February 18, 2026 (BECKET, Mass.)—Jacob’s Pillow announces today the full slate of dance companies performing on its three iconic stages this summer, as the nation’s largest and longest-running international dance festival returns for a 94th season. Member Pre-Sale will begin Monday, March 9, and public ticket sales will open Thursday, April 9. All tickets may be purchased at jacobspillow.org.
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2026 will begin with the Season Opening Gala on Saturday, June 20, and present ticketed performances from Wednesday, June 24 through Sunday, August 30. The Festival will feature indoor performances in the landmark Ted Shawn Theatre and the newly-opened Doris Duke Theatre, as well as outdoor performances on the Henry J. Leir Stage.
In addition to showcasing acclaimed dance companies from the United States and around the world, the summer Festival will feature a wide range of programs—including livestreams, talks, classes, exhibits, parties, community events, family-friendly activities, workshops with artists, and more—to be announced later this spring.
Companies performing week-long engagements in the Ted Shawn Theatre are, in chronological order: Paul Taylor Dance Company, Urban Bush Women, Akram Khan Company, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Circa Contemporary Circus, Gauthier Dance, San Francisco Ballet, Martha Graham Dance Company, Ballet Hispánico New York, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
Companies performing week-long engagements in the Doris Duke Theatre are, in chronological order: Shamel Pitts | TRIBE, Ilya Vidrin, Faye Driscoll, Brian Brooks Moving Company, Ephrat Asherie Dance, Brinae Ali, and Huang Yi.
Outdoors, the artists and companies performing on the Henry J. Leir Stage are, in chronological order: Uppercut Dance Theater, Compañía Nélida Tirado Flamenco, Eisenhower Dance Detroit, Anubhava Dance Company, Acosia Red Elk, Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima, artists from BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Michela Marino Lerman, Kalindá, Ogemdi Ude, Benjamin Akio Kimitch, UFlyMothership, KaJe Movement Collective, artists from Art Omi: Dance, San Francisco Ballet, Sorzano Dance Works, HopeBoykinDance, Kia the Key & Company, The Era Footwork Collective, and New York Theatre Ballet.
The Leir Stage will also feature Berkshire-region artists selected to perform on Community Day, and presentations from the Contemporary Ballet, Contemporary, and Musical Theatre Performance Ensembles from The School at Jacob’s Pillow. Descriptions of all Festival 2026 artists and companies may be found below.
This year, Jacob’s Pillow will present American dancer, artist, and choreographer Shamel Pitts with the Jacob’s Pillow Men Dancers Award. Pitts will receive the award as his company TRIBE performs in the Doris Duke Theatre during the first week of the Festival. The Jacob’s Pillow Men Dancers Award is presented every two years to a choreographer of any gender who creates an innovative work danced by men dancers at Jacob’s Pillow. The award is intended to honor the spirit of Jacob’s Pillow founder Ted Shawn and his groundbreaking company, Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers, and is given to choreographers of exceptional vision and achievement in this category. The award of $25,000 may be used by the choreographer in any way they wish. It was created in 2024, with choreographer Roderick George as the first recipient.
The summer Festival is curated by Jacob’s Pillow Executive and Artistic Director Pamela Tatge, Associate Artistic Director Kim Chan, Associate Curator Melanie George, and International Advisor Cathy Levy, supported by Producing Director Holly Jones, and Director of Technical Production Jason Wells.“We are planning Festival 2026 as a season of connection for our audiences as well as for the incredible range of local, national, and international artist companies coming to perform, teach, live, and build community together during these ten weeks,” said Jacob’s Pillow Executive and Artistic Director Pamela Tatge, who is overseeing her 11th summer Festival at the organization. “We are proud to collaborate with Tanglewood in hosting Martha Graham Dance Company, whose performance run in the Ted Shawn Theatre will highlight this historic company’s 100-year anniversary season, and anchor Jacob’s Pillow’s celebration of women who have shaped and are shaping dance in the U.S., as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.”\
Jacob’s Pillow continues to be a home for premiering new works. This year will feature world premieres by Gauthier Dance, Ilya Vidrin, and Brian Brooks Moving Company. Artists and companies making their Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival debuts this season include Shamel Pitts | TRIBE, Uppercut Dance Theater, Ilya Vidrin, Anubhava Dance Company, artists from BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Michela Marino Lerman, Kalindá, Ogemdi Ude, Benjamin Akio Kimitch, UFlyMothership, KaJe Movement Collective, Sorzano Dance Works, HopeBoykinDance, Huang Yi, and The Era Footwork Collective.
