The MasterZ at Work Dance Family
This performance took place on July 13, 2024.
The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosted The MasterZ at Work Dance Family for a special one-night-only performance on July 13, in honor of Pillow Pride. This performance included a “Choose What You Pay” ticketing option, with a suggested ticket price of $25.
A dance collective of fierce young performers from different dance backgrounds, MasterZ at Work ignites the stage with jazz, hip-hop, street jazz, house, African, vogue, and contemporary dance. Led by Black trans femme choreographer Courtney Washington Balenciaga—a legend in the ballroom community—the company creates dances that represent resilience, and which foster community in under-resourced areas of Brooklyn. Always “irrepressible” and “crowd-pleasing” (The Dance Enthusiast), the company wowed the Pillow audiences last year, and 2024 marks their triumphant return performing the Works & Process commissioned ALL INCLUSIVE and more.
Company Program
Cast: Jay Parel, Brian Starke, Deandre Cousley, Aaliyah Berry, Ja Quinn Coleman, Dashaun “DayDay” Peals, Bryce Farris, Jaylen Wallace, Tyreel Simpson, Lolita
ALL INCLUSIVE AND MORE
In their first residency with Works & Process, The MasterZ at Work Dance Family decided to show the company and cast by incorporating everyone’s personal style. Each dancer was trained by sharing their own style with the audience, piece, and each other. Black trans femme choreographer Courtney Washington Balenciaga says “this dance also gives us space to show everyone individually.” This piece was choreographed by everyone in the cast.
ALL INCLUSIVE AND MORE premiered on March 31, 2021 at the Guggenheim’s Works & Process.
Costume direction by Patrick Gordon & Jay Parel
Music by Byrell The great, cakes da killa, and Lolita
Space
Space was created and performed by and for the company. Whether Black, queer, loud, curly hair, no hair, no diet, fat, skinny, etc., Washington says that “this dance was created to show us taking up space in our true identity.”
Space premiered on November 21, 2022 at the Guggenheim’s with Works & Process.
Choreography by Luis Estevez, Jay Parel, Armani Moore, Brian Starke, Jaquinn Coleman, Dashaun Peals
Costume direction by Courtney Washington
Princess Lockerooo & The Fabulous Waack Dancers
This performance took place on August 24, 2024.
The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosted Princess Lockerooo & The Fabulous Waack Dancers for a special one-night-only performance on August 24. This performance included a “Choose What You Pay” ticketing option, with a suggested ticket price of $25.
Audiences who have caught Princess Lockerooo performing at recent Jacob’s Pillow parties and events know one thing for sure: that she is “a whirling force with a singular focus: spreading the gospel of Waacking.” (The New York Times). A legend in the New York scene, Lockerooo and a group of remarkable dancers took to the Leir Stage with a performance called The Big Show, commissioned by Works & Process, which touches on jazz, disco, soul, R&B, pop music, and the blues, while pulling in theatrical choreography, elements of comedy and drag, and incredible costumes. This all-ages show explored the evolution and origin of waacking—a street dance style created in gay clubs of the ‘70s disco era—in utterly delightful ways.
Stream the Encore!
Watch the free livestream encore on Jacob’s Pillow On Demand, for 24 hours only starting Wednesday, August 28 at noon.
Dancers of Damelahamid
This performance took place on July 26-27, 2024.
From West Vancouver, BC, Canada | Pillow Debut
Performance Times: Fri 6pm | Sat 6pm
The Dancers of Damelahamid is an Indigenous dance company from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia with a rich history of masked dance. Through dramatic dance, captivating narrative, intricately carved masks, and elaborate regalia, the company finds innovative ways to bring all audiences into the art, history, language, and traditions of Indigenous culture.
Through “breathtaking” (Vancouver Arts Review) performances, the company offers a deep appreciation of the richness of Indigenous dance in the Pacific Northwest. After many decades of suppression from the illegalization of the potlatch (gift-giving feasts) by the Canadian government from 1885 to 1951, the Dancers of Damelahamid emerged in the 1960s out of an urgency to ensure that these artistic practices were not lost.
