No Rule Is Our Rule | Eiko Otake

Co-Presented with MASS MoCA

This moving film is a story of friendship between two independent female artists and the body memories that each carries. In January 2020, New York-based interdisciplinary performing artist Eiko Otake arrived in Beijing to visit Wen Hui, a Chinese choreographer and filmmaker. Eight years apart, Eiko grew up in postwar Japan and Wen during the Cultural Revolution. They had planned to visit each other for a month to converse and collaborate, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic abruptly cut off Eiko’s visit and made Wen’s visit to the USA impossible. Nevertheless, the collaboration continued. Looking back on the video diaries they had filmed without a script, Eiko and Wen continued their dialogue on Zoom, sharing past works that form a deeper understanding of their circumstantial differences and characteristic similarities. The pair will be in residence at MASS MoCA developing a new collaborative work.

The Center Will Not Hold |
Ephrat Asherie and Michelle Dorrance

Co-Presented with MASS MoCA

Born from the short duet “a little room” by Ephrat Asherie and Michelle Dorrance, The Center Will Not Hold showcases 11 singular performers deeply rooted in street, club, and vernacular dances including House, Breaking, Hip Hop, Tap Dance, Chicago Footwork, Detroit Jit, Litefeet, Memphis Jookin, and Body Percussion. The work, which features live percussion by John Angeles, premiered as a 30-minute piece at New York City Center’s 2023 Fall For Dance Festival, and is being developed into an evening-length work here at MASS MoCA.

This work-in-progress showing will feature excerpts from the show and a discussion with Asherie and Dorrance.

I Didn’t Come to Stay | October 5, 2024
Music From The Sole

Co-Presented with MASS MoCA

Tap, percussive dance, samba, house, and original live music came together in I Didn’t Come to Stay, an evening-length work from New York City-based Music From The Sole. Brazilian tap dancer and choreographer Leonardo Sandoval and bassist/composer Gregory Richardson led eight dancers and a five-piece band in a performance that explores tap’s lineage and connections to other Afro-Diasporic forms. Conceived as a Carnival fever dream, I Didn’t Come to Stay embraces shared roots across the diaspora to reflect on what shapes their cultural and artistic identity, and celebrates the joy, depth, and virtuosity of Black dance and music.

Bindlestiff Family Cirkus

This performance took place on August 1, 2024.

The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosted Bindlestiff Family Cirkus for a special one-night-only performance on August 1. This performance included a “Choose What You Pay” ticketing option, with a suggested ticket price of $25.

Since 1995, The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus has traveled the world with a talented and diverse troupe of American circus artists, bringing a unique hybrid of vaudeville, circus, and sideshow spectacle to theaters, clubs, colleges, and festivals. Bindlestiff Family Cirkus combines jugglers, acrobats, contortionists, plate spinning, sword swallowing, novelty music and dance, and other risk-taking feats set to live music, creating an interactive evening of fun for the entire family.

The company’s shows have ranged from family events to annual Off-Broadway productions and Bindlestiff’s Flatbed Follies, a free mobile circus in the streets of NYC. Annually, Bindlestiff presents the NYC Unicycle Festival; the First of May Award for support of emerging artists; connects youth to the arts with Bindlestiff’s Cirkus After School and Cavalcade of Youth performances; and provides a springboard to development with Bindlestiff’s Open Stage Variety Show, the premiere open mic just for circus folks. The New York Times has called Bindlestiff Family Cirkus an “old-fashioned variety entertainment of the sort Ed Sullivan so astutely scooped up, but with twists,” while TIME OUT NY exclaimed that “this troupe of circus artists will remind your family what the circus is really about.”

Fourth Annual Du Bois Forum Roundtable & Celebration at Jacob’s Pillow

Friday, July 18 at 4pm | Pillow Grounds

At this fourth-annual gathering of the Du Bois Forum at Jacob’s Pillow, leading writers and artists will reflect upon the intellectual and artistic traditions that W.E.B. Du Bois shaped and the urgency of this work in our current historical moment. This event includes a roundtable discussion, an evening performance by Red Clay Dance Company on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage, as well as a private dinner designed by James Beard award-winning chef Bryant Terry, author of Black Food. For more information, please contact [email protected].

kNoname Artist/Roderick George

This performance took place on August 15, 2024.

Pillow Debut

The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosted the dance company kNoname Artist for a special one-night-only performance on August 15. This performance included a “Choose What You Pay” ticketing option, with a suggested ticket price of $25.

Founded in Berlin and now based in New York, kNoname Artist is the company created by Roderick George, an accomplished American dancer and choreographer who has performed with Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, and abroad with Basel Ballet/ Theater Basel in Switzerland, Goteborg Operan DansKompani in Sweden, and The Forsythe Company in Frankfurt, Germany.

At the Pillow, George presented an excerpt of The Missing Fruit and Venom (short versions adapted for the outdoor stage). 

Venom is a work inspired by the lasting impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the present events of the erasure of the LGBTQIA+ community, exposing how the queer community faced silencing, isolation, being forced into hiding, and death through fear, media, and ‘God’s reckoning,’ while at the same time finding ways to uplift each other using the underground nightlife as a sanctuary. As a queer Black man from Houston, Texas, George recognizes that his existence lies on the backs of these individuals and pays homage to the power and grace of his community. 