The Festival will also feature the return of companies who have not performed at Jacob’s Pillow in many years. These include San Francisco Ballet (first appearance since 1956), Akram Khan Company (first appearance since 2003), Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima (first appearance since 2012), and New York Theatre Ballet (first appearance since 2016).
“We are welcoming San Francisco Ballet back to the Festival for a rare East Coast engagement that will mark 70 years since they made their Pillow debut, and are excited to have them take over the Ted Shawn Theatre and the outdoor stage in the same week,” Tatge said. “We are honored to present what will be the final touring production by Akram Khan Company, an incredible and influential company that will end its accomplished 25-year history in 2027. And in addition to hosting the Pillow debuts of more than a dozen companies this summer, we are gratified that ten companies whose works were originally scheduled to appear at Jacob’s Pillow in August 2025 are returning this summer to perform. We invite you to join us in Becket, or online, to connect with the warmth, energy, creativity, and innovation that this storied home for dance has to offer.”
As Jacob’s Pillow continues to strengthen its role in serving artists year-round—including through its recently announced Spring Season in the Doris Duke Theatre, featuring works by Compañía Irene Rodríguez and Hari Krishnan’s inDANCE—the summer Festival will also feature artists who have recently developed work in the Pillow Lab residency program (a residency program now in its ninth year) and in other studio residencies. These artists include A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Shamel Pitts | TRIBE, Ilya Vidrin, Faye Driscoll, and Brinae Ali.
Member Pre-Sale will begin Monday, March 9, with tiered access available to Jacob’s Pillow Members on a range of dates based on level. Learn more about Membership at jacobspillow.org. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, April 9. Audiences are encouraged to secure their seats early for this historic season.
FESTIVAL 2026 PERFORMANCESArtist dates and descriptions follow; additional programming will be announced this spring. Week-long engagements typically run Wednesday through Sunday, with special Festival events on select Mondays and Tuesdays. Programs and casts are subject to change without notice.
Ted Shawn Theatre matinees will begin at 2pm, followed by Doris Duke Theatre matinees at 2:30pm. Henry J. Leir Stage performances will begin at 5:30pm. Ted Shawn Theatre evening performances will begin at 7:30pm, followed by Doris Duke Theatre evening performances at 8pm.
Calendar At A Glance:
Festival Week 1
June 24-28: Paul Taylor Dance Company (Ted Shawn Theatre)
June 24-28: Shamel Pitts | TRIBE (Doris Duke Theatre)
June 25-26: Uppercut Dance Theater (Henry J. Leir Stage)
June 27: The School at Jacob’s Pillow: Contemporary Ballet Performance Ensemble (Henry J. Leir Stage)
Festival Week 2
July 1-5: Urban Bush Women (Ted Shawn Theatre)
July 3-5: Ilya Vidrin (Doris Duke Theatre)
July 2: Compañía Nélida Tirado Flamenco (Henry J. Leir Stage)
July 3: Eisenhower Dance Detroit (Henry J. Leir Stage)
July 4: Anubhava Dance Company (Henry J. Leir Stage)
Festival Week 3
July 8-12: Akram Khan Company (Ted Shawn Theatre)
July 9: Acosia Red Elk (Henry J. Leir Stage)
July 10: Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima (Henry J. Leir Stage)
July 11: BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (Henry J. Leir Stage)
Festival Week 4
July 15-19: A.I.M by Kyle Abraham (Ted Shawn Theatre)
July 15-19: Faye Driscoll (Doris Duke Theatre)
July 16-17: Michela Marino Lerman (Henry J. Leir Stage)
July 18: The School at Jacob’s Pillow: Contemporary Performance Ensemble (Henry J. Leir Stage)
Festival Week 5
July 22-26: Circa Contemporary Circus (Ted Shawn Theatre)
July 23: Kalindá (Henry J. Leir Stage)
July 24: Ogemdi Ude (Henry J. Leir Stage)
July 25: Benjamin Akio Kimitch (Henry J. Leir Stage)
Festival Week 6
