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.

HopeBoykinDance

Saturday, August 23 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage
Pillow Debut

Jacob’s Pillow is honored to present two-time Bessie Award-winning choreographer, writer, director, and filmmaker Hope Boykin in her highly anticipated Pillow debut, with HopeBoykinDance. An acclaimed former member of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, PHILADANCO!, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Boykin brings a compelling collaboration of contemporary-modern movement, spoken word, and storytelling to the stage.

Known for her deeply expressive movement-language, Boykin has most recently created new works for Paul Taylor Dance Company and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She has presented HopeBoykinDance at The Joyce Theater, 92NY, and The Kennedy Center, where she reimagined Jacqueline Woodson’s The Other Side and choreographed the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS. Her deep history as a 20-year Ailey company member and commissioned choreographer complements the week-long run of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in the Ted Shawn Theatre.

New York Theatre Ballet

Thursday, August 14 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage
Live Music

New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB) returns to Jacob’s Pillow for the first time since 2016, celebrating their 46th season now under the direction of Steven Melendez, with a compelling repertoire featuring live music. The company presents works by a wide variety of choreographers and composers, performing small classic masterpieces and new contemporary works for adults and young children alike. Their engagement at Jacob’s Pillow will be a mixed program that will include Gabrielle Lamb’s Minetta Creek (a 2023 NYTB commission of new music and dance), Antony Tudor’s Trio Con Brio (a revival of a piece premiered at Jacob’s Pillow in 1952 and later rebuilt from archival film), and additional works.

Founded in 1978, New York Theatre Ballet has featured cutting-edge programming and an ever-expanding repertory. Carrying the modern sensibilities of both established and up-and-coming choreographers, the company has brought fresh insight to classic revivals, exploring the past while boldly taking risks on the future. The company tours nationally and abroad, and has become one of the most widely seen chamber ballet companies in the United States.

Community Day
Featuring Artists of the Berkshires

Friday, August 15

2:30-5:30pm | Community Day | Pillow Grounds

Everyone is invited to this free, kid-friendly, all-ages Friday afternoon, featuring movement classes as well as dance-themed children’s activities and tours. Check back soon as events are confirmed.

5:30pm | Artists of the Berkshires | Henry J. Leir Stage

The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosts selected Berkshire-region artists for a special one-day-only performance. Tickets to this performance and all Community Day programs are free. 

The open call for performing artists is now live—click here to apply and learn more.
Applications are due by Friday, May 30 at 11:59pm ET. Eligibility is limited to dancers or companies based in the Berkshires and nearby counties in MA, NY, and CT.

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Lead support for Community Day is provided by Berkshire Health Systems.

 

Indigenous Enterprise

Thursday, July 10 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage
Live Music

Indigenous Enterprise, a premier group of champion powwow dancers and cultural ambassadors, has brought the beauty and power of Indigenous traditions to audiences since 2015. Known for their dynamic performances blending dance, film, and fashion, the group has captivated audiences worldwide, with appearances at the Sydney Opera House and Lincoln Center. In 2022, they were featured in promotion by the NBA Phoenix Suns, which drew attention to all 22 Native tribes in Arizona. In February 2023, they became the first Indigenous dance troupe to perform at the Super Bowl.

Representing a diverse range of Native tribes and nations, Indigenous Enterprise showcases the vibrancy of the powwow way of life, with dancers and singers who embody cultural pride and excellence. Celebrated by outlets like Vogue and The New York Times, their innovative and inspiring performances continue to elevate and celebrate Indigenous culture, empowering audiences with every show.

Prehistoric Body Theater

Wednesday and Thursday, June 25-26 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage
Pillow Debut

In a special kick-off to Festival 2025, Prehistoric Body Theater—an experimental dance theater collective from Indonesia—channel dinosaurs as they explore themes of mass extinction, climate crisis, and evolutionary ancestry through movement. The group creates “deep-time animal dance” by fusing paleontology with traditional dance and experimental Javanese percussion. Prehistoric makes its U.S. debut in association with New York’s Asia Society with Ghosts of Hell Creek: Stone Garuda, a mesmerizing work that eulogizes the raptors who perished in the Chicxulub asteroid impact 66 million years ago, while celebrating the survival of our earliest primate ancestors in a world born anew.

