Jacob's Pillow Spring Performances
Flamenco and Hip Hop
By: Pillow - Nov 11, 2026
Jacob’s Pillow is pleased to announce its second annual Spring Season—which will feature two weekends of fully produced performances in the Doris Duke Theatre—and also to offer a special first look at select dance companies that will perform in its 95th annual summer Festival.
This spring, Jacob’s Pillow will present Montreal’s famed contemporary / hip-hop dance group RUBBERBAND, performing the eclectic program Vic’s Mix, as well as the world premiere of Compañía Irene Rodríguez’s Flamenco Soul. Tickets are now on sale to the general public at jacobspillow.org/spring.
RUBBERBAND will perform at Jacob’s Pillow for the first time in 18 years, with performances Friday, April 30 through Sunday, May 2. The program, Vic’s Mix, spans the immense creative territory explored by choreographer Victor Quijada—the company’s artistic director—sharing jewels from Quijada’s repertoire with both humorous and serious moments. Quijada’s remix of his own work orchestrates a clash between break dancing, urban pop, and classical composition, defying audience expectations with highly athletic examples of the RUBBERBAND Method.
The following weekend, Compañía Irene Rodríguez will perform Flamenco Soul from Friday, May 7 through Sunday, May 9. A thrilling choreographer and performer who has wowed Pillow audiences for nearly a decade, Irene Rodríguez is a force of nature on stage, a “captivating” (MassLive) and “fervent star” (The New Yorker) focused on evolving flamenco dance in creative new directions. In this intimate and magnetic solo dance performance, accompanied by live music from a three-person ensemble, Rodríguez will exhibit a nonstop energy and virtuosic power, with state-of-the-art acoustics immersing audiences in the rhythm and passion of these renowned artists.
“Cuban-born Irene Rodríguez is a thrilling choreographer and performer who has wowed Pillow audiences for nearly a decade as a true force of nature on stage,” said Jacob’s Pillow Executive and Artistic Director Pamela Tatge. “And RUBBERBAND comes to us with a unique vision that has put them at the forefront of Montreal’s contemporary dance scene for more than 20 years, so it is an honor to present them at the Pillow for the first time since 2009. We look forward to welcoming these companies back for two unforgettable performance weekends.”
View the 2027 Spring Season Artist Gallery
Jacob’s Pillow also announces today the first wave of programming for its annual summer Festival, which will celebrate its 95th season in 2027. The international dance festival will once again run for 10 weeks, from late June through August, and will include week-long engagements in the historic Ted Shawn Theatre by New York’s Mark Morris Dance Group (June 23-27) and Vancouver’s Ballet BC (June 30 – July 4). Festival 2027 will also feature New York’s Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (August 11-15), appearing as a full company at Jacob’s Pillow for the first time in 64 years.
Additional summer programming will be announced in February, with Member Pre-Sale for summer events beginning in March. Tickets to Festival 2027 will open to the public in April.
“The 95th annual summer of our beloved Dance Festival promises to be a celebration that is only made possible by world-renowned companies who come to do their best work here and audiences who are deeply curious and appreciate the transformative power of this art form,” said Tatge. “We have great love for, and deep connections with, the vibrant work of Mark Morris Dance Group, who made their Pillow debut just over 40 years ago. And for the first time in eight years, we will welcome Ballet BC, whose visually stunning works push the boundaries of ballet in unforgettable ways.
“Alvin Ailey’s history with Jacob’s Pillow is truly awe-inspiring,” added Tatge, “beginning with his works presented here in the 1950s. I am very excited to share that next summer at the Pillow, the company will perform his landmark work Revelations, which he first adapted for our audiences in 1961. I’m amazed to say it, but this will be the first appearance at Jacob’s Pillow by the full Alvin Ailey company since 1963. Such an incredible milestone will have us celebrating the past, present, and future of dance in exciting ways you can only discover at Jacob’s Pillow.”
The Festival is curated by Tatge and Associate Artistic Director Kim Chan, supported by International Advisor Cathy Levy, Producing Director Holly Jones, and Director of Technical Production Jason Wells.
View the 2027 Festival Artists Gallery
SPRING SEASON: TICKETED PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Tickets are on sale now; online at jacobspillow.org
RUBBERBAND: Vic’s Mix
April 30 – May 2; Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm, Saturday and Sunday at 2pm
Doris Duke Theatre at Jacob’s Pillow | General Admission | Tickets $81.50 including fees
Refreshments available at the Doris Duke Theatre Bar
Pre-show talk: 20 minutes before each performance
Post-show talk: following Saturday night performance
Compañía Irene Rodríguez: Flamenco Soul
May 7-9; Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm; Saturday and Sunday at 2pm
Doris Duke Theatre at Jacob’s Pillow | General Admission | Tickets $81.50 including fees
Refreshments available at the Doris Duke Theatre Bar
Pre-show talk: 20 minutes before each performance
Post-show talk: following Saturday night performance
ABOUT THE COMPANIES
RUBBERBAND
Founded by Victor Quijada in Montreal in 2002, RUBBERBAND has built a reputation for fusing hip-hop, contemporary dance, and classical technique into a singular choreographic language. Today, the company stands among Canada's most acclaimed dance groups, touring internationally and earning recognition for their bold, genre-defying vision on stages around the world.
The hallmark of the company, the RUBBERBAND Method, comprises a unique choreographic vocabulary developed by Quijada that demolishes barriers between the raw dynamic of hip-hop/breaking and the purity of classical formalism. The Method—which prepares dancers with classical or contemporary training for floor work—is taught throughout the world in university programs, workshops, and master classes.
