Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award

2025 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award: Honoring the 50-year Journey of Norton Owen

Norton Owen, the organization’s Director of Preservation and a longstanding leader in dance history and education, will receive the 2025 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, in celebration of his 50th year on staff. Owen will accept this award at Jacob’s Pillow’s Season Opening Gala in the Berkshires on Saturday, June 21.

“Norton is a national treasure, and truly one of the most well-regarded people in our field.”

As a beloved archivist and mentor, and a founder of the award-winning website Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive, Owen has curated decades of resources, events, and creative collections for public access, providing entry points into the vast Archives at Jacob’s Pillow. He is a celebrated leader in the dance field internationally, inspiring generations of archivists and dance enthusiasts.

“Norton is a national treasure, and truly one of the most well-regarded people in our field,” said Pamela Tatge, Executive and Artistic Director at Jacob’s Pillow. “On top of that, he is a living encyclopedia of dance. Very few people hold such extensive history with such care, but he is loved for his ability to tailor the information he shares in a way that resonates with each individual he speaks with. He is a gifted community-maker, and I have witnessed people from many generations rush to have a conversation with him when they come to Jacob’s Pillow. It is truly an honor to recognize the key role he has played in enriching our ability to present, create, preserve, and educate on the many incredible histories of dance.”

Owen expressed his gratitude for receiving this year’s Dance Award with a nod to his past. “I never imagined that I would even be considered for the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, so this comes as a remarkable surprise,” he said. “I couldn’t be more thrilled. When we first opened the Archives to the public in 1996, we had no idea how it might be received. So to see how this resource has been embraced by our visitors and artists has been truly gratifying.”

This year, Owen celebrates five decades of achievement at Jacob’s Pillow. He has been associated with the organization since 1976, when he first attended The School at Jacob’s Pillow on a scholarship at 22 years old. He assumed the role of Director of Preservation in 1990, and leads the organization’s preservation activities in Blake’s Barn, an 18th-century building on the Jacob’s Pillow campus that invites visitors to explore the history of Jacob’s Pillow and the artists who have contributed to its legacy. The Archives include a large exhibition gallery, an outdoor area for lectures and talks called Sommerspace, and The Norton Owen Reading Room, where visitors can watch videos, learn from exhibits in the permanent collection, browse the library, and access decades of materials.

In addition to physical resources, Owen is also a founder of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive, an ever-growing website featuring curated video highlights of Jacob’s Pillow performances from the early 1930s through today, with multimedia essays featuring talks, photos, and other exclusive content organized into themes. He has curated over 100 exhibitions in Blake’s Barn during his tenure, and he manages the creation of monthly video playlists, multimedia essays, the PillowVoices podcast, and recordings of PillowTalks and other special events on Jacob’s Pillow’s YouTube channel.

In his career beyond Jacob’s Pillow, Owen served as the director of the Limón Institute—a component of the José Limón Dance Foundation—from 1988 to 2002. He is the head chair of Dance Heritage Coalition, and resident curator of the National Museum of Dance. He currently serves as President of the O’Donnell-Green Music and Dance Foundation. He was a 2023 Dance Magazine Award Honoree, and has received the Ernie Award, the Dance Films Association Award, the José Limón Dance Foundation Award, the Martha Hill Dance Fund Award, and the Theatre Library Association Award.

As he reflects on his years absorbed in dance history, and on building innovative tools to welcome a world of onsite and online dance fans into the Archives at Jacob’s Pillow, Owen said he has high hopes for the future of dance preservation. “With each passing year, the Pillow’s legacy becomes richer and more robust, and I trust that will always be true,” he said. “As long as we can continue documenting our activities, preserving these resources, and sharing them widely, the future of the Archives will be assured.”

To learn more about Norton Owen and the 2025 Dance Award, read the full press release here.

The Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award is an important way the Pillow supports the creativity of visionary artists.

The Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award was created in 2007 by an anonymous donor whose commitment to an ongoing annual gift to Jacob’s Pillow is generous and far-reaching in support of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award as well as research and development funds for the creation of new work.

The Award, presented each year to an artist of exceptional vision and achievement, carries a cash prize of $25,000 which the artist can use in any way they wish. In commemoration, the honoree also receives a custom-designed glass award sculpture by Berkshire-based artist Tom Patti, whose work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other major arts institutions around the world.

The remaining funds support the Pillow’s commitment to the research and development of new work in the recently launched Pillow Lab. Year-round residencies at the Pillow Lab offer free housing, unlimited use of studio space, and access to the Pillow’s rare and extensive Archives and resources.

For general artist inquiries, please complete this form. Questions? Email artistinquiry@jacobspillow.org

2024: Pam Tanowitz

2023: Misty Copeland

2022: Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

2021: Dormeshia

2020: Ronald K. Brown

2019: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa

2018: Faye Driscoll

2017: Liz Lerman

2016: Camille A. Brown

2015: Liz Gerring, Liz Gerring Dance Company

2014: John Heginbotham, Dance Heginbotham