Jacob's Pillow Dance

To enliven and deepen each visitor's experience, Jacob's Pillow offers a variety of art and photography exhibits that augment Festival programming and celebrate the Pillow's rich history. All exhibits are free and open to the public throughout the Festival. Housed in Blake's Barn (next to the Box office), the Pillow's extensive Archives open a window to the past, present, and future, and exemplify founder Ted Shawn's mission to broaden appreciation for dance. And now, visitors across the globe can experience the Pillow through our Virtual Pillow online offerings, including Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive. 

Visitors across the globe can experience decades of dance at the Pillow through our online video archive, Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive. Visit danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org to experience it yourself.

Shooting Stars

Blake's Barn

To experience dance through the eyes of other dancers is a rare treat, and this exhibit encompasses uncommon sights and vantage points that will be totally new to most viewers. Wendy Whelan reveals some of what goes on in the dressing rooms of New York City Ballet while Miguel Anaya shares his backstage view from last season's From the Horse's Mouth: The Men Dancers, and much more.

Ted Shawn Theatre Lobby

By showing dancers in everyday surroundings, photographer Jordan Matter demonstrates just how extraordinary the human body can be. There's no photo manipulation here--no trampolines, no gimmicks, no tricks--which makes these images of roadside leaps and high kicks on the subway all the more remarkable. Including both recognizable dance figures and relative unknowns, this collection truly communicates the excitement of having dancers among us.

Doris Duke Theatre Lobby

As the Pillow's Festival Photographer since 2006, Christopher Duggan has now documented literally thousands of indelible dance moments. Focusing specifically on Inside/Out for an exhibit last summer at Saratoga's National Museum of Dance, these images are now coming home for the first time. Duggan's superb extra-large prints show off an incomparable setting in an unforgettable way.

Bakalar Studio

Most of a dancer's working life is spent in the classroom or rehearsal studio, and here are some choice moments from throughout the Pillow's history, gathered together for the first time. Many photos in this collection were captured in this very space, capturing rare behind-the-scenes moments with Mikhail Baryshnikov, Bill T. Jones, Maria Tallchief, Ruth St. Denis, and a host of others.

 

Blake's Barn

This informal library and reading room allows impromptu visitors to view videos, browse through books, access the Pillow's computer catalog, or peruse permanent collections of Pillow programs and photographs. Pillow Interactive, the popular touch-screen kiosk, provides instant access to rare film clips ranging from the present day back to the 1930s, and the Dance Heritage Coalition's new Secure Media Network features videos from other archives throughout the country.