July 29 – August 2: Gauthier Dance (Ted Shawn Theatre)
July 29 – August 2: Brian Brooks Moving Company (Doris Duke Theatre)
July 30: UFlyMothership (Henry J. Leir Stage)
July 31: KaJe Movement Collective (Henry J. Leir Stage)
August 1: Art Omi: Dance (Henry J. Leir Stage)
Festival Week 7
August 5-9: San Francisco Ballet (Ted Shawn Theatre)
August 5-8: San Francisco Ballet (Henry J. Leir Stage)
August 5-9: Ephrat Asherie Dance (Doris Duke Theatre)
Festival Week 8
August 12-16: Martha Graham Dance Company (Ted Shawn Theatre)
August 12-16: Brinae Ali (Doris Duke Theatre)
August 13: Sorzano Dance Works (Henry J. Leir Stage)
August 14: Artists of the Berkshires (Henry J. Leir Stage)
August 15: HopeBoykinDance (Henry J. Leir Stage)
Festival Week 9
August 19-23: Ballet Hispánico New York (Ted Shawn Theatre)
August 19-23: Huang Yi (Doris Duke Theatre)’
August 20: Kia the Key & Company / The Era Footwork Collective (Henry J. Leir Stage)
August 21: New York Theatre Ballet (Henry J. Leir Stage)
August 22: The School at Jacob’s Pillow: Musical Theatre Performance Ensemble (Henry J. Leir Stage)
Festival Week 10
August 26-30: Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (Ted Shawn Theatre)
PERFORMANCES IN THE TED SHAWN THEATRE
Tickets from $65, plus $6.50 per ticket fee. Ted Shawn Theatre matinees will begin at 2pm; evening performances will begin at 7:30pm.
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Festival Week 1 | Wednesday, June 24 – Sunday, June 28 | Ted Shawn Theatre FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2019
Called “one of the most exciting, innovative, and delightful dance companies” by The New York Times, Paul Taylor Dance Company is one of the world’s leading dance organizations, based in New York City and with vast international reach. The company will return to Jacob’s Pillow this summer for the first time in seven years to perform a mixed program in the Ted Shawn Theatre that will include Esplanade (1975), Brandenburgs (1988), and Company B (1991).
Few companies can claim a repertory as deep and influential as Paul Taylor Dance Company. Of the 170 dances that exist within the company’s repertory (147 choreographed by Taylor), many are hailed as some of the greatest dances of the 20th and 21st centuries. The company was founded in 1954 by cultural icon Paul Taylor (1930-2018), who molded it into a preeminent performing ensemble, driven by a belief that dance is able to convey complex truths about the human experience. Under the artistic direction of Michael Novak, the company continues to transform. The company hosts an annual season at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.
Urban Bush Women
Festival Week 2 | Wednesday, July 1 – Sunday, July 5 | Ted Shawn TheatreLIVE MUSIC | FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2019
Returning to Jacob’s Pillow for the first time in seven years, the groundbreaking Black women-led theatrical dance company Urban Bush Women will present their dance-driven musical SCAT!… The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar. Set in a fictional jazz club, SCAT! tells a love story of two people making their way during the Great Migration through song, dance, and storytelling. Featuring an original jazz score by Craig Harris performed live by seven musicians, this powerful tale of one family tells what happens when dreams encounter the realities of American life in the 1940s and ’50s. Founded in 1984 by visionary choreographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, the company reshaped the field by placing Black women’s bodies, voices, and concerns at the center of the stage, expanding who is seen as a dancer and whose stories matter. For four decades, Urban Bush Women has embraced radical storytelling to achieve societal transformation, creating more than 40 pioneering works. Beyond performance, the company is a leader in mentorship and movement-based organizing, and has been recognized as both an American cultural treasure and a vital voice in global dance.
