Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival announces 2022 season lineup
BECKET — Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival returns for a 90th anniversary season full of on-site performances, virtual events, community programs in Berkshire County, and more. The Festival runs from June 22–August 28, and will feature 10 weeks of performances in the newly renovated Ted Shawn Theatre, performances on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage, and site-based work all around the Pillow grounds.
Ticket pre-sale for Jacob’s Pillow members begins Monday, March 7. Tickets go on sale to the general public Wednesday, April 6. Additional onsite and virtual events will be announced later this spring.
Ticketed performances will include:
AMERICA(NA) TO ME
Ted Shawn Theatre | June 22–26
Featuring an expansive array of artists including Warwick Gombey Troupe, Mythili Prakash, Jasmine Hearn, Nelida Tirado, Sara Mearns & Joshua Bergasse, Alexandra Tatarsky, and Dormeshia & Guests, this presentation offers an ever-timely reflection on how dance engages questions of heritage, tradition, and belonging.
RONALD K. BROWN / EVIDENCE
Ted Shawn Theatre | June 29–July 3
Ronald K. Brown / EVIDENCE has deeply moved audiences for over 30 years. “No major choreographer has worked harder to bring spiritual awareness to the human heart than Ronald K. Brown,” writes the Washington Post. “His dances concern our struggle to find love and connection, where compassion alone can ease the grueling physical journey of life.”
BODYTRAFFIC
Henry J. Leir Stage | June 29–July 3
BODYTRAFFIC uses the creative spirit of its Los Angeles home to fulfill its mission of delivering performances that inspire audiences simply to love dance. Since its inception in 2007, the company has held its place at the forefront of the concert dance world.
SW!NG OUT
Ted Shawn Theatre | July 6–10
Caleb Teicher brings the best of the swing dance world to Jacob’s Pillow with SW!NG OUT, with live music by Eyal Vilner Big Band. Featuring a cast of 22 performers, including 12 dancers and 10 on the bandstand, Teicher conceived of this piece alongside their brain trust of collaborators: Evita Arce, LaTasha Barnes, Nathan Bugh, Macy Sullivan, and Eyal Vilner.
A.I.M BY KYLE ABRAHAM
Ted Shawn Theatre | July 13–17
A Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award winner, Doris Duke Artist Award winner, and a MacArthur Fellow, Kyle Abraham is one of today’s most in-demand choreographers. His company’s evocative, interdisciplinary work has been praised for its “lush mix of modern and hip-hop dance” (The Boston Globe).
LIMÓN DANCE COMPANY
Ted Shawn Theatre | July 20–24
Founded in 1946, Limón Dance Company is a thriving legacy of José Limón and his mentors Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman, whose innovative works revolutionized dance in America with their dramatic expression, technical mastery, and expansive yet nuanced movement.
MUSIC FROM THE SOLE
Henry J. Leir Stage | July 20–24
Music From The Sole, co-founded by Leonardo Sandoval and Gregory Richardson, is a tap dance and live music company that celebrates tap’s Afro-diasporic roots, particularly its connections to Afro-Brazilian dance and music, and its lineage to forms like samba, house dance and passinho (Brazilian street funk).
BLACK GRACE
Ted Shawn Theatre | July 27–31
Dedicated to the rich storytelling traditions of the South Pacific, New Zealand-based Black Grace masterfully blends contemporary and Samoan dance genres, expressing them with “phenomenal strength, stamina and spirit” (The New Zealand Herald).
DICHOTOMOUS BEING: AN EVENING OF TAYLOR STANLEY
Henry J. Leir Stage | July 27–31
Already a celebrated principal dancer with New York City Ballet, Taylor Stanley pursues new movement frontiers for this program alongside special guest artists.
MICHELLE N. GIBSON WITH THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ ORCHESTRA / NOJO 7
Pillow Grounds | July 29–30
Michelle N. Gibson is a cultural ambassador of the diasporic dance traditions of the Black community in New Orleans. NOJO 7 is a dynamic ensemble drawn from the full New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. This roving performance investigates the creative impulse in Gibson’s choreography and practice, which is rooted in her New Orleans African American experience.
ALONZO KING LINES BALLET
Ted Shawn Theatre | August 3–7
Lauded as creating “the most sophisticated modernism in classical dance” (Los Angeles Times), choreographer Alonzo King is renowned for imbuing classical ballet with new expressive potential.
HUBBARD STREET DANCE CHICAGO
Ted Shawn Theatre | August 10–14
Founded in 1977 by dancer and choreographer Lou Conte, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s mission is to bring artists, art and audiences together to enrich, engage, educate and change lives through the experience of dance. The New York Times wrote that Hubbard Street Dance Chicago “ought to bottle itself as a cure for the ills of the era.”
DANCE HEGINBOTHAM
Henry J. Leir Stage | August 10–14
Celebrated for its vibrant athleticism, humor, theatricality, and commitment to collaboration, Dance Heginbotham, led by Artistic Director John Heginbotham is celebrating its 10th Anniversary having established itself as one of the most adventurous companies on the contemporary dance scene.
