Queerness is embedded in the history of Jacob’s Pillow. Founded by Ted Shawn in the 1930s, the site has served as a sort of utopia since its earliest days, allowing for a degree of expression and exploration of social dissidence that was rare at the time. Now, as the Pillow has grown into a celebrated presenter of dance for generations of artists with the annual Festival, Jacob’s Pillow continues to create space for queer voices and artists. As we approach the opening of Festival 2025 and our annual Pillow Pride Party on July 13, let’s explore Pride at the Pillow, both past and present.
Dance writer and Pillow Scholar Brian Schaefer discusses the queer background of the Pillow in a recent episode of the PillowVoices podcast called “The ‘Secret’ Gay History of Jacob’s Pillow.” Schaefer explains that, although there has been much discourse on Shawn’s sexuality and his later investment in the gay rights movement, many are unaware that the site is a “significant unsung part of gay history, too.”
Schaefer notes: “I don’t think the average patron is aware that when they visit this vibrant dance campus, they’re also visiting a site that began, for all intents and purposes, as a kind of early gay utopia.”
When Shawn founded the Pillow—which at the time served as a home for his company Ted Shawn and the Men Dancers—he intentionally created it in the image of an “open, non-judgmental community” that fostered the safe expression or exploration of same-sex desires, which was not typically possible elsewhere at the time. When the male dancers, among them gay men, were treated with skepticism and occasionally hostility on tour, the Pillow became a safe haven. Shawn described it as “protective solitude.”
“In other words, from the beginning, Jacob’s Pillow wasn’t just a dance school,” said Schaefer, “It was the physical manifestation of Ted Shawn’s social philosophy.”
Today, the festival is a “celebrated pilgrimage for generations of illustrious dance artists,” says Schaefer. The Pillow’s programming continues to be a space of elevating queer voices, from week-long engagements by boundary-pushing artists in the Ted Shawn Theatre to special events in celebration of Pride.
Opening Festival 2024 is Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (performing June 26-30 in the Ted Shawn Theatre). The world’s foremost gender-skewing comic ballet company is made up entirely of men dancing en pointe and en travesti, parodying the conventions of romantic and classical ballet. “The Trocks,” as they are affectionately known, celebrate their 50th anniversary season this year, reflecting on their foundations in 1974 New York City, intertwined with early gay and lesbian political activism.
In week 3 of the Festival, The MasterZ at Work Dance Family will take the Henry J. Leir Stage. MasterZ brings together jazz, hip-hop, street jazz, house, African, vogue, and contemporary dance with their group of diverse and talented individuals. Founded by Black trans femme choreographer and Ballroom legend Courtney ToPanga Washington, the group conveys resiliency and fosters community and family in their work.
Explore the full Festival 2024 lineup at jacobspillow.org/festival.
When Ted Shawn selected his original Men Dancers from the athletes he taught at Springfield College in 1933, his stated purpose was to forge a new performance style for men, and to prove that dancing could be an honorable profession for the American male.
This extremely rare film fragment seen on Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive represents the earliest moving image of the Men Dancers, recorded within months of the group’s debut (this work was the opening dance of the debut program). During the seven years of the company’s existence, they would ultimately appear hundreds of times in cities around the U.S. and Canada, as well as conducting foreign tours to London and Havana.
Although much of the company’s repertory (such as this Bach music visualization and the iconic Kinetic Molpai) was danced to live piano accompaniment, Shawn created Finale from The New World especially for performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Paul Scolieri has written the first comprehensive biography of the Pillow’s legendary founder. In this PillowTalk held in-person at the Pillow on March 7, 2020, Scolieri discusses his groundbreaking research. The event was sponsored by Berkshire Magazine. Watch the full recording of the 45-minute event on YouTube.
Founded in 1974 for the purpose of presenting a playful view of classical ballet in parody form and en travesti, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo first appeared after hours in Off-Off Broadway lofts. Since those beginnings, “the Trocks” have established themselves as a major dance phenomenon throughout the world, appearing in over 500 cities worldwide.
The fact that men dance all the parts—heavy bodies delicately balancing on toes as swans, sylphs, water sprites, and romantic princesses—is intended to lovingly enhance rather than mock the spirit of dance as an art form. The dancers’ stage names are themselves comic gems, including Nina Enimenimynimova, Ida Nevasayneva, and Maya Thickenthighya.
Dive deeper
Hosted by Brian Schaefer on PillowVoices, our podcast platform, "The ‘Secret’ Gay History of Jacob’s Pillow" explores how gay history is intertwined with the Pillow’s very beginnings