Over the decades, the company has steadily expanded its artistic scope, from the intimate six-dancer Empirical Quotient to the large-scale City Thread, a piece that brought together company members and 30 student dancers to mark Montreal's 375th anniversary in 2017. RUBBERBAND has received the RIDEAU Prize at Montreal’s Vue sur la relève Festival, appeared multiple times in the annual “Top 5 in Dance” in the national Canadian newspaper Le Devoir, and was recognized for the year’s Best Dance Production by The Hour, Montreal’s cultural weekly newspaper. In 2025, Victor received the Charles III Coronation Medal and became a Companion of the Order of Arts and Letters of Quebec. Deemed “a joy to behold” by Oregon Arts Watch, RUBBERBAND stands among Canada's most acclaimed and innovative contemporary dance companies.
Vic’s Mix is a RUBBERBAND production supported by Festival international DansEncore, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Conseil des arts de Montréal, and the Ontario Arts Council.
Explore on Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive
- 2006 performance clip: RUBBERBANDance Group
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/rubberbandance-group/ship-shop-shape-shifting/ - 2020 multimedia essay: “Nuevxs Latinidades Merián Soto and RUBBERBANDance Group”
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/themes-essays/dance-society/nuevxs-latinidades-merian-sotos-sacude-and-rubberbandance-groups-punto-ciego/
COMPAÑÍA IRENE RODRÍGUEZ
Founded in Havana in 2012, and now based in the U.S., Compañía Irene Rodríguez has emerged as a vital force shaping the evolution of flamenco and Spanish dance in Cuba and beyond.
Under the artistic direction of its founder, principal dancer, and award-winning choreographer Irene Rodríguez, the company has developed a distinctive choreographic language rooted in classical Spanish dance and flamenco, seamlessly incorporating contemporary movement, theatricality, and Cuban musical and cultural traditions. This fusion of tradition and modernity has earned the company international recognition and appearances on major stages including Lincoln Center, New York City Center, The Joyce Theater, and the Kennedy Center. The company appeared at Jacob’s Pillow in 2017 and 2019, and Rodríguez participated in the Pillow’s 2020 and 2022 Galas as well as the opening program of the new Doris Duke Theatre in 2025.
An internationally acclaimed Cuban-born dancer, choreographer, educator, and artistic director, Irene Rodríguez was awarded the prestigious Orden de Isabel la Católica by the King of Spain in 2018, one of Spain’s highest civilian honors. Praised by The New York Times as “an intense, exacting dancer,” Rodríguez has worked extensively with Ballet Nacional de Cuba and as a choreographer with leading American institutions, including Kansas City Ballet and Dayton Performing Arts Alliance. In 2019, she served as Director of the Flamenco and Spanish Dance Program at The School at Jacob’s Pillow. Now based in the United States, she continues to tour internationally, advancing a flamenco aesthetic that is unapologetically contemporary and unmistakably her own.
Explore on Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive
- 2017 performance clip: Compañía Irene Rodríguez
https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/compania-irene-rodriguez/pena-negra/
MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP
A longtime Pillow favorite, Mark Morris Dance Group returns to Jacob’s Pillow for the first time since 2023. Mark Morris—who has been called “the Mozart of Modern Dance” for his musicality, devotion to music, and movement versatility—has distinguished himself as a prolific ballet, modern dance, and opera choreographer and director. He made his Pillow debut in 1982, then appeared with his company first in 1986. Now celebrating its 25th season at the Pillow, the Mark Morris Dance Group has amassed one of the most extensive Pillow performance records of any artist.
Founded in New York City in 1980, Mark Morris Dance Group has been called “the preeminent modern dance organization of our time” (Yo-Yo Ma), with work acclaimed for its ingenuity, musicality, wit, and humanity. The Mark Morris Dance Center, opened in Brooklyn in 2001, is the home of the Dance Group while also providing low-cost rental space for local artists and free programs for children and seniors. Live music and community engagement are vital components of the company, which has toured with its own musicians, the MMDG Music Ensemble, since 1996. In addition to creating over 200 works, Morris conducts orchestras, directs opera, and choreographs for ballet companies worldwide.
BALLET BC
Formed in 1986 and based in British Columbia, Ballet BC is well-known in Canada and around the world for pushing the physical and emotional boundaries of contemporary dance with performances that are “visually stunning and emotionally profound” (PBS). The company will return to the Ted Shawn Theatre stage for the first time since 2019 with a mixed program to be announced.
Ballet BC presents a diverse repertoire in its international tours, as well as its regular runs at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver. Collaborating choreographers include William Forsythe, Ji?í Kylián, Medhi Walerski, Crystal Pite, Johan Inger, Imre and Marne van Opstal, Micaela Taylor, Marco Goecke, and Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber. “We are a company,” says Ballet BC, “that aims to create dance at its most essential: visceral, powerful, thought-provoking, and transformative.”
ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER
An unrivaled force since 1958, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is one of the most acclaimed dance companies in the world. With a repertory that boasts close to 300 works by more than 100 choreographers, the company has performed in more than 70 countries on six continents, and has been designated by the United States Congress as a “vital American Cultural Ambassador to the World.”
Alvin Ailey began his close association with the Pillow in 1954 as a performer, choreographer, and acting director of the Lester Horton Dance Theater, and he first brought his company here in 1959. He adapted Revelations from its original form for Pillow performances in 1961, and this landmark work—which has been internationally celebrated ever since—will be part of the company’s mixed program in summer 2027.
Forged during a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater uplifts the African American experience while transcending boundaries of race, faith, and nationality with its universal humanity. Led by Artistic Director Alicia Graf Mack, with dancers of all backgrounds and an extraordinary library of classic and contemporary works, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater thrills audiences around the globe with its enduring message of resilience and joy.