Shamel Pitts | TRIBE: Touch of RED

Dancer, artist, and choreographer Shamel Pitts creates provocative dance works that “push against the boundaries of identity” (Dance Magazine). His collective TRIBE will perform Touch of RED, inspired by the rapid-fire footwork of boxing, the African American jazz dance style Lindy Hop, Gaga movement language, and nightlife culture. Set in a stylized ring, this dance duet examines the way Black men are perceived and perceive themselves in contemporary society.

This is a notable homecoming for Pitts and his collective, whose Pillow Lab residency work on Touch of RED in November 2020 was disrupted when the original Doris Duke Theatre was lost to a fire. Since then, TRIBE premiered Touch of RED in a sold-out weekend in October 2022 at MASS MoCA, co-presented by Jacob’s Pillow. This will be the first time this remarkable duet is performed at the Festival in its entirety.

Pitts is a United States Artist Fellow (2026), a Stroke of Genius Fellow (2025), a MacArthur Fellow (2024), and a Guggenheim Fellow (2020). He received a Doris Duke Artist Award as well as a Knight Choreography Prize in 2024, and a Princess Grace Award in Choreography in 2018. Pitts’s “BLACK series” has toured extensively worldwide since 2016.

During the first week of this year’s Festival, Pitts will receive the Jacob’s Pillow Men Dancers Award. This award is presented every two years to a choreographer of any gender who creates an innovative work danced by men dancers at Jacob’s Pillow.