Jacob's Pillow Presents Glimpse Into Pillow Lab With Zoe Scofield

Jacob's Pillow presents a rare glimpse into the Pillow Lab, the organization's new research and development program, with multiple performances of Princess Grace Award winner Zoe Scofield's new work always now. The Seattle-based Co-Artistic Director of zoe | juniper transforms The Doris Duke Theatre into an immersive media installation space, inviting intimate groups of audience members to experience performance from the ground up.

"One of the main goals in developing the Pillow Lab is to give artists the necessary time and space see their work come to fruition. After Zoe Scofield spends two weeks in development, we are excited to invite audiences to be one of the first groups to experience the work always now and to see one our theater spaces completely reimagined," says Jacob's Pillow Director Pamela Tatge.

At the intersection of dance, installation, video, and technology, always now is presented in two distinct sections and seeks to spark a simple shift in the structure of traditional performance to alter the relationship between audience and dancer. Audience members lay on the floor, head to shin in a perpendicular physical orientation, for the entirety of the performance. In collaboration with designers Juniper Shuey, Thomas Dunn, and Julian Marlew, the work aims to expose vulnerabilities of performers by questioning how and if dancers can become audience member again.

The presentation of always now follows a two-week, on-site technical residency at the Pillow Lab. Four-time Bessie Award-winner, United States Artist Ford Fellow, and Doris Duke Artist Award recipient Bebe Miller collaborates as choreographic mentor. always now is supported by the Princess Grace Foundation Choreography & Mentorship Co-Commission award.

About Zoe Scofield

Zoe Scofield is the Co-Artistic Director and choreographer of zoe | juniper (zj), a Seattle-based dance and visual arts team comprised of Scofield and visual artist Juniper Schuey. 2015 Guggenheim Fellow and 2013 Stranger Genius award winner, over the past 13 years, zj has been commissioned by Jacob's Pillow, On the Boards, Dance Theater Workshop/NYLA, Bates Dance Festival, DiverseWorks, PS122, Wesleyan University, Pennsylvania Ballet, ICA Boston, Joyce Theater, and others. Awards and residencies include The MacDowell Colony, Bellagio Rockefeller Foundation, Princess Grace Foundation, Mellon Foundation, and MAPFund.