, August 6-10. In this 80-minute piece, exceptional performers explore the world of a young, gay, African-American man through arresting choreography; video projections including unanswered text messages sent by the work's protagonist; original music by hip-hop fusion composer d. Sabela grimes; and classic songs interpreted by Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, and Johnny Mathis. Poignant, riveting, and challenging, Stardust depicts a moving portrait of the struggle for love and acceptance. The engagement is a part of Jacob's Pillow's Weekend OUT, which encompasses a packed schedule of talks, performances, and special events taking place throughout the weekend.

Daniel Ulbricht/BALLET 2014 offers an exclusive opportunity for audiences to experience some of today's most remarkable ballet dancers in the intimate Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, July 16-20. New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Daniel Ulbricht directs and performs with a select ensemble of top stars including Tyler Angle, Craig Hall, Robert Fairchild, Russell Janzen, Emily Kikta, Rebecca Krohn, Tiler Peck, Georgina Pazcoguin, and Teresa Reichlen. The program is equally impressive, including Christopher Wheeldon's Liturgy, danced to Arvo Pärt's ”Fratres;” Two Hearts, a collaboration between Benjamin Millepied and composer Nico Muhly; Furiant, created by NYCB Soloist Justin Peck; Sunshine, a solo for Ulbricht by Larry Keigwin; the world premiere of Opus 19. Andante, a duet by critically acclaimed young choreographer Emery LeCrone; and the classic Fancy Free, the first ballet created by Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein in 1944, which subsequently inspired the full-length musical On the Town. Cast subject to change.

Daniel Ulbricht/BALLET 2014 offers an exclusive opportunity for audiences to experience some of today's most remarkable ballet dancers in the intimate Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, July 16-20. New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Daniel Ulbricht directs and performs with a select ensemble of top stars including Tyler Angle, Craig Hall, Robert Fairchild, Russell Janzen, Emily Kikta, Rebecca Krohn, Tiler Peck, Georgina Pazcoguin, and Teresa Reichlen.

Daniel Ulbricht/BALLET 2014 offers an exclusive opportunity for audiences to experience some of today's most remarkable ballet dancers in the intimate Ted Shawn Theatre at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, July 16-20. New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Daniel Ulbricht directs and performs with a select ensemble of top stars including Tyler Angle, Craig Hall, Robert Fairchild, Russell Janzen, Emily Kikta, Rebecca Krohn, Tiler Peck, Georgina Pazcoguin, and Teresa Reichlen. The program is equally impressive, including Christopher Wheeldon's Liturgy, danced to Arvo Pärt's ”Fratres;” Two Hearts, a collaboration between Benjamin Millepied and composer Nico Muhly; Furiant, created by NYCB Soloist Justin Peck; Sunshine, a solo for Ulbricht by Larry Keigwin; the world premiere of Opus 19. Andante, a duet by critically acclaimed young choreographer Emery LeCrone; and the classic Fancy Free, the first ballet created by Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein in 1944, which subsequently inspired the full-length musical On the Town. Cast subject to change.