Dance Heginbotham

This performance took place on August 10–14, 2022. Scroll for more information.

This performance will be available for on demand access from April 3 to May 14. Click here to learn more.

Celebrated for its vibrant athleticism, humor, theatricality, and commitment to collaboration, Dance Heginbotham, led by Artistic Director John Heginbotham, celebrated its 10th Anniversary having established itself as one of the most adventurous companies on the contemporary dance scene. Praised by The New York Times as having “a true theater artist’s instinct for commanding his audience,” Heginbotham is known for striking choreography that is perceptive, bright, and witty. A past recipient of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, he is most recently acclaimed for his choreography in the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!

The company performed an evening of work in collaboration with Ethan Iverson, the critically acclaimed jazz composer, pianist, and Blue Note Records recording artist. The program featured three works: a revival and two world premieres. Easy Win (2015) draws inspiration from the collaborators’ shared experiences within a formal ballet class. A delightful ode to the repetition, drama, and humor of a dance class, Easy Win dissects its rituals with equal amounts of humor and sincerity through dancers that are “keenly alive to the main pulses of Mr. Iverson’s music” (The New York Times). The world premiere of The Understudies performed by John Heginbotham and Amber Star Merkens. Finally, Dance Sonata, the program’s second world premiere, picked up where Easy Win left off. If Easy Win highlighted the rigors and training in the context of a ballet class, Dance Sonata was the finale for which the performers have been preparing.

Explore Dance Heginbotham

Watch the Post-Show Talk

This Post-Show Talk features John Heginbotham, Artistic Director of Dance Heginbotham, and composer/pianist Ethan Iverson, moderated by Scholar-in-Residence Maura Keefe. The talk took place on the Henry J. Leir Stage on August 11, 2022.

Read the Program and PillowNotes

In The Press

“With Iverson playing eight delightful, vividly-titled pieces on solo piano, seven dancers move on and off stage, in and out of groups, form lines, or circles. Though this is definitely an often purposely kooky depiction of a ballet class, the atmosphere captures the ways in which dancers are deeply interested in and even obsessed by the minutiae (usually).” Read more on The Boston Globe.

“A dramatic shift in rhythm began with martial left-hand fifths that provoked the dancers to overt marches and geometrical extensions that resembled cardboard cut-outs in silhouette against the forest background in declining light.” Read more The Berkshire Eagle. 

Dive into Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive
This ever-growing collection includes dance videos filmed at Jacob’s Pillow from the 1930s to today and new illustrated essays. Explore more on Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive.

Watch Dance Heginbotham on Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive:

• The Principles of Uncertainty from 2017
• Twin from 2012