Ted Shawn News

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.

Following the critical acclaim and record-breaking attendance of Festival 2014, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival opens its 2015 season in June.

May 26, 2015 - (Becket, MA) Following the critical acclaim and record-breaking attendance of Festival 2014, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival opens its 2015 season in June. Highlights of Festival 2015 include Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host, a special dance and radio stage production starring Ira Glass, host of This American Life; the return of Nederlands Dans Theater 2; the world premiere of American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Daniil Simkin's INTENSIO; Cuban contemporary ensemble Malpaso Dance Company, performing with GRAMMY Award-winning pianist and composer Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble; and the launch of Martha Graham Dance Company's 90th Anniversary, including a world premiere by eminent choreographer Mats Ek. 

Dancer and choreographer Adam H. Weinert, an alumnus of The School at Jacob's Pillow, previous Pillow Research Fellow, and Festival artist, brings the works of legendary modern dance pioneer and Jacob's Pillow founder Ted Shawn to the Tate Modern museum in London, this week, May 13-16.

Nimbus Dance Works will take the stage with three performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Fishman Space at the Fisher Building tonight, May 8 at 8 PM and tomorrow, May 9 at 2 and 8 PM. Marking 10 years of producing its own brand of impactful dance, Nimbus will present the world premieres of two works at BAM.

This June, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival presents Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host, a special pre-Festival performance starring Ira Glass, the host and executive producer of the famed public radio program This American Life. 'The Tina Fey of dance' (Sarah Kaufman, The Washington Post) Monica Bill Barnes and fellow dancer and collaborator Anna Bass perform with Glass, bringing the unlikely art forms of talk radio and dance together for a production that is 'unapologetically human and refreshingly relatable' (Brian Schaefer, The New York Times). This limited engagement will be presented in the Ted Shawn Theatre for two performances only, June 13 at 8pm and June 14 at 2pm.

ODC Theater's fourth annual smorgasbord of dance, the Walking Distance Dance Festival-SF, returns for a fourth year with samplings of dance from around the Bay Area and the nation. Over two days, Friday, June 5 to Saturday, June 6, ODC will present three programs of paired artists and a free, site-adaptive performance. Featured artists include Amy Seiwert/Imagery, Gerald Casel Dance, Jess Curtis/Gravity, Namita Kapoor, ODC/Dance, RAWdance and Gallim Dance in its Bay Area debut.

This year's Jacob's Pillow Dance Award, a prestigious honor carrying an unrestricted $25,000 cash prize, will be presented to contemporary choreographer Liz Gerring in recognition of her talent and outstanding contributions to the dance field. Active in the dance world for nearly 20 years, Gerring regularly garners acclaim for her 'enthralling and important' works (Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times) that also 'reveals the dancers as the splendid athletes that they are' (dance critic Deborah Jowitt). Gerring will accept the Award and members of Liz Gerring Dance Company will perform at the Pillow's Season Opening Gala on Saturday, June 20 in the Ted Shawn Theatre. The company will return to perform the evening-length work glacier in the Doris Duke Theatre August 19-23. Previous recipients of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award include tap artist Michelle Dorrance, the legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham, 2013 MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham, and Tony Award winner and director of New York Live Arts Bill T. Jones, among others.

Dancer and choreographer Adam H. Weinert, an alumnus of The School at Jacob's Pillow, previous Pillow Research Fellow, and Festival artist, brings the works of legendary modern dance pioneer and Jacob's Pillow founder Ted Shawn to the Tate Modern museum in London, May 13-16.

Nimbus Dance Works will take the stage with three performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Fishman Space at the Fisher Building on Friday, May 8 at 8 PM and Saturday May 9 at 2 and 8 PM. Marking 10 years of producing its own brand of impactful dance, Nimbus will present the world premieres of two works at BAM.

Erik Aschengreen offers a presentation of the Danish, American relationship.

In the summer of 2015, The School at Jacob's Pillow, a world renowned center for professional dance training will present Professional Advancement Programs in Ballet, Contemporary, Musical Theatre Dance, and an new program titled Social Dances: Jazz to Hip-Hop. These programs will take place during the 83rd annual Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, led by a highly-distinguished artist faculty, and offer an incomparable combination of studio, performance, and Festival experiences.

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.

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.

Bringing a contemporary variation on the traditional coming of age story, David Roussève/REALITY comes to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival with the company's latest dance-theatre work, Stardust, August 6-10. In this 80-minute piece, exceptional performers explore the world of a young, gay, African-American man through arresting choreography; video projections including unanswered text messages sent by the work's protagonist; original music by hip-hop fusion composer d. Sabela grimes; and classic songs interpreted by Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, and Johnny Mathis. Poignant, riveting, and challenging, Stardust depicts a moving portrait of the struggle for love and acceptance. The engagement is a part of Jacob's Pillow's Weekend OUT, which encompasses a packed schedule of talks, performances, and special events taking place throughout the weekend.

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.

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.