Akram Khan Company
Festival Week 3 | Wednesday, July 8 – Sunday, July 12 | Ted Shawn TheatreFIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2003 | COMPANY’S FINAL TOURING PRODUCTION
In collaboration with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Akram Khan Company will return to Jacob’s Pillow for the first time in over 20 years to perform Thikra: Night of Remembering.
Imagined as an annual gathering, a tribe of women come together for one night only to awaken the spirit of those who came before them. Through ceremony and shared remembrance, they transcend time, uniting the past and present in a profound act of renewal. Featuring an international cast of women performing contemporary and Bharatanatyam dance, an original score, and scenography and costume design by award-winning Saudi visual artist Manal AlDowayan, Thikra is a journey through tradition, deeply rooted in the power of rituals as it explores the echoes of a colonized past. This is the final touring production by the Akram Khan Company. After 25 years, this global tour is the last opportunity to witness this company’s extraordinary artistic legacy.
Founded in 2000, Akram Khan Company is internationally renowned for its bold interplay of classical kathak and contemporary dance, guided by a commitment to risk-taking, collaboration, and storytelling. Khan’s work has been recognized with numerous international awards, including an Olivier Award, and has left an indelible mark on global performance, from theater stages to the 2012 London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.Commissioned by Wadi AlFann, Valley of the Arts, AlUla.
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham
Festival Week 4 | Wednesday, July 15 – Sunday, July 19 | Ted Shawn Theatre
20TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON | U.S. PREMIERE | LIVE MUSIC | FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2022 | PILLOW LAB ARTIST
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham will return to the Ted Shawn Theatre with the U.S. premiere of White Space, a new full-length work performed by 12 dancers that unfolds within an all-white environment, where the live score for two pianists creates a charged atmosphere of collision and dialogue between reality and idealism.
Created by Kyle Abraham, one of the most original voices in contemporary dance, and premiering at Lugano Longlake Festival in June 2026, White Space examines the tensions of individual and communal belonging through Abraham’s signature blend of grounded, soulful lyricism and kinetic intensity. Developed in residence at the Pillow Lab in December 2025, the work unites an extraordinary team of collaborators: composers Jason Moran and Nico Muhly, visual artist Glenn Ligon, costume designers Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung, and lighting designer Dan Scully. White Space is co-commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow with the Lugano Dance Project in Lugano, Switzerland and Montclair State University, Peak Performances, with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef and Arpels.
Based in New York City, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham celebrates its 20th anniversary this year at the forefront of contemporary dance. The company exemplifies “lush movement, infectious music and magnetic dancers” (The New York Times). The company performs works by Abraham as well as new and existing works by choreographers who have influenced Abraham’s artistry.
Circa Contemporary Circus
Festival Week 5 | Wednesday, July 22 – Sunday, July 26 | Ted Shawn TheatreU.S. PREMIERE | FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2020
Hailing from Brisbane, Australia, Circa has “redefined what contemporary circus can be” (ArtsHub) while touring to more than 45 countries across six continents. The group will return to Jacob’s Pillow after six years away with Wolf, a gasp-inducing acrobatic thrill ride.
For director Yaron Lifschitz, the wolf is a symbol of our untameable selves: liberating, anarchic, and savage. Clad in form-hugging costumes and moving to primal rhythms, the cast of ten performers grasp, tear, climb, leap, and balance with fierce abandon. In two contrasting acts, the “wolves” evolve from disruptive forces of chaos into a ferocious pack whose intense choreographies overflow with raw energy and astounding physicality.
