Festival 2021:
Online PillowTalks

Released July 2 | Presented online only

South African artist William Kentridge collaborates with Wayne Ashley, Xander Seren, and Neil Souza in a Pillow-commissioned project envisioning a new virtual performing arts platform. This event is made possible by a gift from Hunter Runnette and Mark VandenBosch.

Released July 9 | Presented online only

Two MacArthur Award recipients, multidisciplinary artist Okwui Okpokwasili and scholar Saidiya Hartman, come together for a meaningful discussion about the afterlife of slavery in modern American society and other timely topics.

Released July 16

Remembered today as the “accidental anarchists of downtown dance,” this seminal 1970s performance group is chronicled in a new book by Wendy Perron.

Released July 23

This impressive Cuban-American artist talks about her success in boldly traversing the worlds of social dance, political activism, community organizing, and art making.

Released July 30

Executive and Artistic Director Pamela Tatge joins new Pillow associate curators Melanie George and Ali Rosa-Salas in discussing how Festival 2021 came into being and the role of dance in a changing world.

Released August 6

Ted Shawn’s instructions to architect Joseph Franz provide the title for an exhibition and this discussion of Pillow performance spaces, past and present.

Released August 13

This craftsman who provided the Ted Shawn Theatre’s immense beams was a local hero, a pioneering Black businessman connected with W.E.B. DuBois.

Released August 20

Revered as the oldest continuously operating professional dance company in Dallas, this versatile ensemble is making its long-awaited Pillow debut.

Released August 27

As a foremost tradition-bearer of Black American social dance, LaTasha Barnes places jazz dance in the context of House, Hip-Hop, Waacking, and Lindy Hop.

Released September 3

A true original in the performing arts, Streb discusses her concepts of extreme action, which challenge the assumptions of art, aging, injury, gender, and human possibility.

Released September 10

Mirroring the current performance program, this discussion recounts the 20th -century evolution of regional ballet and recent developments in the field.