Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2024
92nd Season Runs Nine Weeks
By: Pillow - Feb 20, 2024
This summer, Jacob’s Pillow will produce the 92nd season of its premier international dance festival, in a 9-week celebration of some of today’s most groundbreaking artists and dance companies performing locally, nationally, and around the world.
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2024 will run Wednesday, June 26 through Sunday, August 25, and will feature indoor performances in the historic Ted Shawn Theatre and outdoor performances on the Henry J. Leir Stage. Visitors to Jacob’s Pillow this summer can also note progress being made on the construction of the reimagined Doris Duke Theatre, which is scheduled to open in 2025.
Companies featured in this summer’s lineup are an eclectic mix of Jacob’s Pillow debuts and longtime audience favorites who have appeared across more than 50 years of the festival’s history. Onstage performances will span genres and styles from ballet and modern to hip hop, tap, flamenco, circus, Indigenous dance, and more. In addition to U.S.-based companies, the festival will also present companies based in Canada, England, Switzerland, Italy, Argentina, Spain, and beyond. Many events will feature live music, and all are family-friendly. The festival will also include special events, parties, classes and workshops, exhibitions and talks, digital premieres, livestreams, and pop-up performances in Berkshire County. Many of these offerings will be free of charge.
The nine companies to perform for one week each in the Ted Shawn Theatre are, in chronological order: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, The Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, Social Tango Project, MOMIX, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, Parsons Dance, Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. Companies with multi-night runs on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage will include M.A.D.D. Rhythms, Pathways to Performance (a project of Theresa Ruth Howard’s MoBBallet), Dancers of Damelahamid, David Dorfman Dance, and Gibney Company. Descriptions may be found below.
The outdoor Leir Stage will also feature numerous one-day-only events, including performances ensembles from The School at Jacob’s Pillow summer programs in Contemporary Ballet, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre. Additional performances on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage will be announced in March, and the complete program for Festival 2024 beyond onstage performances (including exhibits, livestreams, PillowTalks, classes and workshops, community events, and more) will be announced in April.
In an exciting first, the world-renowned Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom will make their Pillow debut by staging a “takeover” of Festival Week 2 (July 3-7), with daily performances on two stages. Audiences will be able to enjoy The Royal Ballet program on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage, then continue the experience by moving into the historic indoor Ted Shawn Theatre to see a completely different program. The indoor and outdoor portions of the “takeover” will be ticketed separately. This will mark the first time in the Festival’s history that a single company will perform on both the indoor and outdoor stages with separate programs on the same day. This engagement will be The Royal Ballet’s exclusive appearance in the United States in 2024.
“When we describe Jacob's Pillow as a crossroads for dance, this is the sort of wide-ranging, blockbuster summer program we are talking about,” said Jacob's Pillow Executive and Artistic Director Pamela Tatge. “The artists and companies coming to our stages here in Becket are multi-generational masters of their form, whether they come from the realm of dance, theater, activism, visual design, live music—or from many realms at once.
“Some of these brilliant creators have storied histories that intersect with the Pillow’s; some are new to us and just emerging into new forms of dance and mission-making,” added Tatge. “Some of the artists tour widely and have global name recognition; some have focused mainly on celebrating and empowering local communities. Regardless, they all are intent on bringing their best work to Jacob’s Pillow, and their onstage encounters with Pillow audiences—all in the span of nine weeks—will mean something unforgettable for everyone.”
The 2024 Festival was curated by Tatge and Associate Curators Melanie George and Ali Rosa-Salas, supported by International Advisor Cathy Levy and Producing Director Holly Jones.
Jacob’s Pillow will hold its largest fundraising event of the year—the Season Opening Gala—on Saturday, June 22, featuring a livestream of live performances and a presentation of the 2024 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award to this year’s recipient, to be announced this spring. Community Day will also return this year, providing free, all-ages daytime performances by regional dance artists, as well as activities around the Pillow’s campus on Friday, August 16.