Under the visionary leadership of Yaron Lifschitz, Circa is at the forefront of the new wave of contemporary Australian circus, redefining the art form by showcasing how extreme physicality can forge powerful and emotive experiences. The company’s award-winning performances of “spectacular circus with real emotional heft” (Fest Magazine) blend movement, dance, theater, and circus.\
Produced by Circa and Chamäleon Berlin. Co-produced by La Comète. Circa acknowledges the assistance of the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body and the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
Gauthier Dance
Festival Week 6 | Wednesday, July 29 – Sunday, August 2 | Ted Shawn TheatreWORLD PREMIERE | U.S. PREMIERES
Returning to Jacob’s Pillow by popular demand, Gauthier Dance//Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart will bring its extraordinary blend of precision, power, and play to the Ted Shawn Theatre stage. Led by artistic director Eric Gauthier, the company of 16 dynamic dancers has earned international acclaim for its bold repertoire and magnetic performances.
The company’s 2026 program will include The FireWorks Project, a program showcasing nine U.S. premiere works by leading choreographers including Mauro Bigonzetti, Virginie Brunelle, Stijn Celis, Dominique Dumais, Johan Inger, Benjamin Millepied, Barak Marshall, and Sofia Nappi. The line-up is rounded off by a special world premiere by Rena Butler, which will be created on site in Becket in the week prior to the performances. In the second half of the program, audiences will experience pieces by Sharon Eyal, Eric Gauthier, and Greek choreographer Andonis Foniadakis. Together, these works form a joyful, high-octane tour de force that captures the company’s trademark wit, musicality, and fearless physicality.
Founded in 2007 in Germany, Gauthier Dance quickly became a widely loved and respected international touring company known for thrilling performances of contemporary choreography from around the world. The company made their Jacob’s Pillow debut in 2015, and last appeared in the Ted Shawn Theatre in 2023.
San Francisco Ballet
Festival Week 7 | Wednesday, August 5 – Sunday, August 9 | Ted Shawn TheatreLIVE MUSIC | FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 1956 | ALSO ON THE OUTDOOR STAGE
Deemed “strikingly modern [and] technically stunning” (Daily Californian), the nation’s longest-running professional ballet company will return to the site of its heralded East Coast debut this summer after a 70-year absence. Led by Artistic Director and former Artistic Director of London’s English National Ballet Tamara Rojo, San Francisco Ballet will come to Jacob’s Pillow for the first time since 1956 to perform a mixed program featuring works from the classical ballet canon and works by Hans van Manen, George Balanchine, Tamara Rojo, and Ben Stevenson.In an expansive two-stage engagement, San Francisco Ballet will perform different programs on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage and in the Ted Shawn Theatre in the same week. Audiences interested in attending both programs will be able to enjoy the full outdoor performance in time to view the indoor performance.
San Francisco Ballet is a world-leading ballet company and a trailblazing commissioner, collaborator, and presenter in dance. Along with American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet, the company has been described in the “triumvirate of great classical companies defining the American style on the world stage today” (The Observer).
Since its founding in 1933 (the same year Jacob’s Pillow was founded), the company has been an innovator in the art form and an originator of beloved cultural traditions, from staging the first American production of Swan Lake to bringing an annual holiday Nutcracker to U.S. audiences. With a deep commitment to new and contemporary works and the classical repertoire, San Francisco Ballet invests in commissions and acquisitions, presents established and emerging choreographers, uplifts creatives across disciplines, and cultivates the next generation of the world’s top dancers in its San Francisco Ballet School.
Martha Graham Dance Company
Festival Week 8 | Wednesday, August 12 – Sunday, August 16 | Ted Shawn Theatre100TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
The oldest dance company in the nation, Martha Graham Dance Company will anchor Jacob’s Pillow’s efforts this year to honor groundbreaking women who have shaped, and are shaping, dance in the U.S., during the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
The program, offered during the company’s own centennial year, will feature some of Graham’s most defining works, including Night Journey (1947)—part of her Greek cycle with sets by Isamu Noguchi and music by William Schuman—and Immediate Tragedy (1937), a politically charged response to the Spanish Civil War. The company will also present We the People (2024), a dance of 21st century Americana choreographed by Jamar Roberts that thrums with folk music and a spirit of collective change, and which features a score by Grammy Award-winning musician Rhiannon Giddens, arranged by Gabe Witcher. These works highlight Graham’s revolutionary voice as an artist who used dance to speak out for democracy, women’s rights, and freedom of expression.
