| 
Nrityagram
Dance Ensemble on the
Inside/Out
stage in 2006.
Photo:
Christopher Duggan.
A
participant of the 2006 Ballet Program
in
rehearsal.
Photo:
Stefanie Motta
Quick
Facts on Jacob's Pillow
Jacob's
Pillow is the longest-running dance festival in the United States.
In 2003, Jacob's Pillow became the first and only dance institution
to be named a National Historic Landmark by the federal government
as "an exceptional cultural venue that holds value for all
Americans." Other arts institutions to receive this designation
include Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The
name Jacob's Pillow was given to the original farm by the Carter
family, who settled the land in 1790. Their property was reached
by a switchback stagecoach route called Jacob's Ladder, referring
to the Biblical story of Jacob, laying his head upon a bed of stones
and dreaming of angels ascending to heaven. A pillow-shaped boulder
behind their farmhouse inspired the Carters to name the farm Jacob's
Pillow.
The
three central buildings on the Pillow campus were built by the Carter
family and date to the 1790s. Additional structures, some of them
still in use today by interns, staff, scholars, and visiting companies,
were built by Ted Shawn's Men Dancers in the early days of the Festival.
In
the mid-1800s, in the barn that now houses the Pillow Store, Stephen
Carter ran a station on the Underground Railroad, harboring slaves
escaping to Canada.
Since
2000, more than a third of companies presented by the Festival have
come from abroad. Many are performing for the first time in the
U.S., and draw invaluable national and international exposure to
their work during their stay here.
See
More Facts on the Pillow...
|
