Jacob’s
Pillow Curriculum in Motion®
Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion® is the result
of the Pillow’s long-term inquiry into how dance can be a primary
teaching tool for K-12 curriculum and holds an important place
in national education reform efforts. Drawing upon K-12 academic
topics as source material, choreographic works are developed by
students through a co-teaching process between classroom teachers
and the Pillow’s roster of prominent artist-educators.
National
and state arts education standards are met during two-week residencies.
Results have included Biology students dancing cell division;
English students conveying the political dynamics of Greek tragedies;
Math students dividing space into planes, points on an axis and
equations; English as a Second Language students dancing about
the differences in freedom between their home countries and the
U.S.; and third graders moving through the stages of the water
cycle.
Since 1994, Berkshire County’s Monument Mountain Regional High
School (MMRHS) has served as the Pillow’s laboratory site for
developing and refining Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion®.
Since 2000, the process has been equally successful in two area
elementary schools: Becket Washington School in Becket and Conte
Community School in Pittsfield. Pillow artist-educator Celeste
Miller and Director of Education “J.R.” Glover continue to evolve
the program's highly successful teaching methodology in collaboration
with fellow residency artists and teachers. The program has been
presented at arts education conferences, featured on National
Public Radio’s Best of Our Knowledge, and highlighted
in the 2003 Kennedy Center and Dana Foundation publication, Acts
of Achievement.
