Ted Shawn News

The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts is launching into Leap Year with 23 dazzling shows, concerts and special events for every entertainment preference, from classical music to Broadway razzle dazzle, including the return of Michael Feinstein and the Kravis Center Pops Orchestra, the 13th annual Palm Beach Wine Auction Dinner & Live Auction, and the local premiere of HAMILTON, the biggest blockbuster of the past decade.

Jacob's Pillow announces public events held January through May in its Winter/Spring season, featuring co-presentations with local cultural partners; Pillow Parties; workshops and classes; Pillow Pop-Ups; and more. Events take place January through May on the Pillow's 220-acre campus in Becket, MA and across Berkshire County. As the Pillow continues to advance its five year strategic plan, Vision '22, the organization increasingly activates its local and national presence by expanding programming and extending resources beyond its acclaimed summer dance festival.

The School at Jacob's Pillow, a world-renowned center for artistic growth and excellence, announces 2020 professional advancement programs in Contemporary Ballet, Street & Club Dances, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre Dance; and professional development programs in Choreography and Dance Photography. Situated in the heart of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the longest-running dance festival in the United States, The School has been instrumental in furthering the careers of dance artists for over 80 years and offers innovative programs each year with its roster of renowned and sought-after choreographers and dance leaders who serve as faculty. Dancers selected to attend The School at Jacob's Pillow join one of the most influential international dance networks in the field. 

Boston Ballet returns to Jacob's Pillow for the first time in over a decade, performing in the Ted Shawn Theatre, August 21-25. Under the artistic directorship of Mikko Nissinen since 2001, Boston Ballet is recognized worldwide for repertoire that is a?oeone of the most eclectic in the countrya?? (The New York Times). Boston Ballet's program includes excerpts of William Forsythe's critically acclaimed Playlist (EP), which pairs Forsythe's daring choreography to a soundtrack pulled straight from today's top charts; as well as Pas de Quatre and Rodin by Russian classical choreographer Leonid Yakobson; and resident choreographer Jorma Elo's Bach Cello Suites.

Gallim makes its Ted Shawn Theatre debut with a Pillow co-commissioned world premiere, August 7-11. Under the direction of perpetually groundbreaking artist Andrea Miller, Brooklyn-based Gallim embodies human connection through bold, raw, transformative works. As New York Magazine attests, a?oeher viscerally physical movement wrings every inch of life from her dancersa?"and you'll be holding your breath, too.a??

A.I.M by Kyle Abraham makes its Ted Shawn Theatre debut at Jacob's Pillow, July 31-August 4. A Jacob's Pillow Dance Award winner, Doris Duke Artist Award winner, and MacArthur 'Genius' Fellow, Kyle Abraham's 'skill as a dancer is a fact' (The New York Times). A.I.M's mixed repertory  program demonstrates the company's diverse range of styles and Abraham's own artistry as a performer with INDY, his first major solo in nearly a decade; Andrea Miller's all-female state; as well as Show Pony, The Quiet Dance, and Drive, marked by Abraham's 'urgent and expressive choreography' (The New York Times).

The Paul Taylor Dance Company marks its 18th Pillow appearance with The Celebration Tour, an exclusively Taylor-choreographed program to commemorate the passing of their founder, July 24-28 in the Ted Shawn Theatre. Having created 147 original works over the course of his celebrated career, Paul Taylor is remembered for dances that capture life's joys and tackle some of society's most complex issues. The New York Times has praised Mr. Taylor as 'one of the most singular and searching imaginations of our time,' and remembers him as one who 'brought a lyrical musicality, capacity for joy, and wide poetic imagination to modern dance over six decades.' The Celebration Tour's Pillow program includes, Aureole, Concertiana, and Promethean Fire, and features archival footage of the Taylor company performing at Jacob's Pillow. 

Mark Morris Dance Group & Music Ensemble returns to Jacob's Pillow's Ted Shawn Theatre, July 17-21, restaging both new and beloved repertory. 'A tour de force of artistic storytelling' (The Los Angeles Times), this audience favorite is renowned for deeply witty and poetic dance and has amassed one of the most extensive Pillow performance records of any artist. Mark Morris Dance Group & Music Ensemble performs Prelude and Prelude-a work that has not been performed anywhere since 1992-the new work Sport, excerpts from Words, and the company classic Grand Duo.

In 1944, a young music librarian named Genevieve Oswald at The New York Public Library argued that dance materials didn't fit well into the Music or Theatre archives, and should be collected separately and differently. What she created was one of the first archives devoted entirely to dance, originally called the Library's Dance Collection, and now known as the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. In the 75 years since its creation, the Dance Division has become the world's preeminent collection of dance research materials, and an invaluable resource to students, practitioners of all levels, researchers, writers, enthusiasts and artists. Chronicling the art of dance in all its forms, the Division acts as much more than a library. It preserves the history of dance by gathering diverse written, visual, and aural resources, and works to ensure the art form's continuity through active documentation and educational programs.