The Graham centennial will also be marked by a new work, En Masse, jointly commissioned and presented by Jacob’s Pillow and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood (Andris Nelsons, Music Director). Choreographed by former Alvin Ailey dancer Hope Boykin, En Masse is set to a score by composer Christopher Rountree which incorporates a recently recovered 49-second composition believed to have been created for Graham by Leonard Bernstein.
Graham’s connections to Pillow founder Ted Shawn began in 1916 when she studied with Shawn and his wife Ruth St. Denis and launched her performing career with Denishawn. Her legacy continues to shape generations of choreographers and performers.
Ballet Hispánico New York
Festival Week 9 | Wednesday, August 19 – Sunday, August 23 | Ted Shawn TheatreFIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2021
A returning classic since their first Jacob’s Pillow performance in 1984, Ballet Hispánico New York offers a mixed program sure to delight dance fans seeking “vibrant and richly textured” performances (The New York Times).
At the Pillow this summer, the company will perform a mixed repertory program that will include Linea Recta, its stunning signature work by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, commissioned by the Pillow for its 85th Anniversary in 2017.
Since its founding by Tina Ramirez in the wake of the civil rights movement on New York’s Upper West Side, Ballet Hispánico New York has been celebrated for its bold repertory and exceptional training programs for over 50 years, becoming the nation’s leading Latino dance company, and the largest cultural institution of its kind in the United States.
Under the dynamic guidance of Artistic Director and CEO Eduardo Vilaro, the company has deepened its repertory to include renowned choreographers like Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, and Ronald K. Brown, among others. The company has commissioned over 100 original works, performed on prestigious international stages, and inspired generations through performances, education, and community engagement. The company has garnered widespread acclaim, with The New York Times noting: “Many companies pay lip service to nurturing talent, but Ballet Hispánico has devoted significant resources and care to cultivating emerging artists.”
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Festival Week 10 | Wednesday, August 26 – Sunday, August 30 | Ted Shawn TheatreFIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2022
Making an impressive 18th appearance at Jacob’s Pillow this summer, the beloved Hubbard Street Dance Chicago remains one of the most original forces in contemporary dance. Committed to awakening the human spirit through dance that is relevant and accessible to all, the company has become a cultural force in their home city, and the world, that “ought to bottle itself as a cure for the ills of the era” (The New York Times).For its mixed repertory program at the Pillow, Hubbard Street will perform works by Aszure Barton and a suite of works by Gwen Verdon and Bob Fosse.
Founded in 1977 by dancer and choreographer Lou Conte, and now led by former Hubbard Street and Ailey dancer Linda Denise Fisher-Harrell, Hubbard Street has brought top choreographers and works to Chicago and beyond for almost half a century. At home in Chicago, Hubbard Street performs 20 times a year and delivers renowned education programs in dozens of classrooms across 17 Chicago schools.
Over the last four decades, Jacob’s Pillow has been an artistic home for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. The relationship between the company and the Pillow has been particularly close, encompassing more than a dozen engagements since 1983, and including an unusual two-week season in 1990.
PERFORMANCES IN THE DORIS DUKE THEATRE
Standard seating performances: tickets from $55, plus $6.50 per ticket fee. In-the-round performances: tickets from $75, plus $6.50 per ticket fee. Doris Duke Theatre matinees will begin at 2:30pm; evening performances will begin at 8pm.
Shamel Pitts | TRIBE
Festival Week 1 | Wednesday, June 24 – Sunday, June 28
Doris Duke Theatre | In-the-Round Seating PILLOW DEBUT | PILLOW LAB ARTIST
Dancer, artist, and choreographer Shamel Pitts creates provocative dance works that “push against the boundaries of identity” (Dance Magazine). His collective TRIBE will perform Touch of RED, inspired by the rapid-fire footwork of boxing, the African American jazz dance style Lindy Hop, Gaga movement language, and nightlife culture. Set in a stylized ring, this dance duet examines the way Black men are perceived and perceive themselves in contemporary society.