Jacob’s Pillow continues to be a home for presentations of premiere works, and this year will feature world premieres by Camille A. Brown and Wayne McGregor and U.S. premieres by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Pam Tanowitz, among others, on both the Ted Shawn Theatre and Henry J. Leir stages. Artists and companies making their Jacob’s Pillow debuts this season include The Royal Ballet, Social Tango Project, and Dancers of Dahmelahamid. The Festival also features the return of companies who have not graced our stages in decades: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, MOMIX, and Parsons Dance.
As Jacob’s Pillow continues to strengthen its role in serving artists year-round, the Festival will also feature work developed at the Pillow Lab, a residency program now in its seventh year. This work includes works to be performed by Camille A. Brown & Dancers and MoBBallet’s Pathways to Performance project.
Festival 2024 will host the return of two beloved annual gatherings: Pillow Pride and the All Styles Dance Battle. Pillow Pride—a celebration of LGBTQIA+ individuals and communities—will be held on the weekend of July 13-14, including a performance by the MasterZ at Work Dance Family with Courtney Topanga Washington. The All Styles Dance Battle will be held on the evening of Friday, August 2. Tickets to parties will be available beginning in March, in time for Member Pre-Sale.
Ticketed performances and parties will be enriched by talks, exhibitions, workshops, and the return of the free On the Road performance series to towns around Berkshire County, with details to be announced later this year. Digital offerings will include PillowTalks and livestreams of several performances.
Member Pre-Sale begins Monday, March 4, with tiered access available to Jacob’s Pillow Members based on membership level. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, April 11.
To learn more about the Membership program at Jacob’s Pillow, visit jacobspillow.org/membership.
Founded by American modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn in 1933, Jacob’s Pillow is home to the longest-running dance festival in the United States. Jacob’s Pillow is a National Historic Landmark, a National Medal of Arts recipient, and a year-round center for dance research and development.
FESTIVAL 2024 PERFORMANCES
Artist dates and descriptions follow; additional programming will be announced this spring. Programs and casts are subject to change without notice. The Season Opening Gala kicks off the Festival on Saturday, June 22, 2024.
INDOOR WEEK-LONG PERFORMANCES — TED SHAWN THEATRE
Tickets start at $65
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Festival Week 1 | Wednesday, June 26 – Sunday, June 30 | Ted Shawn Theatre
Coming from New York City
50th Anniversary Season | First Appearance Since 2010
Festival 2024 opens with the trailblazing comic ballet company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (the “Trocks”), celebrating their 50th anniversary this year.
In crowd-pleasing performances around the world, the Trocks “delight with fabulous charm” (The New York Times) while staying true to their roots. Founded in the wake of the Stonewall Uprising in New York City as a gender-skewering company of professional male dancers, the Trocks perform a full range of ballet and modern dance repertoire, offering humorous yet faithful renditions that are both “delightful” and “rebellious” (The New Republic).
After fifty years of globe-spanning performances, the company now plays to a world that is, as they put it, “catching up with their once highly-subversive viewpoint, allowing their style of ballet to be viewed simply as sheer entertainment.” In their long-awaited return to the Pillow, the Trocks will perform the second act of Swan Lake, plus their singular take on Paquita, among other favorites.
The Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom
Festival Week 2 | Wednesday, July 3 – Sunday, July 7 | Ted Shawn Theatre
Coming from England
World Premiere | U.S. Premiere | Pillow Debut | Live Music | Only U.S. Appearance in 2024
One of the most famous and celebrated companies in the world, The Royal Ballet will appear at Jacob’s Pillow for the first time, as the company’s sole stop in the U.S. in 2024. To celebrate this milestone, this Festival week will feature daily back-to-back performances from The Royal Ballet, with a program on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage followed by a separate program in the Ted Shawn Theatre.
The company’s celebrated repertory is drawn from 19th-century ballet classics as well as the distinctive English works of its Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton and Principal Choreographer Kenneth MacMillan, and continues to resonate with audiences strongly today through the striking contemporary sensibility of Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor and Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon.