Dance Theatre of Harlem celebrates 50 years of dance at Jacob's Pillow and commemorates the legacy of their late co-founder Arthur Mitchell in the Ted Shawn Theatre, July 10-14. Founding member and principal dancer Virginia Johnson now leads the multi-ethnic ballet company known for their innovative repertoire, acclaimed as "classy, earnest, and potent" (LA Times). Returning to the Pillow for the first time in five years, Dance Theatre of Harlem performs a program showcasing the dancers' diverse technical expertise in Darrell Grand Moultrie's Harlem on My Mind, Christopher Wheeldon's This Bitter Earth, George Balanchine's Valse Fantaisie, and premiering at the Pillow, an expanded version of Jacob's Pillow Dance Award winner Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Balamouk.

Jacob's Pillow presents the Pillow debut of Compagnie CNDC-Angers/Robert Swinston as part of the global Merce Cunningham Centennial, July 3-7 in the Ted Shawn Theatre. Under the direction of Robert Swinston, a longtime Merce Cunningham Dance Company member, later assistant to the choreographer, and finally director of choreography, France's National Center for Contemporary Dance/Angers brings three masterworks by Cunningham: Suite for Five, Inlets 2, and How to Pass, Kick, Fall, and Run. This celebratory program also features archival footage of Cunningham performing at Jacob's Pillow. The performance is the anchor event of a week-long exploration of this American master.

In a highly-anticipated return to Jacob's Pillow, Compañia Irene Rodriguez makes their Ted Shawn Theatre debut, June 26-30, with a diverse and exhilarating program that features one U.S. premiere, two world premieres, and audience favorites.

Jacob's Pillow opens its 87th season with premier Canadian contemporary ballet company Ballet BC in the Ted Shawn Theatre, June 19-23. Celebrating ten years under the leadership of Artistic Director Emily Molnar, Ballet BC is considered one of the most significant Canadian companies, acclaimed as "physically rigorous, dramatically solid, and truly contemporary" (Dance Magazine). Ballet BC's program features the U.S. premiere of Bedroom Folk from Israeli collaborators Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, Molnar's most recent work To this day, and Medhi Walerski's signature Petite Ceremonie.

Jacob's Pillow announces the complete schedule of Festival 2019. Featuring more than ten weeks with of over 350 ticketed and free performances, off-site pop-up performances, exhibits, talks, classes, films, and dance parties, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2019 runs from June 19-August 25. Celebrating its 87th season, Jacob's Pillow is the longest-running dance festival in the United States, a National Historic Landmark, and a National Medal of the Arts recipient. Tickets to all performances are on sale now at jacobspillow.org or through the Box Office at 413.243.0745.

Who am I? Who are you?  Who are we?  Struggling for a stable identity and steadiness in an unsteady world where barriers are falling away and rising at the same time, the international lineup in the 2019 La MaMa Moves! dance festival—Yin Mei, Bobbi Jene Smith, Dan Safer, Hari Krishnan, Gruppo Nanou, Sin Cha Hong, Jesca Prudencio, Mia Habib, and Colleen Thomas—challenge such issues with unique urgency and originality. Their responses, alternately brightly witty, dead-on serious, and/or dark-humored, emerge from their singular historic and current cultural perspectives. 

Jacob's Pillow announces that internationally sought-after Colombian-Belgian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa is the recipient of the 2019 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award.

Walter Stearns, Executive Director of Mercury Theater Chicago, announced today the cast and creative team of the upcoming LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, running on the main stage from March 1 through April 28. The press opening is Sunday, March 10 at 7:30pm. This hit sci-fi musical has devoured the hearts of audiences around the world for more than 30 years, following the story of floral assistant who stumbles across a new breed of carnivorous plant that promises to grant him fame, fortune and all his desires - as long as the blood keeps flowing. LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS will feature the creative talents of Walter Stearns (Director), Eugene Dizon (Musical Director) and Christopher Carter (Choreographer)

Paul Taylor Dance Foundation (PTDF) announces the launch of "Paul Taylor: Celebrate the Dancemaker," a multi-year worldwide celebration of Paul Taylor's astonishing legacy as well as his vision of a future for modern dance. Led by Mr. Taylor's chosen successor, Artistic Director Michael Novak, this celebration will focus on three components - domestic and international touring of the Paul Taylor Dance Company (PTDC) and Taylor 2 entitled "The Celebration Tour"; worldwide licensing of Mr. Taylor's dances; and the Paul Taylor American Modern Dance (PTAMD) 2019 New York Season at Lincoln Center.

Spring activities for the Centennial, which continues through all of 2019, include a wide range of performances, film screenings, discussions, education initiatives, community programming, and new works by other artists in conversation with Merce Cunningham's work.

Jacob's Pillow announces the full season lineup of Festival 2019 including world premieres, new commissions, international artists, anniversary celebrations, Pillow-exclusive engagements, and work developed at the Pillow Lab. Entering its 87th consecutive summer, Jacob's Pillow is home to the longest-running dance festival in the United States, a National Historic Landmark, a National Medal of Arts recipient, and has steadily expanded its reach in the field and its local community as a year-round center for dance research and development. Festival 2019 opens June 19, attracting audiences both on and off its site in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, through August 25.