Ice Theatre of New York

Thursday, August 7 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage 
Pillow Debut | World Premiere

Ice Theatre of New York is the first non-profit ice dance company in the nation, blending artistry and athleticism to elevate skating as a performing art. This one-night performance will allow Berkshire audiences a rare opportunity to enjoy ice skating in the summer, with dancers performing in skates atop a special flooring.

Founded in 1984 by Moira North, Ice Theatre of New York has presented over 125 original works from acclaimed skating, ballet, and modern dance choreographers. The company presents dozens of free public performances each season at iconic New York locations, including Rockefeller Center, Bryant Park, and Central Park’s Wollman Rink. With a diverse ensemble of skaters and a commitment to innovation, Ice Theatre of New York is a unique gem of New York’s cultural scene, creating mesmerizing performances that merge dance, ice, and storytelling.

BOCA TUYA

Saturday, July 26 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage
Pillow Debut

BOCA TUYA is a New York-based movement collective rooted in the rhythms, storytelling traditions, and cultural heritage of Puerto Rico. Founded in 2018 by choreographer Omar Román de Jesús—a member of the inaugural Jacob’s Pillow Hicks Choreography Fellowship Program, Princess Grace choreography awardee, Dance Magazine Harkness Promise awardee, inaugural Baryshnikov Arts Center Fellow at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, and current resident at 92NY—the company crafts immersive dreamscapes that blend vibrant cadence, surrealist narratives, and unforgettable characters.

Through global tours, educational outreach, and choreographic commissions, BOCA TUYA empowers artists and cultivates authenticity, equity, and innovation with a distinct Boricua heartbeat, making work that is “full of sensual vulnerability; the effect is hypnotic.” (Fjord Review). Honoring traditions and the ancestors who came before, the company connects past and present, while championing the excellence of New York’s top contemporary dance artists.

Djapo: Marie Basse-Wiles and Omari Wiles

Friday, June 27 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage
Pillow Debut

Omari Wiles—a force in New York’s ballroom and dance scenes—joins his mother, Marie Basse-Wiles, a revered figure in African diasporic dance, for Djapo, a vibrant new work commissioned by Works & Process, bringing together their companies Les Ballet Afrik and Maimouna Keita School of African Dance.

Rooted in the rhythms of Senegal and Mali, this electrifying performance blends traditional West African dance with contemporary African club culture, Afrobeats, and live percussion, shaped through the duo’s intergenerational collaboration. Company dancers come together for an in-process performance of Djapo, exploring the evolution of movement, music, and community, celebrating the deep ties between past and present while amplifying the visibility of African cultural traditions in today’s global dance landscape.

Djapo’s development is supported by Works & Process LaunchPAD residencies at Bethany Arts Community, Watermill Center, Pocantico Center, and Prior Performing Arts Center at the College of the Holy Cross. Music commission made possible by the Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation. Additional support provided by the New York State Council on the Arts.

KanKouran West African Dance Company

Friday and Saturday, July 4-5 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage
Live Music

KanKouran, a beloved pillar of West African dance in Washington, D.C., returns to Jacob’s Pillow this summer after a thrilling Festival 2024 performance. Founded by Artistic Director Assane Konte and the late Abdou Kounta, the company brings together artists from the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean to preserve and promote traditional West African culture.

For over 40 years, KanKouran has been a cornerstone for generations of dancers, students, and musicians, fostering a deep sense of community and artistic excellence. The company has performed at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and beyond. They now return to the Pillow for two nights to captivate audiences with their powerful rhythms, vibrant movement, and rich cultural heritage.

American College Dance Association

Wednesday, August 6 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage

Jacob’s Pillow proudly hosts a night of performances by college and university dance programs from around the country, all selected from their American College Dance Association regional conference. Details on the selected ensembles will be announced in June.

The American College Dance Association (ACDA) supports and promotes a wealth of talent and creativity from college and university dance departments. Each spring, ACDA organizes eleven regional conferences at various member colleges and universities around the country, featuring performances, workshops, panels, and classes. These regional conferences provide the opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and guest artists to have their dance works adjudicated by a panel of nationally recognized dance professionals in an anonymous and constructive setting. Adjudicators select works for the Gala Concert, a culminating event of the conference, and for the ACDA National College Dance Festival. Jacob’s Pillow will select work from the National College Dance Festival to present on the Leir Stage.

Brother(hood) Dance!

Wednesday, July 16 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage

Those who attended the opening of Jacob’s Garden in 2021 will remember Brother(hood) Dance!, a dynamic dance company that uses movement, agriculture, and technology to challenge norms and inspire social change. At the Pillow this summer, Brother(hood) Dance! will perform Black on Earth, a project that illuminates Black farmers’ resilience, wisdom, and cultural heritage while addressing the urgent issues of food justice and sustainable farming practices.

