The Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship
Important update: Jacob’s Pillow will not be accepting new applications for the 2026 Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship. The 2025 Fellowship has been postponed to August 2026 and the full 2025 cohort of accepted choreographers will attend then, with the accepted alternate list also applied to the 2026 cycle. Interested candidates for future cohorts are encouraged to review program information and application requirements below and return to apply next year for the 2026-27 application cycle.
August 24 – September 3, 2026 | At the Pillow
Program Directors Dianne McIntyre and Risa Steinberg
For eight choreographers who have been creating professional work for a minimum of two years. Choreographers from varied traditions, who work in the United States and internationally, and consider themselves early to mid-career choreographers, with or without academic training, are welcome to apply.
ARTIST FACULTY
Click on a faculty member to read their bio
Dianne McIntyre
Risa Steinberg
Led by long-time transformative dance artists and mentors Dianne McIntyre and Risa Steinberg the Choreography Fellowship is fully process-oriented, with no expectations of an end-product or public showing. Each day features extensive studio time for the eight Hicks Choreographers to advance their choreographic ideas through research and experimentation. Individual feedback sessions, along with discussions and assignments, guide choreographers in crafting and evolving their choreographic voices and material. Each choreographer invites two dancers, ensuring that work developed at the Pillow can continue in their home communities if desired.
Guest artists, dance presenters, curators, and other professionals in the field will meet with choreographers and their dancers to share insights and career advice. Living on site, researching in the Jacob’s Pillow Archives, viewing exhibitions, seeing Festival performances, attending artist and scholar-led talks, and acquiring a supportive network makes this a truly dance-immersive experience. After the program concludes, each choreographer also receives 10 hours of continued one-on-one mentoring.
Hicks Choreographers are not charged tuition, as the Fellowship is underwritten by the program sponsors’ endowment. A modest honorarium is provided to support choreographers and dancers in fully participating, with details outlined in the acceptance package.
“This program addressed my needs as an artist as it gave me time, space, community and most importantly, mentorship. It provided me with the confidence that I have been lacking and skills to speak about my work and an ability to reframe myself.”
—Hicks Choreographer 2022
“I believe this is just the program to help examine what you need to say and how you can best communicate your ideas through the body to other bodies. I came into this program with an idea of myself and my work…and on the first day I lost that. And what I found was more valuable. I found myself within a bigger context and history of artists and voices that came before me. I came out with clarity and many questions to continue exploring.”
—Hicks Choreographer 2020
