Doris Duke Theatre Opening Program

Wednesday, July 9, 2025 | Doris Duke Theatre

Join us in celebrating the opening of the new Doris Duke Theatre, a living lab built to provide a space for cutting-edge artists to combine dance and creative technologies into unforgettable works. 

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Schedule of Events

7pm: Historic Ribbon-Cutting Celebration
A historic ribbon-cutting on the veranda to open the new theater, which is free and open to the public.

8pm: Inaugural Program in the Doris Duke Theatre
The inaugural program in the Doris Duke Theatre will unite the past, present, and future with a thrilling performance by celebrated artists. Following an honor song performed by Shawn L. Stevens and Friends of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans from Bowler, Wisconsin, the program will feature:

• A movement score by Annie-B Parson, performed by 12 renowned artists associated with the original Doris Duke Theatre: Bebe Miller, Susan Marshall, Brian Brooks, Eiko Otake, Irene Rodríguez, David Thomson, Liz Lerman, David Dorfman, Dianne McIntyre, Dormeshia, Doug Elkins, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar.
• An excerpt performed by Shamel Pitts | TRIBE of the evening-length Touch of RED, a work developed during the last Pillow Lab residency held in the original Duke before it burned in 2020.
• The U.S. premiere of an excerpt of OTMO Live, a groundbreaking duet by the U.K.’s Alexander Whitley Dance Company, where motion-capture technology connects a dancer in the Doris Duke Theatre with a dancer in the Ted Shawn Theatre—performing together in real time, even while apart.
• An excerpt from the film Superradiance by Memo Akten and Katie Peyton Hofstadter, which interweaves dance, poetry, music, and AI generative imagery.
• A performance by body percussionist and Guggenheim Fellow Ryan Johnson, Artistic Director of SOLE Defined.
• The program will culminate in a dance party featuring iconic musician JD Samson, best known as a member of the bands Le Tigre and MEN, performing two DJ sets. The dance party will be animated by Scuuulpt, an interactive augmented reality piece by Katherine Helen Fisher and Armon Naeini that employs immersive camera work and dynamic projections to engage with performers and audience alike.

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Two Ways to Join the Magic

Livestream and On-Campus Watch Party

We invite you to join the excitement of the inaugural program, performed for an invited audience in the Doris Duke Theatre, from wherever you are—whether its on campus in the Berkshires, or from the comfort of your home!

• The program will be offered in real-time to audiences around the world as a livestream, free and open to anyone, anywhere. Livestream registration will be open soon.
• Join us on-campus for a special watch party in the Ted Shawn Theatre, where ticket holders can enjoy a live screening of the opening program. Buy tickets here.