Online Event:
DELving Mini Workshop
Dallas Black Dance Theatre

This online event took place on August 29, 2021.

Join Ann Biddle (Director of DEL at Jacob’s Pillow), Felice Santorelli (DEL Facilitator), and Sierra Noelle Jones of Dallas Black Dance Theatre in the exploration of dance education practices dedicated to artistry, collaboration, and dance-making in a 2.5-hour embodied and interactive Zoom workshop. Inspired by the Pillow-commissioned world premiere of DBDT by choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie, participants will explore movement themes and choreographic structures embedded within this work.  Through movement exploration and collaborative dance making activities, participants will gain a deeper appreciation of the legacy and artistic contributions of this contemporary modern dance company over the past 45 years.

Created in partnership with the Dance Education Laboratory (DEL), this online workshop series explores a choreographer’s voice through the DEL model, which emphasizes a comprehensive and inclusive approach to embodied learning. The program is facilitated by Director of DEL at Jacob’s Pillow Ann Biddle and DEL Facilitator Felice Santorelli with special guest artists. Each workshop explores a choreographer’s work through multiple entry points, including the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive site, in order to design accessible lessons and activities for all dance learners.

Sierra Noelle Jones was born and raised in Fort Washington, Maryland, where she received early training through Donna’s Dance A Company, The Dance Institute of Washington, and The Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Pre-Professional Residency program.  Sierra is a 2015 honors graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance & Choreography. Sierra is also a 2011 graduate from the prestigious Baltimore School for the Arts high school where she majored in Dance. Sierra is beginning her 5th wonderful season in the main company of Dallas Black Dance Theatre and her 2nd Season as the Director of the Junior Performing Ensemble. During her time at DBDT Sierra has performed in works by Ulysses Dove, Matthew Rushing, Hope Boykin, Christopher Huggins, and Darrell Grand Moultrie. She has also been part of collaborations with the Dallas Symphony, The Dallas Museum of Art, MakeDox Films, and Plano Profile Magazine. Prior to the main company of DBDT Sierra spent two seasons with DBDT: Encore! where she has done outreach teaching, demonstration and performances throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. She also had the pleasure to perform on two international tours to Chilè in South America as a member of DBDT: Encore!. Sierra is an Academy Teacher with the Dallas Black Dance Academy celebrating 6 years where she teaches Classical Ballet technique and all level Pointe classes and she is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Accessibility: Auto Captioning will be provided through REV, displaying captions in real-time with limited lag. Transcriptions available.  Please contact us at community@jacobspillow.org or at 413.243.9919 x 166 for additional accessibility questions and we will do our best to accommodate you. We welcome your feedback.

Please scroll down for event dates and times, or visit our Calendar for all upcoming events.