This summer’s program will feature a world premiere by Wayne McGregor, created especially for Jacob’s Pillow, alongside works by Ashton, McMillian, and Wheeldon, and will also include the U.S. premiere of Secret Things by American choreographer Pam Tanowitz. The Royal Ballet Principals Matthew Ball, Mayara Magri, Natalia Osipova, Marcelino Sambé, Anna Rose O’Sullivan, and Sarah Lamb will perform in this engagement along with a vibrant array of the company’s dancers.
Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève
Festival Week 3 | Wednesday, July 10 – Sunday, July 14 | Ted Shawn Theatre
Coming from Switzerland
U.S. Premiere | Live Music | First Appearance Since 2011
“One of the most original and inventive in Europe” (La Presse de Tunisie), Switzerland’s acclaimed ballet company returns to Jacob’s Pillow for the first time in over a decade, featuring classically trained dancers performing breathtaking contemporary choreography. Boasting a rich, century-long history, the company is praised as “without a doubt one of the best European companies” (Paris Capitale).
This summer’s appearance at the Pillow will mark the company’s first U.S. engagement under the artistic direction of the groundbreaking Belgian and Moroccan choreographer, dancer, and director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, who received the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award in 2022. Winner of the Olivier Award and Kairos Prize, Cherkaoui is also the artistic director of his own company, Eastman, and former artistic director of Belgium’s Royal Ballet of Flanders. In 2018, he choreographed the music video “Apeshit” for The Carters (Beyonce? and Jay-Z), and supported the couple on their subsequent live tour. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his work on Jagged Little Pill, featuring the music of Alanis Morissette.
This summer, Ballet du Grand Théatre de Genève will perform an all Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui program, including his groundbreaking Faun, inspired by Claude Debussy’s L’après-midi d’un faune, and the U.S. debut of Noetic, created with a distinguished team including renowned sculptor Sir Antony Gormley, fashion designer duo Les Hommes, and composer Szymon Brzóska.
Social Tango Project
Festival Week 4 | Wednesday, July 17 – Sunday, July 21 | Ted Shawn Theatre
Coming from Argentina
Pillow Debut | Live Music
Founded and based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Social Tango Project’s mission is to share the social value of dance, celebrating the tango community through live performances, music, and film. Under the artistic direction of Agustina Videla, the company provides “a journey into the heart of Tango” (La Nación Newspaper), and aims to inspire individuals to join the dance floor and cultivate tango communities worldwide.
Social Tango Project offers a stunning interactive and immersive dance performance that blends movement and live music with cinematic documentary film projection, offering a colorful window into Tango’s power to create and maintain social cohesion at times of political unrest. Because the company encourages the audience to embrace the Tango and make it their own, each performance will also feature onstage appearances by local and regional dancers.
Social Tango Project offers audiences a deep dive into this very special social dance—which originated in the 1880s along the border of Argentina and Uruguay—showcased on the Ted Shawn Theatre stage like never before. The company comes to Jacob’s Pillow following a spring appearance in the RiverRun Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
MOMIX
Festival Week 5 | Wednesday, July 24 – Sunday, July 28 | Ted Shawn Theatre
Coming from Washington, Connecticut
First Appearance Since 2002
Famous across the globe for exceptional inventiveness and physical beauty, MOMIX is a company of dancer-illusionists under the direction of Moses Pendleton, one of America’s most renowned and widely performed choreographers.
A co-founder of the groundbreaking Pilobolus Dance Theater in 1971, Pendleton formed his own company in 1980. Based in Connecticut, MOMIX conjures thrilling and family-friendly performances that move from humorous to athletic, sensual to physical, and dynamic to lyrical, always using props, bodies, costumes, and screen projections in new and unique ways, with eye-popping visuals and an extraordinary sense of fun.
Returning to the Pillow for the first time since 2002, the company will perform VIVA MOMIX, a magical collection of the company’s most astonishing works. The company’s “wondrously agile human dancers” (The New York Times) combine with innovative stage magic that have delighted audiences around the world for decades.
