Enhance your Festival 2025 experience with engaging conversations, captivating exhibits, and immersive tours across the historic campus of Jacob’s Pillow.
Gain insight into your performance at Pre-Show Talks, participate in free conversations with artists just after they step off stage at our Post-Show Talks, gain behind-the-scenes insight at weekly PillowTalks, learn about the history and legends of Jacob’s Pillow with a free guided tour of the grounds or garden, discover fascinating exhibits that spark curiosity, and partake in self-guided explorations.
PillowTalks
PillowTalks are a free curated series of entertaining and informative discussions with choreographers, writers, filmmakers, and cultural experts. Moderated by Pillow Scholars, PillowTalks provide an excellent opportunity to gain behind-the-scenes insight.
Pre-Show and Post-Show Talks
Pre-Show Talks
For all nine weeks of the Festival, gain insight into the performance you are about to see with a free 15-minute Pre-Show Talk led by Pillow Scholars-in-Residence. Pre-Show Talks will precede all performances in the Ted Shawn Theatre, all performances in the Doris Duke Theatre, and select additional performances this summer. Ted Shawn Theatre Pre-Show Talks will be held 30 minutes before showtime in Blake’s Barn (at 1:30pm and 7pm). Doris Duke Theatre Pre-Show Talks will be held 30 minutes before showtime in the Duke’s Jameson Family Lobby (at 2pm and 7:30pm).
Post-Show Talks
Participate in free discussions with Festival artists just after they step off stage, moderated by a Pillow Scholar-in-Residence or Curator. Post-Show Talks with the artists will follow every Thursday evening performance in the Doris Duke Theatre, every Friday matinee performance in the Ted Shawn Theatre, and every performance on the Henry J. Leir Stage.
Exhibits
Explore Festival 2025 special exhibitions across campus including Dancing the Algorithm, an interactive movement technology exhibit in the new Doris Duke Theatre, Connecting Through Time: 50 Seasons with Norton Owen, a celebration of Director of Preservation Norton Owen in Blake’s Barn, and Ailey Connections, highlighting the remarkable history and connections between Jacob’s Pillow and Alvin Ailey.
Tours
Public Tours of Jacob's Garden
Sunday, July 20 | Saturday, August 23
Jacob's Garden is a 1.5-acre space to grow fruits and vegetables and connect to the land's multiple histories, drawing direct inspiration from Ted Shawn’s original 1931 “friendship garden." On July 20 and August 23, visitors can tour the garden beds, apiary, rainwater harvesting system, and pollinator meadow.
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Eastern Woodlands Homesite Tour
Saturday, August 2
Built by Nipmuc citizens Andre Strongbearheart Gaines Jr. and Nazario TallHairRedDeer Garate, this homesite tour brings Eastern Woodlands peoples and the public together to highlight urgent issues of access, health, and the sustainability of cedar swamps in the Eastern Woodlands.
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Guided Tour
Fridays at 4:30pm
Learn about the history and legends of Jacob’s Pillow on a free 30-minute guided tour of the National Historic Landmark grounds. Guided walking tours, led by Jacob’s Pillow staff and interns, start from the Welcome Center, which is located next to the Ted Shawn Theatre.
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Self-Guided Tour
Take a self-guided tour through the storied past and dynamic present of Jacob’s Pillow. Explore the grounds at your own pace and discover how this National Historic Landmark became a cornerstone of American dance and a living part of the nation's cultural history.
Learn MorePresentations by the Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion™ Institute
Join us for a public gathering where 2024–25 Curriculum in Motion™ Institute participants share how dance fosters community building, creative dialogue, and meaningful partnerships across schools, museums, healthcare, and civic organizations in Berkshire County and beyond.
Jacob’s Pillow Archives & the Norton Owen Reading Room
Open Tuesday through Sunday in Blake’s Barn, 12pm through the final curtain
This spacious, informal library and reading room allows visitors to view videos, browse through books, access the Pillow’s computer catalog, or peruse permanent collections of Pillow programs and photographs from the Archives. The Reading Room and recently-added Special Collections Room also feature recent donations and more archival treasures from the Stephan Driscoll Collection.