Jacob’s Pillow
Curriculum in Motion™ Institute
Join the Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion™ Institute
The Curriculum in Motion™ Institute is a career development opportunity for emerging, mid-career, and seasoned choreographers to keep your artistry alive and growing. Each year, we welcome a new cohort of Artist Educators–like you!–from diverse dance backgrounds, who want to strengthen their choreographic voice with a community building focus. Together, we train in the renowned Curriculum in Motion™ method, a transformational dance integration method where choreographers and community partners investigate how dance can be used to honor a community’s questions and needs.
The Institute is a 10-month, intimately curated experience that includes: two weekend modules in the natural, cultural, and historical Jacob’s Pillow environment, a series of monthly online learning labs, peer discussions, mentoring sessions with Program Directors, a comprehensive workbook, and an opportunity to present about your Curriculum in Motion™ learning path to the public during the summer festival. So that we can provide individualized support and attention to all participants, the cohort is limited to a maximum of 14 participants.
The Institute supports you and your fellow Artist Educators in identifying community partners to collaborate with, crafting workshops and residencies that are rooted in each community’s history, issues, and questions. Our alumni have worked with community partners spanning K-12 classrooms, health and social service organizations, cultural hubs, galleries, historical sites, and more.
We believe that Artist Educators play a central role in community building. The Curriculum in Motion™ Institute is committed to honoring the community’s themes equally with the choreographer’s voice. Learning in, with, and by community is essential for taking down systems of oppression.
During the 10-month Institute, you will:
- Develop and Renew Your Artistic Practice: Training for a Certificate in the Curriculum in Motion™ Method allows time to explore your identity as an artist in relationship to community building, developing a practice of self-reflection and self-renewal.
- Grow Your Network: Build a diverse and invested network of artists, and engage in peer-to-peer creative investigation through dancing, journaling, and dialogue.
- Build Community: Complete the program with enhanced choreographic and pedagogical skills, confident in your ability to create transformational experiences and cultivate relationships in your community through dance making.
The Curriculum in Motion™ Institute is facilitated by Director and Co-Founder Celeste Miller with Co-Directors Kimberli Boyd and Michael Richter.
The renowned Curriculum in Motion™ method is a transformational dance integration method that pairs choreographers with community partners to investigate how dance can be used to honor a community’s questions and needs.
Founded in 1993 by Celeste Miller and “J.R.” Glover, Curriculum in Motion™ is an artist-driven methodology that applies creative practices toward building a more just and humane world.
At the root of the work is the question: How can artists and their community partners consider how dance can rethink, rework, reconsider, and renew?
For an example case of how this method can be applied, see how Jacob’s Pillow itself has developed a Curriculum in Motion™-based program in recent years with K-12 public schools in Berkshire County. Learn more about the Jacob’s Pillow Curriculum in Motion™ initiative by clicking here.
This 10-month intimately curated experience includes:
- Two in-person weekend modules at Jacob’s Pillow. On-campus experiences take place at Jacob’s Pillow––a historic retreat site in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts, also home to America’s longest-running summer dance festival––as we enter the world of Curriculum in Motion™ with interactive dancing, journaling, learning labs, and more.
- Opening weekend module is October 3-7, 2024 over the Rosh Hashanah weekend. We invite you to start the New Year with dance making and nature as we incorporate Rosh Hashanah traditions into our time together. Whether you are Jewish or not, this provides an opportunity to apply Curriculum in Motion™ methods with community for mutual fulfillment.
- Closing weekend module is July 22-27, 2025 during the 2025 Festival. In addition to the learning sessions, participants attend festival performances, workshops with festival artists, scholarly talks, and more.
- Monthly learning labs (Zoom): Institute Directors Celeste Miller, Kimberli Boyd, and Michael Richter lead monthly learning labs with guided discussion and active artistic engagement. Participants use these seminars to envision and develop a plan for applying the Curriculum in Motion™ methodology to their life and work. Participants may attend live or access recordings of sessions.
- 2024-25 dates: Nov. 10, Dec. 15, Jan. 12, Feb. 9, March 9, April 13, June 8, July 13. Time TBD.
- Monthly “Coffee Klatches” with peers (Zoom): Meet up with your cohort to explore ideas through dance making, discussing, and sharing.
- Individual mentoring with Institute Directors (Zoom): These one-on-one sessions provide individualized mentoring adapted to your needs and questions about Curriculum in Motion™. (Individually scheduled)
- Peer-to-peer co-mentoring pods (Zoom): These gatherings offer support and creative exchange with one another. (Individually scheduled)
- A 100+ page workbook to accompany the Institute
- The opportunity to present your Curriculum in Motion™ learning path in an open forum during the summer Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, as the Institute program draws to an end.
With the successful completion of the program and receiving a Certificate of Completion, graduates are eligible for the following level advancements:
- Curriculum in Motion™ Fellow: Graduates may apply to be an artist/educator for a Pillow produced Curriculum in Motion™ residency. During that residency, you are mentored by Celeste Miller, Kimberli Boyd, and Michael Richter.
- Curriculum in Motion™ Certified Facilitator: A Fellow is upgraded to a Certified Facilitator upon the successful completion of the fellowship.
- Curriculum in Motion™ Trainer: This is the most advanced level of Curriculum in Motion™. Currently, the trainers are Celeste Miller, Kimberli Boyd, and Michael Richter.
Dancing, improvising, choreographing, journaling, art-making, reading, observing, discussing, collaboration, peer-to-peer co-mentoring, and self-reflection comprise the curated Institute experience. Small class size affords the opportunity for an intimate and individualized experience that values the unique voices and perspectives of each participant.
Cohort participants actively design, lead and receive feedback on co-creative dance-making activities using the Curriculum in Motion™ method, with prompts supplied by the Institute Directors.
2024-25 Application Deadlines
April 1, 2024 at 11:59pm EST | Priority Deadline | If accepted, receive 10% discount on program tuition
May 1, 2024 at 11:59pm EST | Regular Deadline
After May 1, 2024 at 11:59pm EST | Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis when spaces are available
To apply, please submit a complete application, which includes:
- Application form and essay
- Resume (Can include education, dance study, awards, and other achievements. 3 pages maximum.)
- Choreographic Sample URL or Video File (Please provide a sample of your choreography. No longer than 3 minutes.)
- Choreographic Sample Description (What is important for us to know about this sample of your work? 150 words maximum.)
The subsidized tuition for the 2024-25 Curriculum in Motion™ Institute is $2,450.
Click below to learn more about application materials and deadlines, program fee, financial assistance, and our refund policy.