Founded by Orlando Zane Hunter Jr. and Ricarrdo Valentine, the company’s innovative work fuses the rhythms of the African diaspora with their research into sustainable agricultural practices, creating transformative experiences that connect people to the land, each other, and their shared histories. Their bold approach has earned them recognition as Bessie Award honorees in 2020.

H.T. Chen & Dancers

Friday, July 25 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage 
Pillow Debut

Under the direction of Artistic Director Dian Dong, H.T. Chen & Dancers is an innovative modern dance company that embodies its Asian American heritage. The company’s repertory is distinguished by authenticity and groundbreaking works celebrating Chinese culture in the Americas. This summer at the Pillow, the company will present two signature works: Opening the Gate (described by The New York Times as “a throbbing, swirling spectacle”) and Mott Street, which celebrates the resilience and collective spirit of the Chinatown community.

Since its founding in 1978, the multicultural company has earned critical acclaim for New York performances, national and international tours, and award-winning educational programming. Founder Hsueh-Tung Chen, a pioneering Asian American artist, was a choreographer, performer, and arts advocate for six decades. The New York Times wrote of him: “[he] has long been one of New York dance’s most persuasive storytellers, addressing issues of acculturation well before they become fashionable in dance.”

New York Swings

Thursday, July 3 at 5:30pm | Henry J. Leir Stage
Pillow Debut

Veteran Lindy Hop dancer Gaby Cook returns to Jacob’s Pillow this summer with her signature blend of swing dance and vernacular jazz to the outdoor stage. A prominent voice of the global Lindy Hop community, Cook shares dynamic performances centered in historical knowledge. Cook is a principal dancer in SW!NG OUT, which gave a show-stopping performance in the Ted Shawn Theatre in 2022.

Cook’s previous companies include Wild Rhythm Dance Company, which performed at the Pillow in 2018 and 2019, as well as Jazz as Movement (performances with Works & Process at the Guggenheim) and Gatsby Entertainment (performances in the Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center).

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company

Festival Week 7 | Wednesday, August 6 – Sunday, August 10 | Ted Shawn Theatre
First Appearance Since 2012

Now in its 43rd year, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company is one of the most innovative and powerful forces in the contemporary dance world. Emerging from years of collaboration between Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, their performances foreshadow issues of identity, form, and social commentary that would change the face of American dance.

A Tony Award-winning choreographer, dancer, and director, Bill T. Jones has received a MacArthur “Genius” Award, recognition at the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors, two Tony Awards for Best Choreography, and the 2010 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award. Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company has performed worldwide in over 200 cities, in 30 countries on six continents. The company has a storied history of performing at Jacob’s Pillow, having appeared ten times previously, beginning in 1989 and most recently in 2012.

This summer, the company will present an electric program featuring two seminal works by its founders: Continuous Replay (1977/1991), an explosive work that traces its roots to Zane’s interest in photography and film; and the exuberant Bessie Award-winning D-Man in the Waters (1989), a work set to music by Felix Mendelssohn that captures the resilience of a generation during the 1980s AIDS epidemic. In addition to these signature works, Jones will also present a pièce d’occasion: a site-based version of Story/Time (2012) with new stories and live music accompaniment by Ted Coffey.

Andrew Schneider

Festival Week 4 | Wednesday, July 16 – Sunday, July 20 | Doris Duke Theatre
Pillow Debut | World Premiere | Live Music

Jacob’s Pillow welcomes Obie Award-winning performer, writer, and artist Andrew Schneider, whose “inventive” and “astounding” work in interactive electronics “continually finds new ways … to surprise and mystify us.” (The New York Times). In HERE, commissioned this year by the Pillow, Schneider joins with Berlin-based dancers and collaborators Margaux Marielle-Trehouart and Joel Suarez Gomez (Sasha Waltz & Guests, Mouvoir, Lausitz Festival) to tell the story of a single space over eons, in which innumerable lives, dreams, and travesties float through the present moment.

We know what it’s like to miss someone because they are not here, but what does it feel like to miss someone because they are not now? Inspired by concepts of simultaneity and quantum entanglement, and using wireless in-ear technology and spatialized audio, Schneider and company explore the limits of connection and storytelling through hyper-precise attention to synchronicities of bodies in space over time—both cosmic and mundane.

Schneider has created Off-Broadway designs which include Dolphins and Sharks at the Labyrinth Theater; Small Mouth Sounds at Ars Nova and the Signature Theater; and Roosevelvis at the Vineyard Theater. He is a member of the arts incubator ONX in New York City, is a 2020 recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award and a Sundance “Art of the Practice” fellow, and received a fellowship in 2022 from the Junge Akademie/Akademie Der Künste in Berlin. Schneider was a 2019 Professor of the Practice and Visiting Fellow in Theater Arts and Performance Studies through the Brown Arts Initiative at Brown University.

To complement his week-long performance run, Schneider has been commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow to create an immersive / binaural sound experience that crossfades with reality. Audiences will access this experience using their own devices and headphones as they navigate the world around them.