Free and paid content to be released November through May; pre-sale for full-length dance performance films now available

October 18, 2022 (BECKET, Mass.)— Jacob’s Pillow today announced “Jacob’s Pillow On Demand,” an array of new digital offerings that will premiere this fall through spring 2023, marking the next stage in the company’s development as a year-round crossroads for dance presentation, creation, education, and preservation, both in-person and online.

Dance lovers will be able to experience both paid and free Jacob’s Pillow On Demand content—including world-premiere streaming performances from groundbreaking artists filmed live at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. In addition, audiences can explore original digital content with behind- the-scenes videos, a docuseries about the creative process, rare dance clips from the 1930s to today, podcasts, essays, artist talks, and more. Monthly content will be shared with Jacob’s Pillow’s email subscribers in monthly digital editions and will be available through the website jacobspillow.org and on the new watch.jacobspillow.org video hub. 

Digital programming will include seven full-length films of recent performances from the summer Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket: five from Festival 2022 as well as two encore presentations from Festival 2021. In addition, dance fans around the world can sign up to receive an email bundle of new programming to watch, read, and listen to on a monthly basis, including the return of the Inside the Pillow Lab short film docuseries capturing behind-the-scenes moments from residency work in process; multimedia essays on Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive; new PillowVoices podcasts that bring listeners closer to notable dance artists; and highlights from recent summer PillowTalks that explore relevant topics in the dance world today, featuring dance field experts and artists. Digital offerings include a mix of free and paid content, available now through spring. To sign up for the monthly email newsletter, visit jacobspillow.org/signup.

“In keeping with our evolution into a year-round organization, we are now offering monthly digital content so audiences around the world can experience the breadth and depth of Jacob’s Pillow’s current programming and access extraordinary moments of our past,” said Pamela Tatge, Executive and Artistic Director of Jacob’s Pillow. “There are many people who may never be able to visit our in person festival in Becket, Massachusetts who will have the opportunity to experience the magic of the Pillow online.”  

All films are produced by Nel Shelby Productions.

Digital Festival Streams

Pre-Sale is now open for seven full-length performances, which will be released monthly on watch.jacobspillow.org from November through May. Streams will include:

• Dorrance Dance, a “playful” and “inviting” (The New York Times) encore performance from Festival 2021 (Nov. 7-Dec. 18)
• SW!NG OUT (Dec. 5-Jan. 15), which New Jersey Stage Magazine called “an impressive, pulsating, simply dazzling dance show.”
• Limón Dance Company (Jan. 9-Feb. 19), “an easy, joyful pleasure to watch” (Boston Globe).
• Black Grace (Feb. 6-March 19), showcasing “The transformational power of love and care” (Berkshire Edge).
• Dichotomous Being: An Evening of Taylor Stanley (March 6-Apr. 16), called “beautiful… a testament to the kind of subtlety Stanley excels in” (Boston Globe).
• Dance Heginbotham (Apr. 3-May 14), which the Boston Globe called “moving” and “simply beautiful.”
• Dallas Black Dance Theatre, an encore performance from Festival 2021 which “shows off the company’s range… [and] received a standing ovation” (KERA) (May 8-June 18).

Access to watch each full-length performance in this digital series is $15. Featured artists receive a fee for the right to broadcast their work as well as $5 from each streaming ticket sold. An all-access streaming pass for all seven films is available for $100 for a limited time. Gifting options are available as well. Access can be purchased directly at watch.jacobspillow.org, or through the Pillow’s main website at jacobspillow.org.

In a continued celebration of Jacob’s Pillow’s 90th Anniversary Season, highlights from the Festival 2022 season-opening performance America(na) to Me are also now available to stream for free on watch.jacobspillow.org. This content is available to stream for six weeks, through Nov. 27.

Inside the Pillow Lab films

Inside the Pillow Lab is an intimate docuseries that captures works in process and behind-the-scenes moments of what it’s like for artists to live, work, and rehearse together in residencies on the Pillow’s retreat-like campus. These mini-documentaries are under 10 minutes long and are available to view for free on watch.jacobspillow.org. Watch Inside the Pillow Lab films from previous seasons, as well as the new upcoming season of films as they are released this fall, winter, and spring. They are produced by Nel Shelby Productions. Several of the most recent films in this series were released on WNET’s media channels in spring 2022, in partnership with the PBS media group All Arts.