Founded upon generations of dance revitalization, the company’s performances are relevant to current innovation, influence, and insights. Dancers of Damelahamid’s “amazing” (Artsfile) performances—full of story dance and song—and their annual Coastal Dance Festival of international Indigenous artists (founded in 2008) honor a legacy while offering new pathways between communities and cultures.
Brian Brooks’ Viewpoint
FREE | January 11 & 25, February 8 & 22, 2024
Choreographer Brian Brooks has been developing Viewpoint, a visionary project that uses groundbreaking, patented technology and software to stream 3D video in real-time. While the dancer performs, you can magically place them anywhere in your surroundings through your mobile device — watching from any angle or perspective imagined.
This technique of Augmented Reality anchors the dancer in place, allowing the viewer to move freely around the image. This digital window allows audiences to see dance as never before, with dancers positioned in impossible places – inside the palm of your hand, on top of that stack of papers on your desk, or on the side of a building you’re walking past.
This digital series has ended.
Decidedly Jazz Danceworks
Available On Demand $15 | December 4 – 31 2023
Decidedly Jazz Danceworks was filmed live during Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2023.
Recognizing themselves as guests in a form born out of Black American culture and the African American experience and making their Jacob’s Pillow debut this summer, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD) is a 38-year-old jazz company from Calgary, Canada, dedicated to the rich traditions and boundless future of jazz dance. DJD was a crowd-pleasing favorite with a style that has been described as “music for the eyes”. Experience DJD’s spirit of jazz from anywhere in the world by streaming the full company performance at the Pillow this summer, accompanied by the six-piece Rubim de Toledo Ensemble with vocalist Karimah.
Warm up your winter with our selection of streaming Festival 2023 performances! Treat yourself to a front-row seat or spread the joy by gifting the stream to someone special. Either way, the stage is set for unforgettable entertainment that’ll brighten up even the coldest of days.
This digital stream has ended.
We hope you will consider making a donation. Your contribution supports Jacob’s Pillow’s mission in dance creation, presentation, education, and preservation, and in harnessing the community-building power of dance.
Martha Graham Dance Company
Available On Demand $15 | January 8 – February 4, 2024
The Martha Graham Dance Company was filmed live during Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2023.
The Martha Graham Dance Company is a world leader in the ever-evolving art form of modern dance. Today, the company is embracing a fresh vision that showcases Graham masterworks alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists. Featuring the company’s performance of Errand into the Maze (1947) and Cave of the Heart (1946), both Greek-themed works by Martha Graham with sets by Noguchi, and the hit of its 2022 New York season: Hofesh Shechter’s dazzling CAVE, inspired by communal nightlife dancing and the Rave scene, you can relive the magic of this stunning show from anywhere in the world on Jacob’s Pillow On Demand.
Warm up your winter with our selection of streaming Festival 2023 performances! Treat yourself to a front-row seat or spread the joy by gifting the stream to someone special. Either way, the stage is set for unforgettable entertainment that’ll brighten up even the coldest of days.
Major underwriting support from Sylvia Pope.
This digital stream has ended.
We hope you will consider making a donation. Your contribution supports Jacob’s Pillow’s mission in dance creation, presentation, education, and preservation, and in harnessing the community-building power of dance.
Limón Dance Company
Available On Demand | January 9-February 19
Limón Dance Company was filmed live during Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2022.
Celebrated as one of the world’s greatest modern dance groups, the Limón Dance Company marked its 75th anniversary in 2022.
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. The celebratory program featured a new work by choreographer/dancer/musician Olivier Taparga, originally from Burkina Faso, commissioned by the Pillow for the 90th Anniversary thanks to the Joan B. Hunter New Work Commission.
Runtime: 75 minutes
This digital stream has ended.
We hope you will consider making a donation. Your contribution supports Jacob’s Pillow’s mission in dance creation, presentation, education, and preservation, and in harnessing the community-building power of dance. Just click the button below, or text PILLOW to 51555.