Praised as “an innovative form of global public outreach for paleontology” (Oxford University Press), Prehistoric Body Theater collaborates with Indigenous Indonesian performing artists as well as international scientists—uniting art, science, and a deep commitment to nature conservation.

Yusha-Marie Sorzano

Wednesday, August 20 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage 
Pillow Debut

Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Yusha-Marie Sorzano is a dynamic dancer, choreographer, and educator. As a YoungArts alumni and graduate of the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, she performed principal roles with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and toured nationally and internationally with companies such as Complexions Contemporary Ballet, BODYTRAFFIC, and Camille A. Brown & Dancers. She has performed the works of choreographers including Dianne McIntyre, Kyle Abraham, Jermaine Spivey, and Spenser Theberge. Yusha is the choreographer of A Ballet Through Mud, a collaboration of music and dance by Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA.

For her Pillow debut, her collective Sorzano Dance Works will showcase works from her repertoire including To All Our Ends, Two Women, “Girl” (an excerpt from THREAT), and This World Anew. This World Anew was commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art on the occasion of their groundbreaking exhibition Edges of Ailey in fall 2024. Her engagement at Jacob’s Pillow complements the week-long run of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in the Ted Shawn Theatre, as Ailey’s legacy resonates during this final week of Festival 2025. Tickets to indoor performances are sold separately.

Pua Ali’i ‘Ilima o Nūioka

Saturday, August 2 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage 
Live Music

Pua Ali’i ‘Ilima o Nūioka returns to the Henry J. Leir Stage for the first time since 2012. The mission of this hālau hula (school of Hawaiian dance) is to preserve and perpetuate Native Hawaiian arts and cultural traditions for future generations. At the core of this mission is the sharing of hula, which has been instrumental in the preservation and perpetuation of Native Hawaiian language, art, and cultural practices.

The hālau provides training for children, teens, and adults, as well as introductory hula workshops and classes, under the direction of Nā Kumu Hula Vicky Holt Takamine and Jeffrey Kānekaiwilani Takamine. The hālau hula is based in Honolulu, with extensions in Nuioka (New York City) and Kauaʻi. This performance on the Leir Stage will feature haumāna (students) from the New York extension.

Vicky Holt Takamine is recognized as a native Hawaiian leader for her artistry and advocacy on social justice issues, the protection of native Hawaiian rights, and the natural and cultural resources of Hawaii. She is the recipient of the 2024 Gish Prize.

Sydnie L. Mosley Dances

Saturday, July 12 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage
Pillow Debut

Jacob’s Pillow welcomes Sydnie L. Mosley Dances (SLMDances), a dance-theatre collective making their Pillow debut this summer. SLMDances explores the real-life experiences of women and the Black community through experiential dance performances that blend modern technique, verbal performance, and the movement traditions of the African diaspora. They will present a program spanning years of work, in celebration of the company’s 15th anniversary.

The company creates works designed to provoke a visceral response and spark dialogue around gender and racial justice. SLMDances works nationally, with deep relationships in Harlem, New York City, and Baltimore. SLMDances actively partners with local artists and organizations driving community-based initiatives that amplify their mission for social change through dance theater and Black feminist performance art.

Orlando Hernández

Thursday, July 24 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage 
Pillow Debut | Live Music

Lauded as “a onetime tap prodigy who’s grown into a history-mining experimentalist” (The New Yorker), Orlando Hernández is a performer, choreographer, theater-maker, musician, and writer who came up in the tap dance community in New York. He now presents a variety of stories and performances that thrillingly blend live music, tap dance, theater and storytelling, and embodied rhythm. His play La Broa’ (Broad Street), composed of real-life stories from Latino communities in Rhode Island, was recently produced at Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, in a run The Boston Globe called “heartwarming and magical.”

As a member of the New York-based tap dance and live music company Music From the Sole, Hernández has performed at Jacob’s Pillow, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, The Joyce Theater, Fall For Dance at New York City Center, and Vail Dance Festival. He is also a member of the Boston-based tap dance company Subject:Matter, directed by Ian Berg, and dances with Michela Marino Lerman’s Love Movement.