Jacob's Pillow Announces Recipient of New Annual Fellowship In Partnership With Tilles Center

Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie, Artistic Director of Ephrat Asherie Dance, is awarded the inaugural Jacob's Pillow Fellowship at Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post. The fellowship includes a $15,000 grant, a one-week residency at Jacob's Pillow's new Pillow Lab, and a residency at LIU Tilles Center. Executive Vice Chairman Roger Tilles was integral in making this new partnership between Jacob's Pillow and Long Island University possible.

"Roger Tilles has been a long-time supporter here at the Pillow and wanted to do something that would bring two of his passions together. We are so grateful that thanks to his generosity and to the team at Tilles Center, we have the opportunity to support the development of new voices in dance in this substantive way," says Jacob's Pillow Director Pamela Tatge.

"Supporting dance artists and bringing this level of dance to LIU Dance are both important to us as a Performing Arts Center. Collaborating on this fellowship gives choreographers the unique opportunity of space and time for developing new work in two inspiring settings. We are thrilled to be able to partner with such an historical, prestigious dance center as Jacob's Pillow," says William Biddle, Executive Director of Tilles Center.

Asherie, a New York Dance and Performance ("Bessie") Award winner and The Boston Globe's "bona fide b-girl," will use this fellowship to support the development of her newest work. Titled Odeon, the work layers breaking, hip-hop, house, and vogue with the buoyant Afro-Brazilian rhythms of 20th century composer Ernesto Nazareth, played live by acclaimed pianist and the choreographer's brother, Ehud Asherie. Odeon will make its highly anticipated world premiere at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2018, June 27-July 1.

"Receiving the inaugural Jacob's Pillow Fellowship at the Tilles Center is an incredible honor. Having the opportunity to work together with our full cast of seven dancers and four musicians in such a focused way, without the chaos of New York City around us, will be essential to fine tuning and fully preparing the work for its premiere. I am thrilled and very much looking forward to our week-long residency at the Tilles Center," says Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie.

Asherie utilized her Pillow Lab residency in September 2017 and will begin her residency at LIU on May 15, which includes 24/7 studio access and housing on campus.

ABOUT EPHRAT "BOUNCE" ASHERIE

Ephrat "Bounce" Asherie, a 2016 Bessie Award Winner for Innovative Achievement in Dance, is a New York City-based B-girl, dancer, and choreographer. As artistic director of Ephrat Asherie Dance (EAD), she has presented work at the Apollo Theater, FiraTarrega, Jacob's Pillow, New York Live Arts, Summerstage, and the Yard, among others. Asherie has received numerous awards to support her work including a Mondo Cane! commission from Dixon Place, a creative development residency at the Pillow Lab from Jacob's Pillow, Workspace and Extended Life Residencies from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, a Travel and Study Grant from the Jerome Foundation, and two residencies through the CUNY Dance Initiative. Her first evening length work, A Single Ride, received two Bessie nominations in 2012 for Outstanding Emerging Choreographer and Outstanding Sound Design by Marty Beller. Most recently, Asherie received a National Dance Project award to support the development and touring of her newest work, Odeon. Asherie is a regular guest artist with Dorrance Dance and has worked and collaborated with Doug Elkins, Rennie Harris, Bill Irwin, David Parsons, Gus Solomons jr., and Buddha Stretch, among others.

ABOUT TILLES CENTER

Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post in Brookville is Long Island's premier concert hall. For 37 years, Tilles Center has been host to more than 70 performances each season by world-renowned artists in music, theater, and dance. Tilles Center was the first to bring the New York Philharmonic to Long Island and Bruce Springsteen's legendary "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" was recorded onsite.

ABOUT JACOB'S PILLOW: Jacob's Pillow is a National Historic Landmark, recipient of the National Medal of Arts, and home to America's longest-running international dance festival. While celebrating its 85th Festival in 2017, the Pillow announced its transition to becoming a year-round center for dance through a five-year strategic plan titled Vision '22. Each Festival includes more than 50 national and international dance companies and over 350 free and ticketed performances, talks, tours, classes, exhibits, events, and community programs. The School at Jacob's Pillow, one of the most prestigious professional dance training centers in the U.S., encompasses the diverse disciplines of Ballet, Contemporary, Musical Theatre Dance, Choreography, and an annual rotating program (Gaga in 2018). The Pillow also provides professional advancement opportunities across disciplines of arts administration, design, video, and production through seasonal internships and a year-round Administrative Fellows program. With growing community engagement programs, the Pillow serves as a partner and active citizen in its local community. The Pillow's extensive Archives, open year-round to the public and online at danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org, chronicle more than a century of dance in photographs, programs, books, costumes, audiotapes, and videos. Notable artists who have created or premiered dances at the Pillow include choreographers Antony Tudor, Agnes De Mille, Alvin Ailey, Donald McKayle, Kevin Mckenzie, Twyla Tharp, Ralph Lemon, Susan Marshall, Trisha Brown, Ronald K. Brown, Wally Cardona, Andrea Miller, and Trey McIntyre; performed by artists such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Carmen de Lavallade, Mark Morris, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Edward Villella, Rasta Thomas, and hundreds of others. On March 2, 2011, President Barack Obama honored Jacob's Pillow with a National Medal of Arts, the highest arts award given by the United States Government, making the Pillow the first dance presenting organization to receive this prestigious award. For more information, visit www.jacobspillow.org.