Rasta Thomas News

Artistic Director Julie Kent is delighted to announce The Washington Ballet's participation in the 85th Anniversary Season of the 2017 Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival at the invitation of Jacobs Pillow Director Pamela Tatge.

Casting director Joy Dewing will close her New York office after five successful years in order to accept a position with the Disney Talent Casting and Booking team in Anaheim, CA. Joy Dewing Casting will cease operations tomorrow, Thursday, August 17, 2017.

The 2016 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award Winner, Camille A. Brown, will bring her evening-length work BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play to the Ted Shawn Theatre this summer, August 9-13.

Trisha Brown Dance Company (TBDC) performs at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in the Ted Shawn Theatre, August 16-20, representing the work of one of the seminal choreographers of the 20th century. Since Brown's passing this past March, witnessing TBDC in an evening-length program is an increasingly rare experience. Echoing Brown's choreographic innovation, timeless aesthetic, and 1960s postmodern approach to dance making, TBDC will perform a version of Opal Loop (1980) prepared especially for Jacob's Pillow, featuring former dancers of the company and an original cast member. Acknowledging Brown's more recent choreography, TBDC will also perform Groove and Countermove (2000) and L'Amour au théâtre (2009). As the company ventures into a new era, viewing Brown's work in a proscenium venue “feel[s] increasingly essential” (The New Yorker).

Jacob's Pillow Dance will celebrate the opening of the Perles Family Studio at an official ribbon cutting ceremony on August 18, 2017. The Pillow's 85th Anniversary Festival Finale, on August 26, will be the first event in the brand new space, which marks the first major on-site construction project at the Pillow since 1992. The $5.5 million building was designed by award-winning Flansburgh Architects of Boston, MA and constructed by Allegrone Companies of Pittsfield, MA. The Perles Family Studio is an integral part of the Pillow's five-year strategic plan, Vision '22, which launches the Pillow as a year-round campus for programs, research, and development with initiatives made possible through a deep commitment to The School at Jacob's Pillow, artist residencies, community engagement, and educational programs.

As Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival rings in 85 seasons, Doug Varone & Dancers celebrates its 30th anniversary as a company with a program in the Ted Shawn Theatre, August 2-6.

The 2016 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award Winner, Camille A. Brown, will bring her evening-length work BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play to the Ted Shawn Theatre this summer, August 9-13.

Former Orlando Ballet principal dancers Israel Rodriguez and Katia Garza have joined Skyra Studios as the Directors of the Dance Program. Skyra is a state-of-the-art performing arts academy, owned by local film producers Mary and Scott Poiley that is slated to open in Altamonte Springs late summer. The 7,000 sq ft studio features four oversized and uniquely themed dance rooms with 15' ceilings and sprung floors, a film recording studio, a digital lab for filmmakers and artists, a study lounge, large dressing room with changing pods, a cafe, a retail store, and a one-of-a-kind curriculum encompassing dance, acting, filmmaking and art. Rodriguez and Garza are principal dancers and highly sought after master teachers and coaches. Their former students include principal dancers, soloists and members of the Corps de Ballet in the Houston Ballet, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Tulsa Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, Orlando Ballet and others. The pair has developed a conservatory style program focused on discipline, technique, and artistry for classical and contemporary professional dancers.

Ballet Hispanico will perform at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival at the Ted Shawn Theater, 358 George Carter Road, Becket, MA 01223, from July 26-30, 2017 with performances Today-Saturday at 8pm; Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are $45-78 and are available at www.jacobspillow.org/events/ballet-hispanico/.

Ballet Hispanico will perform at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival at the Ted Shawn Theater, 358 George Carter Road, Becket, MA.

As Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival rings in 85 seasons, Doug Varone & Dancers celebrates its 30th anniversary as a company with a program in the Ted Shawn Theatre, August 2-6.

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival presents AteNine in the Doris Duke Theatre, July 26-30. AteNine, formerly Ate9dANCEcOMPANY, is led by Artistic Director and choreographer Danielle Agami, named “choreography's It girl” by the LA Times. A former dancer and rehearsal director of the world-renowned Batsheva Dance Company, Agami draws from her background in Gaga movement practice to create bold, innovative work. The program will include two works: Exhibit b and excerpts from vickie. AteNine dancers move with an intense clarity praised as “odd, fleeting, and gorgeous, it left you wanting much, much more” (Janet Smith, The Georgia Straight).

Ballet Hispanico will perform at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival at the Ted Shawn Theater, 358 George Carter Road, Becket, MA 01223, from July 26-30, 2017 with performances Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm; Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are $45-78 and are available at www.jacobspillow.org/events/ballet-hispanico/.

Ballet Hispanico will perform at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival at the Ted Shawn Theater, 358 George Carter Road, Becket, MA.

Based in Israel, Roy Assaf Dance makes its U.S. debut with a program of clever and heartfelt works in the Doris Duke Theatre July 12-16. A rising choreographic star, Assaf has been commissioned by companies across the globe including Batsheva Dance Company, The Royal Swedish Ballet, National Dance Company Wales, and LA Dance Project. The program opens with Assaf's embracing duet Six Years Later which is praised for its "beauty, nuances, and intricate, astute movements" (Ora Brafman, Jerusalem Post), and closes with his powerful all-male trio The Hill, inspired by veterans' experiences and based on the Hebrew song "Givat Hatachmoshet".

Jacob's Pillow Director Pamela Tatge recently unveiled Vision '22, a strategic approach for the Pillow's development over the next five years, through 2022. Vision '22 is a blueprint for enabling the Pillow to become a year-round center for dance creation and to more robustly serve artists and audiences alike.

The Old Globe today announced the full cast for Guys and Dolls, a musical fable of Broadway.

Celebrating the power of Jacob's Pillow's natural setting, internationally acclaimed dance company Pilobolus Dance Theater will premiere a new work commissioned specifically for the Pillow's iconic outdoor Inside/Out performance space, set against the Berkshire hills. The program featuring the world premiere and On the Nature of Things will kick off the Festival's 2017 free Inside/Out performance series with an extended three-day run, June 21-23.

“A prolific choreographer of skillfully constructed dances that respectfully mesh with music and striking visual design” (The New Yorker), Jessica Lang and her company return to Jacob's Pillow for the ensemble's first Ted Shawn Theatre engagement, July 5-9. In addition to a Pillow-commissioned world premiere work, the program includes Lang's Thousand Yard Stare, a dance embodying the incredible pride and honor as well as the searing loss experienced by military veterans. The program will also include the East Coast and company premiere of Lang's Lyric Pieces as well as Solo Bach, Sweet Silent Thought, and The Calling. This season, the Pillow has formed a partnership with the Tanglewood Music Center, whereby Tanglewood Fellows and alumni will be providing the music accompaniment for this engagement.

Known for its "cutting-edge contemporary work" (Jason Vondersmith, The Portland Tribune), NW Dance Project makes its Jacob's Pillow debut, June 28-July 2 in the Doris Duke Theatre. Based in Portland, Oregon and led by former Royal Winnipeg Ballet principal dancer Sarah Slipper, the company is composed of a cast of classically-trained, versatile contemporary dancers. The program includes works by a range of accomplished choreographers and rising talents: Post-Traumatic-Monster by Felix Landerer, choreographer in residence for Scapino Ballet in the Netherlands; At Some Hour You Return by former Nederlands Dans Theater dancer Ji?i Pokorný; Le Fil Rouge by 2011 Sadler's Wells Global Dance Contest winner and NW Dance Project resident choreographer Ihsan Rustem; and MemoryHouse by Artistic Director Sarah Slipper.