Camille A. Brown & Dancers
Festival Week 6 | Wednesday, July 31 – Sunday, August 4 | Ted Shawn Theatre
Coming from New York City
World Premiere | Commission | Live Music | First Appearance Since 2017
Recipient of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award in 2016, three-time Tony Award-nominated director and choreographer Camille A. Brown continues her meteoric rise creating new work on stage, TV, and film as the founder of Camille A. Brown & Dancers.
Brown is a “prodigious” (VOGUE) Bessie Award-winning choreographer and director. She made history as the first Black director at the Metropolitan Opera to direct a mainstage production when she co-directed Fire Shut Up In My Bones (2021). With the Broadway revival of for colored girls… (2022), she became the first Black woman to direct and choreograph a Broadway play since Katherine Dunham in 1955.
Following her work this spring as the choreographer of the new Alicia Keys musical Hell’s Kitchen, opening in April 2024, Brown returns to the roots of her own dance company, presenting the world premiere of I AM in the Ted Shawn Theatre, developed in part through a Pillow Lab residency in 2023. Inspired by the “I AM” episode of the HBO series Lovecraft Country, this exciting and uplifting work is accompanied by a live band and features the dances and gestures of the African diaspora to celebrate the past, and boldly push into the future. The work was commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow with the Joan B. Hunter New Work Commission.
Related content on Jacob’s Pillow On Demand:
Inside the Pillow Lab: Camille A. Brown, 2023:
Parsons Dance
Festival Week 7 | Wednesday, August 7 – Sunday, August 11 | Ted Shawn Theatre
Coming from New York City
First Appearance Since 1999
This summer marks 25 years since the last Pillow appearance by Parsons Dance, the internationally-touring contemporary dance company based in New York City and led by David Parsons, “one of the great movers of modern dance” (The New York Times). Beloved for their high-energy and athletic ensemble work, Parsons dancers have wowed audiences in more than 30 countries, performing selections from a repertory of more than 75 works created by David Parsons, as well as established choreographers like Jamar Roberts and Rena Butler.
The return to the Pillow is a celebration of the company’s roots and staying power, the go-for-broke energy that Parsons dancers are known for and the vision of David Parsons: “to bring life-affirming performances and joy to audiences worldwide.” The program at the Pillow will feature signature works including Caught (1982), choreographed by David Parsons, and Takedeme (1999), choreographed by Robert Battle.
Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca
Festival Week 8 | Wednesday, August 14 – Sunday, August 18 | Ted Shawn Theatre
Coming from New York City and Spain
Live Music | First Appearance Since 2001
Bessie Award-winning dancer and choreographer Soledad Barrio and her husband, artistic director and choreographer Martin Santangelo, formed Noche Flamenca in 1993 in Madrid, Spain. Alistair Macaulay has written for The New York Times that “there has been no company I have been so glad to discover as Noche Flamenca and, above all, its lead dancer, Soledad Barrio. I can think of no current ballet star in the world as marvelous as she.”
Flamenco is rooted in dance, song, and music traditions from Sephardic Jews, North African, and Roma people, from Andalusia. It is a form that is, in the company’s words, “born of ancestral cultural repression and racial expulsion.” Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca’s mission combines onstage performance with educational outreach and residencies to educate people of all backgrounds “and to evoke in them the vivid and expansive sea of passion and emotion that is flamenco.”
After two back-to-back Pillow seasons in 2000 and 2001, this marks the company’s long-awaited return. The program will include an excerpt of their newest work, Searching for Goya (2023), inspired by the transformative art of Francisco de Goya, as it references the prolific Spanish artist’s response to the turbulent social and political changes occurring in the world around him, its relevance to our present times, and its revelations of human nature.
Hailed by critics around the world, Noche Flamenca performs regular seasons in New York City, including at Lincoln Center, The Joyce Theater, Joe's Pub at The Public Theater, and at its home base at the West Park Presbyterian Church. The company has received awards from the National Dance Project, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Bessies, and Dance Magazine, among many others.
