Festival 2023
Festival 2023 features nine weeks of performances in the Ted Shawn Theatre and on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage, featuring national and international artists, performances with live music, and family-friendly opportunities for every audience member to experience something exciting.
Single tickets are now on sale to the general public and group ticket discounts are available to parties of 20 or more.
Click here to read our policy on group discounts and submit a Group Reservation Request form.
NEW THIS YEAR:
One-night-only performances on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage will be ticketed on a Choose What You Pay model, with a suggested ticket price of $35.
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A NOTE ON TIMING
NEW THIS YEAR:
Fridays in the Ted Shawn Theatre feature a matinee rather than an evening performance.
2023 performances in the Ted Shawn Theatre will be held on the following calendar:
Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8pm, Fridays at 2pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm.
2023 performances on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage will be held on the following calendar:
Wednesdays through Saturdays at 6pm, and Sundays at 12pm.
TICKETED PERFORMANCES
Mark Morris Dance Group
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A longtime Pillow favorite, Mark Morris Dance Group opened Festival 2023 with the evening-length work The Look of Love, an homage to the music of Burt Bacharach that had its world premiere in 2022 and which Fjord Review called “a breath of fresh, brilliant, joyous—and much needed—air.”
Kyle Marshall Choreography
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A New York City-based contemporary dance company founded in 2014, Kyle Marshall Choreography sees the dancing body as a container of history, an igniter of social reform, and a site of celebration.
Te Ao Mana
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Te Ao Mana expands the presence of Indigenous Polynesian culture worldwide through creative projects, dance classes, workshops, and community gathering and sharing.
SOLE Defined
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Advancing styles such as Tap, Body Percussion, Sand Dance, and Vocal Percussion, this BIPOC-led company infuses powerful skills to delight and inspire audiences.
The School at Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Ballet Performance Ensemble
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Performances by The School at Jacob’s Pillow Performance Ensemble provide an inside look at The School experience and feature repertoire created on the dancers by leading choreographers who serve as program faculty.
Ice Dance International
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Internationally acclaimed, award-winning ice skaters brought Berkshire audiences a rare opportunity to enjoy ice skating in the summer, performing on ice skates atop a special flooring.
Querencia Dance Company
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Latin dance rounded out week two of the Festival as Boston salsa troupe Querencia Dance Company performed on the outdoor stage, with high-energy dances by performance teams as well as a duet by company leaders Michelle Garcia and Julian De Las Nieves.
waheedworks
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Tommie-Waheed Evans merges urban street dance and contemporary dance through movement propelled by gospel music and polyrhythmic sounds.
The MasterZ At Work Dance Family
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A dance collective of fierce young performers from different dance backgrounds, MasterZ at Work ignites the stage with jazz, hip-hop, street jazz, house, African, vogue, and contemporary dance.
Dutch National Ballet
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In a historic Jacob’s Pillow debut, Dutch National Ballet—one of the world’s most critically acclaimed ballet companies—performed in the Ted Shawn Theatre in Festival 2023. Works included: Variations for Two Couples (Hans Van Manen); Two & Only (Wubkje Kuindersma); The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude (William Forsythe); Grand Pas Classique (Victor Gsovsky); and Five Tangos (Hans van Manen, music by Astor Piazzolla).
Ananya Dance Theatre
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A leading contemporary dance company in the global arts and social justice movement, Ananya Dance Theatre is composed of cultural activists and BIPOC women, womxn, and femme artists who believe in the transformative power of dance.
Versa-Style Dance Company
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Founded in 2005 by Los Angeles natives and co-artistic directors Jackie “Miss Funk” Lopez and Leigh “Breeze-Lee” Foaad, Versa-Style Dance Company was created to promote, empower and celebrate the artistry of hip hop and street dance culture.
AXIS Dance Company
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Led by Artistic Director Nadia Adame and Managing Director Danae Rees, AXIS Dance Company is one of the nation’s most acclaimed ensembles of disabled, non-disabled, and neurodiverse performers. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, they made their Jacob’s Pillow debut this summer, performing Desiderata by Asun Noales, Flutter by Robin Dekkers, and Historias Rotas by Nadia Adame.
Gauthier Dance//Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart
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Based in Germany, Gauthier Dance//Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart is a young, dynamic company of versatile artists known for their thrilling performances of contemporary choreography from around the world. Founded by dancer, choreographer, and musician Eric Gauthier, who originally hails from Canada, the company returned to the Pillow to celebrate its 15th Anniversary.
Seán Curran Company & Darrah Carr Dance
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Seán Curran and Darrah Carr evoke the spirit, life, and celebration of the Irish céilí in a work that merges contemporary choreography and modern Irish form into a vibrant transformation of social dance. In Céilí, the award-winning choreographers explore the idea of coming together for a social gathering that simultaneously embraces tradition and innovation.
Mythili Prakash
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A second-generation Indian and American artist, Prakash is one of the most celebrated and respected young Bharatanatyam dancer/choreographers today. At the Pillow this summer, Prakash along with her cast of female musicians will perform She’s Auspicious, a work she developed at the Pillow Lab in 2022. Tickets to this performance are Choose What You Pay, with a suggested ticket price of $35.
The School at Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Performance Ensemble
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Performances by The School at Jacob’s Pillow Performance Ensemble provided an inside look at The School experience and feature repertoire created on the dancers by leading choreographers who serve as program faculty.
