Support Dance History

Your gift helps preserve and exhibit the Pillow’s exceptional history.

Why Your

Support Matters

Jacob’s Pillow is built on the memories of what has been achieved here. From the very beginning, the Pillow displayed a commitment to those hungry to immerse themselves in dance history by preserving and providing access to artifacts, evidence, and testimony. Your gift to Jacob’s Pillow becomes part of a legacy that allows young dancers, established scholars, writers, historians, professors, and choreographers to visit our Reading Room and immerse themselves in dance through books, videos, photographs, and more. Giving to the Pillow is adding to the trail, so future generations can look back and feel connected.

“A big part of my work is connecting people with materials, ideas, information, and resources. When people walk into Blake’s Barn for the first time – the Reading Room and the exhibitions on display – they get this wonderful expression on their faces. Over and over again I hear visitors saying, ‘It’s so inviting’ or ‘It’s so welcoming.’ I think that’s really powerful. That’s a feeling we want to instill in visitors to feel throughout the Pillow grounds. The experience of encountering dance and discovering our history hand-in-hand, in a way that is welcoming and warm, throws open doors for people.”

Norton Owen
Director of Preservation

Artist & Visitor Stories

“I spent more time than ever in the Archives in 2016. It’s a priceless collection. I sat there for hours before evening shows watching dancers and productions I wish I had seen. I felt so connected to the history of the Pillow and of the great dance world just from a few hours in there.”
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Caleb Teicher

Maura Keefe began working as Scholar-in-Residence at Jacob’s Pillow in 1997. […] Keefe still spends 10 weeks each summer in Becket as one of two scholars, educating audiences about the Pillow’s programming. She writes program essays called Pillow Notes, gives pre-performance lectures for each show, moderates Post-Show Talks discussions, and conducts PillowTalks with the artists.

For Keefe, history and theory are an essential part of dance advocacy. ‘Thinking critically about what we do is essential to our work as artists and writers—in every aspect of the field,’ she says. ‘That’s why dance history is important. We have to be able to articulate why what we do matters.’
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From Dance Teacher magazine

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