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Festival Week 9 | Wednesday, August 21 – Sunday, August 25 | Ted Shawn Theatre
Coming from New York City
First Appearance Since 2019
Dance Theatre of Harlem was founded by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook in 1969 to create a new vision of ballet, as well as an opportunity where none had existed before. With previous Pillow appearances spanning from 1970 (in their very first performances) to 2019, Dance Theatre of Harlem has used their singular artistry to challenge expectations, provide a platform for new voices, and break down barriers for more than 50 years.
Along with treasured classics, this beloved and multi-ethnic company presents innovative, culturally inclusive works that propel ballet into the future with “earnest and potent” performances (Los Angeles Times). Dance Theatre of Harlem returns to the Pillow for its 55th Anniversary Season celebrating both newly-named Artistic Director, former principal dancer, and longtime company choreographer Robert Garland, as well as the 90th birthday of the Company’s legendary late founder Arthur Mitchell. The program includes William Forsythe’s exhilarating Blake Works IV (The Barre Project), set to music by James Blake, and a work by George Balanchine to be announced.
OUTDOOR MULTI-NIGHT PERFORMANCES — HENRY J. LEIR STAGE
Tickets start at $40 (Royal Ballet tickets start at $50)
M.A.D.D. Rhythms
Festival Week 1 | Thursday, June 27 – Friday, June 28 | Henry J. Leir Stage (outdoor)
Coming from Chicago, Illinois
Pillow Debut
Based in Chicago, M.A.D.D. (Making A Difference Dancing) Rhythms is a multi-generational tap dance collective with one passion: to spread the love and joy of tap worldwide. Featuring dancers with wide-ranging backgrounds from all over Chicago, the company’s versatility and sense of play is a potent draw for all ages. Pillow audiences will see the full-length work A M.A.D.D. Mixtape, created and performed by Donnetta Jackson, which combines the rhythmic connection of Tap and Footwork into an inspiring onstage party, featuring a live DJ spinning some of hip hop and R&B’s most treasured musical gems.
M.A.D.D. Rhythms has performed widely across Chicago and neighboring cities, as well as at conferences, festivals, and community events. Through live shows as well as their Tap Academy—which has educated hundreds of students—the company is committed to bringing tap history and culture front-and-center for youth in underserved communities and unexpected places. In their words: access to tap dance “gives a child a greater chance at a positive life… Therefore, we will spread the joy, love, discipline, and expression of tap to as many children as we humanly can!”
The Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom
Festival Week 2 | Wednesday, July 3 – Sunday, July 7 | Ted Shawn Theatre
Coming from England
Pillow Debut | World Premiere | U.S. Premiere | Live Music | Only U.S. Appearance in 2024
These outdoor performances are part of a Pillow-wide “takeover” by The Royal Ballet on multiple stages, indoors and out, during week two of this summer’s festival. For these five days, The Royal Ballet will present a program on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage, followed by a separate program in the Ted Shawn Theatre (ticketed separately). .Please see the TED SHAWN THEATRE section above for full details.
MoBBallet: Creating Pathways to Performance
Festival Week 3 | Wednesday, July 10 – Thursday, July 11 | Henry J. Leir Stage (outdoor)
Pillow Debut
The Pathways to Performance (PTP) Choreographic Program is an exciting new initiative by Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet (MoBBallet) founder Theresa Ruth Howard, supported by Jacob's Pillow and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
MoBBallet created PTP in order to nurture and develop Black ballet choreographers and those of color, providing them with opportunities to create and present their work on prominent stages. This engagement on the Leir Stage will feature a range of newly-commissioned and previous works by five Black choreographers, including a new work by Meredith Rainey developed in the Pillow Lab residency program this spring.
A multi-talented and highly-regarded voice in the field, Howard is a former ballet dancer, curator, scholar, and arts leader with a longstanding connection to Jacob’s Pillow. She founded MoBBallet in 2015 to preserve, promote, and present the historical and present-day contributions of Blacks in ballet. Following Howard's work in a Reframing the Narrative residency at the Kennedy Center, her launch of the PTP Choreographic Program at the MoBBallet Symposium led to this most recent collaboration with Jacob's Pillow.