Dorrance Dance
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Based in New York City, crowd-pleasing Pillow favorite Dorrance Dance was founded in 2011 by Artistic Director Michelle Dorrance—recipient of the 2013 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award—with the goal to engage with audiences on a musical and emotional level while sharing the complex history and powerful legacy of tap dance. This summer, the company performed SOUNDspace, one of the early works that brought Michelle Dorrance to prominence, on the occasion of its 10th anniversary, including never-before-seen elements created specifically for the Ted Shawn Theatre.
Resident Island Dance Theatre
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This physically inclusive company, based in Taiwan’s rural south, performs works that explore the human condition and the possibilities of an inclusive world.
Almanac Dance Circus Theatre
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The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosted this Philadelphia-based ensemble—which melds theater, dance, and acrobatics—for one performance only on July 27.
Oyu Oro Afro Cuban Experimental Dance Ensemble
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Oyu Oro is a New York City-based Afro-Cuban dance company founded by the 2019 Dance/USA Doris Duke Fellow Danys “La Mora” Pérez, who is originally from Santiago de Cuba. The company is committed to building bridges among African diaspora and Hispanic cultures, as well as between the traditional and unconventional dance forms of the modern age, while preserving Afro-Cuban culture through dance, song, and music.
Dunham Legacy Project Performance
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The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage celebrated the legacy of Katherine Dunham, featuring alumni from The School at Jacob's Pillow.
Oona Doherty
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A rapidly rising star in contemporary dance, Oona Doherty made her Jacob’s Pillow debut this summer as the first headlining artist from Northern Ireland to perform at the festival. Based in Belfast and now touring internationally, Doherty—a choreographer, dancer, collaborator, and visual artist—was the recipient of the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Biennale in 2021.
Brinae Ali
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In this evening of dance with live music, tap dancer and choreographer Brinae Ali put her “invigorating, inspirational, progressive” imaginings into a performance alongside her band members. A tap dancer and a vocalist, Ali led the audience on a journey through the rich sound textures of jazz and tap culture.
Nefer Global Movement
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This wide-ranging collective of empowering female dancers lit up the Henry J. Leir Stage for one night only, as part of our “Hip Hop Across the Pillow” week-long mini-festival celebrating 50 years of hip hop.
KR3TS Dance Company and The Hood Lockers
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NYC-based KR3TS Dance Company (Keep Rising to the Top) and Philadelphia-based The Hood Lockers performed on the Henry J. Leir Stage for one night only, as part of our “Hip Hop Across the Pillow” week-long mini-festival celebrating 50 years of hip hop.
To Chet Walker: A Celebratory Tribute
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Join us to celebrate Chet Walker (1954-2022) in this heartfelt tribute performance featuring Alumni and Artist Faculty of The School at Jacob’s Pillow.
Hip Hop Across the Pillow
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This summer, Jacob’s Pillow celebrates the 50th anniversary of hip hop—the dynamic culture and art movement catalyzed in the Bronx in August 1973—with a “festival within the Festival,” featuring Rennie Harris Puremovement American Street Dance Theater and others.
Decidedly Jazz Danceworks
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Making their Jacob’s Pillow debut this summer, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD) is a 38-year-old jazz company from Calgary, Canada, dedicated to the rich traditions and boundless future of jazz dance, honoring its roots as a Black American art form. DJD is a crowd-pleasing favorite with a style that has been described as ‘music for the eyes.’
Complexions Contemporary Ballet
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Founded by Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, the company made its Pillow debut this summer with a program that includes STAR DUST, a one-act tribute to the genre-bending innovation of rock star David Bowie that features many of Bowie’s iconic hit songs. The Los Angeles Times said the piece “highlights how well-matched Complexions is to the genre-hopping, categorization-defying Bowie.”
Danza Orgánica
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The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosted a special coming together of Indigenous dancers for one performance only on August 16.
American College Dance Association (ACDA)
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The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosted a range of college performance ensembles, selected from regional conferences, for one performance only on August 17.
Artists of the Berkshires
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The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage celebrated Berkshire-region dance artists, selected through an open call, as the closing event of our Community Day, an afternoon full of free dance-based activities for all ages.
The School at Jacob’s Pillow Tap Dance Performance Ensemble
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Performances by The School at Jacob’s Pillow Performance Ensemble provide an inside look at The School experience and feature repertoire created on the dancers by leading choreographers who serve as program faculty.
Martha Graham Dance Company
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The Martha Graham Dance Company has been a world leader in the evolving art form of modern dance since its founding in 1926. Today, the company is embracing a new programming vision that showcases masterpieces by Graham alongside newly commissioned works by contemporary artists.
Tulsa Ballet
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Tulsa Ballet made its Jacob’s Pillow debut this summer as the first company from Oklahoma to perform at the Festival. Tulsa Ballet was founded by Moscelyne Larkin, one of five Native American ballet dancers termed the American Indian ballerinas of Oklahoma (all of whom boasted Pillow connections), who performed in and helped organize the Oklahoma Indian Ballerina Festival in 1957 and 1967.
Compagnie Käfig
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Acclaimed French hip hop artist Mourad Merzouki founded the Lyon-based Compagnie Käfig at the startling crossroads of modern and contemporary dance, circus, martial arts, video, live music, and hip hop. At Jacob’s Pillow, the company performed their signature work Pixel, a wondrous merging of virtuosic dance and technology. Seen by audiences in more than 30 countries around the world, the show explodes into a 3D world of captivating digital light and video projections, which accompany dancers’ movements.
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Jacob’s Pillow Members enjoy the best there is to offer in dance—from renowned and new companies on our stages and on your screens to intimate conversations and Q&As with dancers and leaders in the field of dance, and much more. Members support the Pillow’s performance spaces, Archives, The School at Jacob’s Pillow, Community Engagement programs, and our landmark 220 acres.