Marge Champion News

After three and a half years with ADM21, Artistic Director Margo Sappington announces her resignation from the organization.

On June 23 at 5pm, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival will celebrate the grand re-opening of Blake's Barn, home of its extensive dance Archives, with a ribbon cutting ceremony and exclusive performance of Antony Tudor's Trio Con Brio by New York Theatre Ballet.

Show business' brightest stars will memorialize one of their own when they participate in A Tribute to Polly Bergen, Thursday, March 26, at the American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd Street, from 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

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.

American Dance Machine for the 21st Century (ADM21) will present 15 show-stopping musical theater dance numbers performed by stars from the musical theater and dance worlds during its Joyce Theater debut today, November 11-16, announced Nikki Feirt Atkins, Founder and Executive Artistic Director and Margo Sappington, Artistic Director. All performances will feature live music and will be directed by Margo Sappington with musical direction by Eugene Gwozdz.

Tony Award winning choreographer Donald Saddler passed away at The Actors Home in New Jersey on Sunday, Nov. 2, BroadwayWorld has confirmed. He was 94.

American Dance Machine for the 21st Century (ADM21) will present 15 show-stopping musical theater dance numbers performed by stars from the musical theater and dance worlds during its Joyce Theater debut November 11-16, today announced Nikki Feirt Atkins, Founder and Executive Artistic Director and Margo Sappington, Artistic Director. All performances will feature live music and will be directed by Margo Sappington with musical direction by Eugene Gwozdz.

On Sunday, October 5th at 5:00 PM, Marge Champion and Richard Skipper will sit down at the Spiral Theater Studio to discuss Marge's vast and wonderful career and how she is doing today, at 95 years young. A Q&A with the audience and 'meet and greet' follows.

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.

A new Kickstarter account has been created in support of the new dance preservation and presentation initiative SAVE A DANCE!

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. 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.

From Italy, the innovative dance-theatre group Compagnia TPO travels to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival to present Bleu!, a wondrous interactive production that will delight children, parents, and the young at heart. Directed by David Venturini and Francesco Gandi, TPO invites audiences to a journey under the sea with this spectacle of light, animation, and movement. Through immersive technology and imaginative set design, Bleu! brings viewers into a mythical world of sea creatures and ancient legends. Audiences of all ages are welcomed onstage to engage with the dancers and the responsive set, or they can choose to sit back and enjoy the adventure. Bleu! is presented in an expanded ten-show engagement in the Doris Duke Theatre from July 2-6, with $10 youth ticket pricing available for all performances.

The art of the dance movie poster is celebrated at Jacob's Pillow this summer with GOTTA DANCE!, an extraordinary exhibit of vintage posters from throughout the world. The posters, which feature stars such as Gene Kelly, Rita Hayworth, Cyd Charisse, Eleanor Powell, and Astaire & Rogers, were selected from the personal collection of one of the genre's foremost experts, award-winning campaign designer and producer Mike Kaplan. GOTTA DANCE! includes a special six-poster salute to Marge and Gower Champion on the occasion of Marge Champion's 95th birthday.

Popular contemporary company Hubbard Street Dance Chicago returns to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival for the first time since 2010, bringing a sensational mixed-bill program. Directed by Glenn Edgerton, the 18-member company performs the dramatic Mediterranean-inspired Gnawa, choreographed by Nacho Duato, and Ji?í Kylián's vivid Falling Angels, a stark all-female work danced to “Drumming” by contemporary composer Steve Reich. The company's performance of Falling Angels earlier this year was called “a gorgeous combination of energetic and hypnotic, a celebration of what the body can do” by Lauren Whalen of Chicago Theater Beat. Hubbard Street Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo's latest work for the company, The Impossible, is a bold and theatrical work centered around themes of memory, mortality, and the human spirit.

From Italy, the innovative dance-theatre group Compagnia TPO travels to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival to present Bleu!, a wondrous interactive production that will delight children, parents, and the young at heart. Directed by David Venturini and Francesco Gandi, TPO invites audiences to a journey under the sea with this spectacle of light, animation, and movement. Through immersive technology and imaginative set design, Bleu! brings viewers into a mythical world of sea creatures and ancient legends. Audiences of all ages are welcomed onstage to engage with the dancers and the responsive set, or they can choose to sit back and enjoy the adventure. Bleu! is presented in an expanded ten-show engagement in the Doris Duke Theatre from July 2-6, with $10 youth ticket pricing available for all performances.

American Dance Machine for the 21st Century (ADM21) will make its Joyce Theater debut, November 11 - 16, with eight performances of show-stopping musical theater dance numbers by legendary choreographers including Rob Ashford, Michael Bennett, Patricia Birch, Gower Champion, Jack Cole, Henry LeTang, Jerry Mitchell, Jerome Robbins, Susan Stroman and more.

American Dance Machine for the 21st Century (ADM21) will make its Joyce Theater debut,November 11 - 16, with eight performances of show-stopping musical theater dance numbers by legendary choreographers including Rob Ashford, Michael Bennett, Patricia Birch, Gower Champion, Jack Cole, Henry LeTang, Jerry Mitchell, Jerome Robbins, Susan Stroman and more.