Related content on Jacob’s Pillow On Demand:
Inside the Pillow Lab: Theresa Ruth Howard, 2023:
Dancers of Damelahamid
Festival Week 5 | Friday, July 26 – Saturday, July 27 | Henry J. Leir Stage (outdoor)
Coming from West Vancouver, BC, Canada
Pillow Debut
The Dancers of Damelahamid is an Indigenous dance company from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia with a rich history of masked dance. Through dramatic dance, captivating narrative, intricately carved masks, and elaborate regalia, the company finds innovative ways to bring all audiences into the art, history, language, and traditions of Indigenous culture.
Through “breathtaking” (Vancouver Arts Review) performances, the company offers a deep appreciation of the richness of Indigenous dance in the Pacific Northwest. After many decades of suppression from the illegalization of the potlatch (gift-giving feasts) by the Canadian government from 1885 to 1951, the Dancers of Damelahamid emerged in the 1960s out of an urgency to ensure that these artistic practices were not lost.
Founded upon generations of dance revitalization, the company’s performances are relevant to current innovation, influence, and insights. Dancers of Damelahamid’s “amazing” (Artsfile) performances—full of story dance and song—and their annual Coastal Dance Festival of international Indigenous artists (founded in 2008) honor a legacy while offering new pathways between communities and cultures.
David Dorfman Dance
Festival Week 6 | Saturday, August 3 – Sunday, August 4 | Henry J. Leir Stage (outdoor)
Coming from New York City
First Appearance Since 2011 | Live Music
For almost 40 years, David Dorfman has been on a mission “to get the whole world dancing” by delivering audiences a provocative mix of visceral dance, music, and text, in performances that offer post-modern dance as something inviting, accessible, and interactive. Dorfman “has never shied away from open-hearted explorations of self and society, channeling big ideas into raw hyper-athletic movement that calls for go-for-broke dancers” (The New York Times.) At the Pillow, the company will perform (A)Way Out of My Body, a collective story of searching for personal “truths” among fantastical sensations. The piece features live music by singer/songwriter Lizzy de Lise and music director/composer Sam Crawford.
David Dorfman Dance has toured nationally and internationally from Turkey to Tajikistan, and has performed at major New York City venues including The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), The Joyce Theater, The Kitchen, Danspace Project/St. Mark’s Church, La Mama Theater, The Duke on 42nd Street, The Met Breuer, and the 92nd St. “Y”/Harkness Dance Festival. Dorfman and the company’s dancers and artistic collaborators have been honored with eight New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Awards. Company alumni include Kyle Abraham, Raja Feather Kelly, Jennifer Nugent, and Kendra Portier.
Gibney Company
Festival Week 7 | Wednesday, August 7 – Sunday, August 11 | Henry J. Leir Stage (outdoor)
Coming from New York City
Pillow Debut
The creators of “sharp and satisfying” contemporary dance (The New York Times), Gibney Company lives at “the intersection of art and social action.” While Gina Gibney Dance performed three times at the Pillow from 1999 to 2001, Gibney completely rebuilt her company in 2020. This will be the reimagined group's Pillow debut.
Founded in New York City since 1991 as a dance and social justice organization, Gibney has transformed dramatically over the past decade, and now tours with an “engaging” (Boston Globe) performance company that recently doubled in size, performing works by some of New York’s and the world’s most renowned choreographers. Gibney Company made their Joyce Theater debut in November 2021, and were featured in New York City Center’s Fall for Dance festival in 2022 and 2023. Following recent tour stops in Ontario, British Columbia, and The Hague, the company comes to Jacob’s Pillow as one of only two companies performing for a full week on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage.
At the Pillow, Gibney Company will perform Johan Inger’s breathtaking Bliss, and Twyla Tharp’s The Fugue, among other works.