LIZ LERMAN
Festival Tent | August 10–13
Witches, trials, and exhibitions fly around in Liz Lerman’s new acclaimed evening-length dance-theater piece, Wicked Bodies. Liz and the unusual cast of performers have been exploring how our bodies become sources of evil and power – from fairy tales to government policies. The multidisciplinary piece is designed specifically for a unique setting at Jacob’s Pillow.
CLEO PARKER ROBINSON DANCE ENSEMBLE
Ted Shawn Theatre | August 17–21
Founded by master teacher, choreographer, and cultural ambassador Cleo Parker Robinson in 1970, this Denver-based distinguished modern dance company is renowned for a dynamic body of work inspired by the African American experience and rooted in dance forms and traditions worldwide.
MIAMI CITY BALLET
Ted Shawn Theatre | August 24–28
Founded in 1985 by Miami philanthropist Toby Lerner Ansin and Founding Artistic Director and ballet legend Edward Villella, MCB is universally admired as one of the world’s preeminent interpreters of the choreography of George Balanchine.
—A.K.
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BEAT to offer virtual wildlife track and sign event
PITTSFIELD — On Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 6 p.m., Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) and Northeast Wildlife Trackers will present an evening of track and sign identification based on photos from you, the audience. Submit photos, discuss features of local wildlife track and sign, and uncover the mystery of who made them. This event will take place on Zoom. Registration is required.
—A.K.
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2021-22 Melville Fellows to present new written works
PITTSFIELD — This February, Berkshire County Historical Society 2021-22 Melville Fellows Aylen Dominguez, a student at Berkshire Community College (BCC), and Shawna Hennessy, a student at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), will participate in a series of readings of original works created during their time at Arrowhead. In addition, the Fellows will also participate in Pittsfield’s 10 x 10 Winter Upstreet Arts Festival with an exhibit at the Berkshire Athenaeum.
February 17–27: Berkshire County Historical Society Exhibit at the Berkshire Athenaeum
2021-22 Melville Fellows Aylen Dominguez and Shawna Hennessy flex their creative muscles with an exhibit of writing visualizations held at the Berkshire Athenaeum during Pittsfield’s 10 x 10 Festival.
February 18 at 3 p.m.: From Melville’s Study: Inspired Writings from Arrowhead’s Melville Fellows
Aylen Dominguez, BCC Honors Scholar Program student, and MCLA student Shawna Hennessey, working with Writer-in-Residence Emeritus Jana Laiz, created new works which will be read in public for the first time at this virtual event sponsored by BCC. Please contact melville@berkshirehistory.org to request the zoom link.
February 25 at 3 p.m.: Reading of Original Works by 2021-2022 Melville Fellows
A reading of new works created in Herman Melville’s study at Arrowhead by 2021-22 Melville Fellows Aylen Dominguez and Shawna Hennessy. This virtual event will be held at the Berkshire Athenaeum in conjunction with Pittsfield’s 10 x 10 Winter Upstreet Arts Festival. Please contact melville@berkshirehistory.org to request the zoom link.
An additional reading at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts will take place at a later date.
About the Fellowship Program: The fellowship program, which began in 2018, annually awards outstanding Berkshire County college students the opportunity to work at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead to create one or more pieces of original writing inspired by Arrowhead’s surroundings and the BCHS collection. The fellowship program does not restrict the type or subject of the works created, giving participants a breadth of creative freedom. Arrowhead’s Writer-in-Residence Emeritus Jana Laiz spearheads the program and works in groups and individually with each Fellow. This program is sponsored by the Lee Bank Foundation.
—A.K.
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Stockbridge Festival Chorus to begin rehearsals for spring concert
STOCKBRIDGE — The Stockbridge Festival Chorus (SFC) will begin rehearsals at First Congregational Church of Stockbridge on Sunday, Feb. 27, with weekly rehearsals from 1-3 p.m. in the church sanctuary, in preparation for its spring concert on Saturday, April 29 at 5 p.m.
SFC continues to follow the COVID-safety protocols and regathering discussions with Stockbridge Congregational Church, particularly requiring singers to wear masks at all times, and every singer must be fully vaccinated and boosted. Last date to join will be March 13 and the dress rehearsal, Friday, April 28 from 4–6 p.m. is mandatory. No auditions are required and all interested singers in the community are welcome. Tracy Wilson is the conductor and rehearsal pianist is Bob Logan.
Dues will be $30 per person and scholarships are available. Everyone who started singing with SFC in January 2020 should still have the music, but if not, packets will be available, especially for newcomers. The program will be Malcolm Dalglish: Great Trees; Mack Wilberg: Come Thou Fount; David Hurd: Every Pilgrim has a Mountain; Moses Hogan: Down by the Riverside; Stephen Paulus: The Road Home; Randall Thompson: Choose Something Like a Star; The Pasture (TTBB), and Girls Garden (SSA); Steven Sametz: I Have Had Singing; Steve Murray: El Dorado; Anson Olds: Prairie Spring (a premiere, commissioned by SFC); Alice Parker: Be Joyful/O How Happy Are They; and Aaron Copland: The Promise of Living.
For questions, please email Tracy at tracywilson290.tw@gmail.com or call 413-822-8688. Singers planning on attending do not need to RSVP.
—A.K.