Pillow Lab residency artists and their collaborators receive unrestricted use of the Pillow’s state-of-the-art facilities, including the 7,000 square-foot Perles Family Studio. Artists also receive free housing, a stipend, professionally filmed video documentation, access to the Pillow’s extensive Archives, and the presence of an “outside eye,” an editor or dramaturg to provide important feedback. Artists benefit from the retreat-like atmosphere and generative landscape that the Pillow’s remote location provides.

The 2022-2023 Pillow Lab residency artists to be featured in upcoming Inside the Pillow Lab films are: Irene Rodríguez, Deborah Goffe, Michael Sakamoto, Sonya Tayeh and Jennifer Freeman, Mythili Prakash, Faye Driscoll, Camille A. Brown, Aakash Odedra, André M. Zachery, Larissa Velez-Jackson (Yackez), and Miguel Gutierrez. Learn more about the 2022-2023 artists here: https://www.jacobspillow.org/programs/opportunities-for-artists/pillow-lab/pillow-lab-2022-2023/

PillowVoices Podcasts

New episodes of the podcast PillowVoices: Dance Through Time are released every month on pillowvoices.org and include discussions with a diverse array of artists and dance field experts. 

The podcast’s mission is to bring listeners closer to notable dance artists connected with Jacob’s Pillow, from 1933 to today. Each piece exemplifies Jacob’s Pillow’s mission to ‘support dance creation, presentation, education, and preservation; and to engage and deepen public appreciation and support for dance’ by utilizing archival recordings brought to life in the personal stories and narration of current thought-leaders and scholars.

Recent episodes include a conversation about the legacy of Katherine Dunham, moderated by Reginald Yates and featuring the voices of Donald McKayle, Cleo Parker Robinson, and Julie Belafonte, in addition to insights and reflections from Katherine Dunham herself; dance scholar Cynthia Williams guiding a deep dive into two different political works made by choreographer Jane Comfort in the 1990s, revealing the striking connections to American social injustices escalating today; and an exploration into the work of influential dance artist Liz Lerman, including the voices of Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, James Frazier, and Pamela Tatge, as well as numerous passages in Lerman’s own words, hosted by Ellen Chenoweth.

PillowVoices is directed and produced by Jennifer Edwards. Ellis Rovin is composer and engineer. Music for the opening is by J.S. Bach and the closing theme is by Jess Meeker, both performed by Meeker. Content curator is Norton Owen, and associate curator is Patsy Gay.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive (JPDI) features an ever-growing collection of dance videos filmed at Jacob’s Pillow from the 1930s to today, plus multi-media essays, available at danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org. Email subscribers can sign up to receive a free monthly email with new and featured Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive videos, curated by Director of Preservation Norton Owen. These playlists of videos and essay collections are also available on the JPDI homepage. 

ABOUT JACOB’S PILLOW:

Jacob’s Pillow is a National Historic Landmark, recipient of the National Medal of Arts, and home to America’s longest-running international dance festival, recently celebrated its 90th Anniversary Season. Jacob’s Pillow acknowledges that it rests on the unceded lands of the Muh-he-con-ne-ok and recognizes the Agawam, Nipmuc, and Pocumtuc who also made their homes in Western Massachusetts. We honor their elders past, present, and future. Each Festival includes national and international dance companies and free and ticketed performances, talks, tours, classes, exhibits, events, and community programs. The School at Jacob’s Pillow, one of the field’s most prestigious professional dance training centers, encompasses the diverse disciplines of Contemporary Ballet, Contemporary, Tap, Photography, Choreography, and an annual rotating program. The Pillow also provides professional advancement opportunities across disciplines of arts administration, design, video, and production through seasonal internships and a year-round Administrative Fellows program. With growing community engagement programs, the Pillow serves as a partner and active citizen in its local community. The Pillow’s extensive Archives, open year-round to the public and online at danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org, chronicle more than a century of dance in photographs, programs, books, costumes, audiotapes, and videos. Notable artists who have created or premiered dances at the Pillow include choreographers Antony Tudor, Agnes de Mille, Alvin Ailey, Donald McKayle, Kevin McKenzie, Twyla Tharp, Ralph Lemon, Susan Marshall, Trisha Brown, Ronald K. Brown, Wally Cardona, Andrea Miller, and Trey McIntyre; performed by artists such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Carmen de Lavallade, Mark Morris, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Edward Villella, Rasta Thomas, and hundreds of others. On March 2, 2011, President Barack Obama honored Jacob’s Pillow with a National Medal of Arts, the highest arts award given by the United States Government, making the Pillow the first dance presenting organization to receive this prestigious award. The Pillow’s Executive and Artistic Director since 2016 is Pamela Tatge. For more information, visit jacobspillow.org.