Supporting Jacob’s Pillow means supporting dance artists at every stage of their careers. University students interested in choreography can attend rehearsals to see world-class artists in action. Dance-makers with only the seeds of an idea are invited to research concepts and investigate movement in residency at the Pillow. And award-winning choreographers bring world premieres to the stage during the Festival.
“When it comes to research and development for the creation of new work, I think dance is the most underserved art form. At Jacob’s Pillow, we want to support dance artists at every stage of development. We are building a beautiful new studio, re-imagining our multi-layered residency programs, and continuing our annual tradition of supporting artists with no strings attached through the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award. The Pillow is delighted to provide time for creative research early in an artist’s process, space for companies to rehearse and continue developing ideas, and technical residencies for choreographers ready to integrate lighting design and other production elements. We ask that every choreographer brings an outside eye to their residency. This can be a person of their choosing who will serve as editor or dramaturge, or it can be someone from another domain that might lend perspective to the work. This kind of collaborative rapport is essential. It’s a necessary part of the creative process.”
Pamela Tatge
Director of Jacob’s Pillow
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Sylvia Pope
Jacob’s Pillow Board of Directors
“Supporting the Pillow’s Creative Development Residencies provides artists and their collaborators with the time and space to explore, experiment, and create new work, one of our most important responsibilities in this cultural community.”
Scott Pezza
“We don’t see and we take for granted the amount of time and effort that goes into making the pieces that show up onstage, but they take real time and they need space. Creative Development Residencies give artists the opportunity to have time and space to develop the things that we are lucky enough to see during the Festival."
Melanie Najarian
“The artists are often up-and-coming, or they don’t have a lot of money or space. Like [Ephrat Asherie] was saying, she was working on things in her living room with a mirror. But when given the space and the facilities, look what she did!”
Leslie Morris
“I’ve been following Michelle Dorrance since she did a Creative Development Residency. I saw when she was first playing around with sound boxes. It was a totally new concept and now she’s blowing everybody away. I saw that in rehearsal and look how it’s progressed!”
Judy Grunberg
“In our day and age, creative artists don’t have any time to perfect their work or even to make their work because they’re so busy doing other jobs that they have to do to keep their lives to get here. These residencies are really important - to have a place where you don’t have to worry about distractions. They can just concentrate on their art. That’s why I support the Pillow, always. We need these places more and more now. “
Your support provides space, time, and funding for artists to create their best new work. Thank you!
