PillowTalk: La Meri and Her Life in Dance | Friday, August 21, 2020 at 5pm

This event took place as part of Virtual Festival 2020.

This champion of cross-cultural dance performances was nearly forgotten, but Nancy Lee Chalfa Ruyter’s new biography sets out to change that, as Ruyter explains how and why.

Moderated by Nancy Wozny, editor-in-chief of Arts + Culture Texas and contributor to many dance publications, who has been a Pillow Scholar-in-Residence since 2010.

This event runs for approximately 45 minutes.

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This event is produced in collaboration with

Nel Shelby, Producer | Loren R. Robertson, Assistant Producer/Editor
Cherylynn Tsushima, Project Manager | Vincent Vigilante, Videographer
Benjamin Richards, Videographer/Editor/Graphic Animation
Ashli Bickford, Videographer/Editor | Amber Schmiesing, Editor
Jacob Marks, Recordist | Kathryn Brodie, Intern

PillowTalk: Dancerly Intelligences | Friday, August 14, 2020 at 5pm

This event took place as part of Virtual Festival 2020.

Reporting on research residencies involving both dancemakers and technologists, choreographers Brian Brooks, Marjani Forté-Saunders, and Sydney Skybetter shed light on what they’re exploring and learning.

Moderated by Maura Keefe, a longtime Pillow Scholar-in-Residence who is Director of the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland.

This event runs for approximately 45 minutes.

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This event is produced in collaboration with

Nel Shelby, Producer | Loren R. Robertson, Assistant Producer/Editor
Cherylynn Tsushima, Project Manager | Vincent Vigilante, Videographer
Benjamin Richards, Videographer/Editor/Graphic Animation
Ashli Bickford, Videographer/Editor | Amber Schmiesing, Editor
Jacob Marks, Recordist | Kathryn Brodie, Intern

PillowTalk: Liz Lerman’s Wicked Bodies | Friday, August 7, 2020 at 5pm

This event took place as part of Virtual Festival 2020.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award winner Liz Lerman will discuss work-in-progress footage of her newest work, originally scheduled to premiere at the Pillow this season. Wicked Bodies is a fable in which witches along with the natural world are going extinct, the work asks why some knowledge is celebrated, some criminalized, and some erased altogether.

When the invitation came to discuss Wicked Bodies for a PillowTalk, Liz seized the opportunity to experiment with translating some of her content for the small screen. In collaboration with her designers and dancers, she has made something altogether new for us to experience.

Some questions that will arise: How can we enliven what’s interesting about rehearsals, and reimagine those moments during a pandemic? How do you work around the restrictions that we’re all acutely feeling? How can we move choreography in a different direction, outdoors or from home?

Moderated by Pamela Tatge, Executive & Artistic Director of Jacob’s Pillow.

This event runs for approximately 45 minutes.

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This presentation of excerpts from Wicked Bodies for screen and conversation is directed by Anna Spelman and Liz Lerman, and is conceived by Liz Lerman in association with many collaborators:

• Performers: Will Bond, Leah Cox, Martha Gonzalez, Sam Horning, Nia Love, Paloma McGregor, Ruby Morales, Elisa Garcia-Radcliffe, Angelina Ramirez, Keith Thompson, Maggie Waller, Martha Wittman
• Choreography: Keith Thompson and Liz Lerman in collaboration with performers
• Video Editing: Anna Spelman
• Cinematography: Anna Spelman, Olivia Sebesky, and performers
• Projections, Animation and Consulting: Olivia Sebesky
• Audio Post Production: Darron L West
• Musician/Vocalist: Martha Gonzalez
• Dramaturg: Darron L. West
• Stage Sound Design: Darron L. West and Matt Hubbs
• Stage Costume Design: Sarita Fellows
• Stage Lighting Design: Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew
• Stage Scenic Design: Jian Jung
• Project Management: Erin Donohue and Meg Kelly

The development of Wicked Bodies is made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support has been provided by the research fund of Martha Minow, Harvard University; Arizona State University and its department of ASU Gammage; Scripps College; Green Music Center at Sonoma State University; the Moss Center at Virginia Tech University; and the Hewlett Foundation. Major individual support provided by Jane Brown, Bob and Paula Hardison, Vicky Spelman, Diana Pinover, and The Pullman Family.

Performers, designers, researchers, and dramaturgs involved in the process: Erika Moore, David Olarte, Tamara Pullman, Trent Williams, Jessica Rajko, Makeda Roney, Ted Johnson, Miko Doi-Smith, Nina Tratto, Phil Weaver-Stoesz, Rachel Cooper, Kyla-Rose Smith, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Kate Freer, Dan Gower, Martha Minow, Bibi Harris, Dan Hurlin, Jill Johnson, Lois Brown, Ariel Anbar, Beckett Sterner, Nico Franz, Scripps College student dancers. Additional research influenced by faculty, staff, and students at the University of Iowa, Virginia Tech, and Sonoma State University. 

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This event is produced in collaboration with

Nel Shelby, Producer | Loren R. Robertson, Assistant Producer/Editor
Cherylynn Tsushima, Project Manager | Vincent Vigilante, Videographer
Benjamin Richards, Videographer/Editor/Graphic Animation
Ashli Bickford, Videographer/Editor | Amber Schmiesing, Editor
Jacob Marks, Recordist | Kathryn Brodie, Intern

PillowTalk: Cleo Parker Robinson’s 50th | Friday, July 31, 2020 at 5pm

This event took place as part of Virtual Festival 2020.

