Oona Doherty/OD Works Will Make its Pillow Debut

In Week 5 of Festival 2023, Northern Irish company, Oona Doherty/OD Works, founded by choreographer Oona Doherty, will make its Pillow debut. The company will show Doherty’s signature work Hope Hunt and the Ascension Into Lazarus, and the U.S. premiere of Navy Blue, her largest work yet, in the Ted Shawn Theatre from July 26-July 30. Alongside Doherty in the fifth week of the Festival are several one-night-only performances on the outdoor Henry J. Leir stage by Taiwan-based Resident Island Dance Theatre on July 26, Almanac Dance Circus Theatre on July 27, and Oyu Oro Afro Cuban Experimental Dance Ensemble on July 28. Tickets for performances on the Henry J. Leir stage are available on a Choose What You Pay model. Tickets for all performances are on sale now. 

In addition to these performances, all performances by Oona Doherty/OD Works will be preceded by a free 15-minute Pre-Show Talk led by Pillow Scholar-in-Residence, Maura Keefe, held in Blake’s Barn 30 minutes before showtime. Following the Friday matinee performance will be a free Post-Show Talk with the artists. 

On July 29, three choreographers will celebrate the anniversary of The School at Jacob’s Pillow’s 2002 Dunham Legacy program with a special performance on the Henry J. Leir Stage. Alumni from the program will present excerpts from works that extend from the artistic traditions of historic choreographer, Katherine Dunham. Choreographers include Paloma McGregor, Founding Artistic Director of Angela’s Pulse, Michelle Grant-Murray, choreographer of Olujimi Dance Collective, and Stephanie McKee, artistic director of Junebug Productions. In addition, a free PillowTalk celebrating Katherine Dunham will be held in Blake’s Barn on Saturday at 4pm, where a panel discussion will revisit the 2002 School program and the lasting impact of the dance legend and illustrious choreographer. 

On Thursday, there will be a free community workshop in Pittsfield, a collaborative and exploratory practice where Paloma McGregor will lead participants in the Fishtrap Method, inspired by her ancestral home, St. Croix. Finishing out Week 5 on Sunday is a workshop with Patrick Parson, where participants will learn the movement aesthetics of the modern dance techniques of Dunham, Graham, and Horton while exploring the musicality of African and African diasporic dances. The workshop is open to all dance experience levels, ages 16+. 

“This week we welcome new artists making their Pillow debuts including Northern Ireland’s Oona Doherty/OD Works and Taiwan’s Resident Island Dance Theatre, alongside artists who are returning for what feels like a family reunion for the Dunham Legacy Program,” said Pamela Tatge, Executive and Artistic Director of Jacob’s Pillow. “These are choreographers who studied here with the great Katherine Dunham twenty years ago and will have time to celebrate her influence and share their remarkable work with the next generation of dancers and audiences. This is quintessential Jacob’s Pillow: we’ll experience the past, present, and future of dance from the U.S. and abroad, all in a single week!”

A rapidly rising star in contemporary dance, Oona Doherty/OD Works will be the first headlining artist from Northern Ireland to perform at the Festival.  Doherty’s signature work, Hope Hunt and Ascension Into Lazarus, will begin with an outdoor pop-up performance that leads the audience into the Ted Shawn Theatre for the U.S. premiere of Navy Blue, driven by a thrilling in-your-face mash-up of ensemble dance, spoken word poetry, political candor, and eclectic music. Navy Blue premiered at Kampnagel in Hamburg, Germany last summer, and was also performed at Sadler’s Wells in London. “A massive talent and a hugely original voice,”(The Guardian) Doherty has created works that explore transformation and vulnerability. 

The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage this week features a series of one-night-only Choose What You Pay performances In collaboration with Center Stage USA on July 26, Resident Island Dance Theatre will present Ice Age, performed by a physically-inclusive quartet. Another international group making their Pillow debut, this inclusive company is based in Taiwan’s rural south, and performs works that explore the human condition and the possibilities of an inclusive world. 

Almanac Dance Circus Theatre, an award-winning contemporary circus company based in Philadelphia, will perform their work Communitas on July 27. Almanac’s genre-defying performance uses human sculptures and acrobatic encounters to animate the tale of the founding of a civilization. An original musical score by award-winning composer Jordan McCree intensifies the relationship between performers at the edge of their abilities and an audience witnessing genuine risk. 

Friday night’s performance will feature Oyu Oro Afro Cuban Experimental Dance Ensemble on July 28. A New York City-based Afro-Cuban company, Oyu Oro was founded by the 2019 Dance/USA Doris Duke Fellow Danys “La Mora” Pérez, who is originally from Santiago de Cuba. The company is committed to building bridges among African diaspora and Hispanic cultures. Oyu Oro aspires to create works that audiences of all ages can enjoy, all in service of developing “art among people.”

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