Participant of The School at Jacob’s Pillow’s Contemporary Program, Ashley Simpson shares her exciting experiences this summer at the Pillow.
With all these choreographers and experiences, this program has been a taste of the real world for me.
How has your experience extended beyond your initial expectations here at Jacob’s Pillow? Have you encountered anything you didn’t expect?
Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect since I didn’t have friends who have come before. However, it exceeded all my expectations. I didn’t know about the Archives or that we get to take Master Classes with the amazing companies that perform here. I didn’t even know about the amazing companies that come through here, so it was an amazing thing to learn more about. That has been so rewarding, getting to do extra outside of the classes that we’re assigned to take. At most summer intensives we don’t get this much exposure to choreographers and Master Classes like that, so I really love that aspect of it.
What was your experience like working with Guest Choreographer Catherine Cabeen?
I love, love, love working with Catherine Cabeen. She really made the week a team-building experience. The piece we did, D-Man in the Waters by Bill T. Jones, really required trust between everyone which was something that we had found rather quickly. Catherine gave us the history of Bill T. Jones which was really important. It influenced how we performed it and how we felt learning the choreography. She is such a great person, her energy filled the room and I loved being next to her while she explained things.
When people watch how we respect for the teachers, how we act in class, how focused we are on the final product—I think it makes a difference in how they feel about Dance and the Pillow.
What has the rehearsal process been like for Inside/Out and how might you compare this to your background?
I think for me, learning a piece in one week has been crazy. Trying to get the choreography in your body, getting comfortable with it and then putting it on a stage; not just any stage but an outdoor stage, has been a different experience for me. You go through the rehearsal process differently and that is what I think I’ll take away from this experience: how I learn choreography and how I take class. Knowing you’re going to perform on the Inside/Out Stage makes you have a different type of focus, something really important I didn’t have before.
Have you acquired any advice or moments of insight that you feel will stick with you after the program is finished? What has really shaped your time here?
Honestly everything. One specific moment was when I took the Aakash Odedra’s Master Class. It was amazing getting to see and talk to him around the Pillow, but taking his Master Class has honestly changed my life. He talked about how he sees the world through dance; it was the little things he did. He practices the Indian style Kathak, which I’ve taken a few classes in before but nothing like that because he showed us how he puts it in his contemporary style. Something he said really stuck with me: it was about your chi energy. It is so powerful and you should be aware of it throughout your entire life. I could see that in his performance when I saw his show in the Doris Duke Theatre, so that really stuck with me.