In celebration of this modern dance icon’s first half-century in the limelight, Robinson herself looks back on her company’s history, its efforts on behalf of racial equality, and what lies ahead.

Moderated by Seth Stewart Williams, an assistant professor in the Department of Dance at Barnard College of Columbia University, who debuted as a Pillow Scholar-in-Residence in 2019.

This event runs for approximately 75 minutes.

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This event is produced in collaboration with

Nel Shelby, Producer | Loren R. Robertson, Assistant Producer/Editor
Cherylynn Tsushima, Project Manager | Vincent Vigilante, Videographer
Benjamin Richards, Videographer/Editor/Graphic Animation
Ashli Bickford, Videographer/Editor | Amber Schmiesing, Editor
Jacob Marks, Recordist | Kathryn Brodie, Intern

PillowTalk: 50 Years of Ballet Hispánico | Friday, July 24, 2020 at 5pm

This event took place as part of Virtual Festival 2020.

From its grassroots origins as a dance school and community-based performing troupe, Ballet Hispánico has grown into a world-class institution, recounted here by company director Eduardo Vilaro along with choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and community engagement specialist Dr. AnaMaria Correa.

Moderated by Brian Schaefer, a Pillow Scholar-in-Residence and journalist/writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and many other publications.

This event runs for approximately 45 minutes.

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This event is produced in collaboration with

Nel Shelby, Producer | Loren R. Robertson, Assistant Producer/Editor
Cherylynn Tsushima, Project Manager | Vincent Vigilante, Videographer
Benjamin Richards, Videographer/Editor/Graphic Animation
Ashli Bickford, Videographer/Editor | Amber Schmiesing, Editor
Jacob Marks, Recordist | Kathryn Brodie, Intern

PillowTalk: Duets from Quebec | July 17, 2020 at 5pm

This event took place as part of Virtual Festival 2020.

Anne Plamondon and Sylvain Lafortune have each been exploring the art of the duet with their partners, scheduled to be presented in Festival 2020. This conversation examines their work processes and discoveries.

Moderated by Philip Szporer, a Montreal-based filmmaker, writer, and lecturer who has been a longtime Pillow Scholar-in-Residence.

This event runs for approximately 45 minutes.

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This event is produced in collaboration with

Nel Shelby, Producer | Loren R. Robertson, Assistant Producer/Editor
Cherylynn Tsushima, Project Manager | Vincent Vigilante, Videographer
Benjamin Richards, Videographer/Editor/Graphic Animation
Ashli Bickford, Videographer/Editor | Amber Schmiesing, Editor
Jacob Marks, Recordist | Kathryn Brodie, Intern

PillowTalk: Meet Dr. Shamell Bell | Friday, July 10, 2020 at 5pm

This event took place as part of Virtual Festival 2020.

A visiting faculty member at Dartmouth known as a Street Dance Activism Scholar, Dr. Shamell Bell positions street dance as an alternative strategy for radical social change.

Moderated by Melanie George, a dance educator, choreographer, dramaturg, and scholar who debuted as a Pillow Scholar-in-Residence in 2019.

This event runs for approximately 60 minutes.

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This event is produced in collaboration with

Nel Shelby, Producer | Loren R. Robertson, Assistant Producer/Editor
Cherylynn Tsushima, Project Manager | Vincent Vigilante, Videographer
Benjamin Richards, Videographer/Editor/Graphic Animation
Ashli Bickford, Videographer/Editor | Amber Schmiesing, Editor
Jacob Marks, Recordist | Kathryn Brodie, Intern

Live on YouTube | May 20, 2020 at 5pm Eastern

Panelists: Ana Maria Alvarez, John Heginbotham, Liz Lerman, and Cleo Parker Robinson
Moderator: Pamela Tatge

How and where will dance take place in a post-COVID world? How is the pandemic shifting the way artists think of themselves and their work?

Jacob’s Pillow is excited to join with four U.S. choreographers—all of whose companies had planned to perform in-person at the 2020 Festival—to unpack some thoughts on the present, and plans for the future. We will be asking:

• What are they thinking about in this time of quarantine? Are they creating work?
• What might the role of live performance be post-COVID?
• What might performances look like that take into account social distancing strategies?
• What makes a successful digital dance experience?

Featuring Ana Maria Alvarez (CONTRA-TIEMPO), John Heginbotham (Dance Heginbotham), Liz Lerman, and Cleo Parker Robinson (Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble).

 

Dance Scholar Paul Scolieri on Ted Shawn | Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 2pm

Jacob’s Pillow and Berkshire Magazine come together to celebrate the release of Ted Shawn: His Life, Writings, and Dances, the first critical biography on the founder of Jacob’s Pillow in a special Winter PillowTalk.

Join author Paul Scolieri and Jacob’s Pillow Director of Preservation Norton Owen for an in-depth look at Shawn’s pioneering role in the formation of America’s first modern dance company, and his founding of an internationally renowned dance festival and school in the Berkshires—at the historic site itself.  

FREE and open to the public. Signed copies of Ted Shawn will be available for sale.

This PillowTalk is co-presented by Jacob’s Pillow and Berkshire Magazine. Pick up a copy of Berkshire Magazine’s just-released Spring issue to read an interview between Scolieri and Editor Anastasia Stanmeyer.