The Missing Fruit explores how the manifestation of racial and public health violence affects Black Americans and other Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)communities through an interdisciplinary artistic production rooted in contemporary dance. First conceptualized during the most recent #BLM protests, The Missing Fruit examines the experiences of BIPOC communities, particularly addressing their struggles to combat oppression and death, financial insecurity, and health vulnerabilities while making space for Black joy to thrive.

George is the recipient of the inaugural Jacob’s Pillow Men Dancers Award given to a choreographer of any gender who creates an innovative work danced by men dancers to be performed at Jacob’s Pillow in honor of the spirit of our founder Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers. Read more about George and this honor in the Jacob’s Pillow Men Dancers Award press release.

Please note: This performance includes references to adult themes and features a gunshot sound effect near the end.

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Generous underwriting support for the presentation of kNoname Artist/Roderick George was provided by Brian T. Fitzpatrick.
The presentation of kNoname Artist/Roderick George was made possible in part by YoungArts, The National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists.

KanKouran West African Dance Company

This performance took place on August 14, 2024.

Pillow Debut | Live Music

The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosted KanKouran West African Dance Company for a special one-night-only performance on August 14. This performance included a “Choose What You Pay” ticketing option, with a suggested ticket price of $25.

A beloved home for West African dance in Washington, D.C., KanKouran came to Jacob’s Pillow after celebrating their 40th anniversary. The company—whose members are from the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean—is dedicated to preserving and promoting traditional West African culture.

KanKouran was formed by Artistic Director Assane Konte and former Director of Music, Abdou Kounta, who grew up together in Dakar, Senegal. The company’s wide-ranging appeal and sense of community ownership has made it a creative cornerstone for generations of dancers, students, and musicians who have studied and come out of its ranks over the decades. While KanKouran has performed at venues including the Kennedy Center, National Symphony Orchestra, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and myriad universities, this will be their Jacob’s Pillow debut, celebrating 40-plus years of tradition.

DaEun Jung

This performance took place on August 23, 2024.

Pillow Debut

The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosted DaEun Jung for a special one-night-only performance on August 23. This performance included a “Choose What You Pay” ticketing option, with a suggested ticket price of $25.

Based in Los Angeles, choreographer/dancer DaEun Jung makes contemporary dance that is informed by ancestral dance practices of Korean classical and folk dance. In her Pillow debut, DaEun will perform NORRI, a group dance project inspired by the principle, form, and mode of Korean folk dance as a communal performance practice. In NORRI, meaning “play” in Korean, classical Korean dance vocabulary—originating from simple steps and gestures—is re-stylized by dancers of different cultural and movement backgrounds. Spontaneous Pansori (traditional Korean folk opera) phrases and continuous pulse of electronic sound guide or challenge dancers’ complex and playful pattern explorations.

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The presentation of “NORRI” by DaEun Jung was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Foundation and the Mellon Foundation.

South Chicago Dance Theatre

This performance took place on August 22, 2024.

Pillow Debut

The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosted South Chicago Dance Theatre for a special one-night-only performance on August 22. This performance included a “Choose What You Pay” ticketing option, with a suggested ticket price of $25.

Founded by Kia S. Smith in 2017, South Chicago Dance Theatre (SCDT) is firmly rooted in the vibrant arts community and rich heritage of Chicago’s south side. Since its launch in 2017, the company has toured regionally, nationally, and internationally, and commissioned the choreographic work of renowned artists. Its collaborative initiatives have included music ensembles, television, opera, art museums, and public schools.

The Chicago Tribune lauds SCDT as “the next big thing to hit Chicago’s dance scene.” Smith was recently named a Rising Star in 2023 by Chicago Magazine, and one of 25 to Watch in 2024 by Dance Magazine, which praised Smith’s choreographic voice: “note-by-note precision, fluid torso movement, unexpected gesture, powerful unison.”

Smith is a 2021 alum of the The Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at The School at Jacob’s Pillow.

Annie Hanauer Dance

This performance took place on July 18, 2024.

Pillow Debut | U.S. Premiere

The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosted Annie Hanauer Dance for a special one-night-only performance on July 18. This performance included a “Choose What You Pay” ticketing option, with a suggested ticket price of $25.

In her U.S. debut as a choreographer, Hanauer presented the U.S. Premiere of A Space for All Our Tomorrows, which imagines a utopian space for different bodies to share. It takes inspiration from the historical artist community of Monte Veritá in the Swiss mountains. Through their bodies, movement, and voices, Hanauer and collaborators channel the search for utopia—the feeling of something that is intangible, imaginary and different for every person—and hold space for multiple perspectives, particularly including testimony from disabled persons. Four bodies, each with their own wisdom, explore the harmony and tension between togetherness and individuality, presence and power, in relation to our human search for utopia.

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Digital Program Viewing & Listening Options

The booklet accessible to the in-person audience can be viewed online here.

Listen to the audio recording of the audience information introduction here.

Listen to the audio recording of the booklet here.

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Annie Hanauer Dance’s engagement at Jacob’s Pillow is generously supported by an individual who wishes to highlight the power and possibilities of dance.