This is a notable homecoming for Pitts and his collective, whose Pillow Lab residency work on Touch of RED in November 2020 was disrupted when the original Doris Duke Theatre was lost to a fire. Since then, TRIBE premiered Touch of RED in a sold-out weekend in October 2022 at MASS MoCA, co-presented by Jacob’s Pillow. This will be the first time this remarkable duet is performed at the Festival in its entirety.
Pitts is a United States Artist Fellow (2026), a Stroke of Genius Fellow (2025), a MacArthur Fellow (2024), and a Guggenheim Fellow (2020). He received a Doris Duke Artist Award as well as a Knight Choreography Prize in 2024, and a Princess Grace Award in Choreography in 2018. Pitts’s “BLACK series” has toured extensively worldwide since 2016.
During the first week of this year’s Festival, Pitts will receive the Jacob’s Pillow Men Dancers Award. This award is presented every two years to a choreographer of any gender who creates an innovative work danced by men dancers at Jacob’s Pillow.
Ilya Vidrin
Festival Week 2 | Friday, July 3 – Sunday, July 5
Doris Duke Theatre | In-the-Round Seating WORLD PREMIERE | PILLOW DEBUT | LIVE MUSIC | PILLOW LAB ARTIST
Ilya Vidrin will make his Pillow debut with Proxies, a rigorously imagined work at the intersection of dance and technology that explores what happens to human relationships when movements are translated into data.
Developed during Pillow Lab residencies in 2018 and 2023, Proxies draws on research into loneliness, data privacy, and the ethics of care. Vidrin invites the audience to consider what technology can and cannot capture about how we relate to ourselves, one another, and the world around us. Dancers wear custom-designed sensors on their hands and feet—technology that tracks and surfaces the subtle and often invisible give-and-take of physical connection. The data flows in real time to musicians, weaving together movement and sound in a continuous loop of responsiveness. In a world where connection is increasingly mediated by screens and sensors, Proxies puts bodies front and center—exploring what technology reveals and what slips through.
Ilya Vidrin is a choreographer, researcher, and educator working at the intersection of dance, interactive media, and ethics. An Assistant Professor at Northeastern University, Vidrin is the director of the Partnering Lab and an affiliate with research centers focused on robotics and artificial intelligence. Named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch,” he has created and presented work internationally at leading dance institutions, universities, museums, and research labs.
Faye Driscoll
Festival Week 4 | Wednesday, July 15 – Sunday, July 19
Doris Duke Theatre | In-the-Round Seating FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2018 | PILLOW LAB ARTIST
Faye Driscoll is a Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award and Doris Duke Award-winning performance maker who has been hailed as a “startlingly original talent” by The New York Times and “a post-millenium postmodern wild woman” by The Village Voice. She returns to the Pillow to present Weathering, first developed in a Pillow Lab residency in 2022.
Weathering is a multi-sensory performance sculpture made of bodies, sounds, scents, liquids, and objects, in which ten people enact a glacially morphing tableau vivant on a mobile raft-like stage surging through the Anthropocene, with the audience embanking the performers. This symphonically active, luminously living work is a breathing, leaking choreography of micro-events within a momentum thrusting from just beyond the perceivable.The piece is “a testament to commitment, perseverance and courage not soon forgotten” (Boston Globe). In our contemporary moment, when the movements and forces that shape lives can seem difficult to grasp, Driscoll and her collaborators ask: “How do we feel the impact of large events in the intimacy of our own bodies?”
Driscoll’s work has been presented at leading cultural institutions and festivals worldwide, including Tanz im August, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, La Biennale di Venezia, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Melbourne Festival, Belfast International Arts Festival, Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, Centro de Arte Experimental in Buenos Aires, Julidans Amsterdam, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Athens Epidaurus Festival, Festival Dias da Dança in Porto, and Festival TransAmeriques (Montreal).
Brian Brooks Moving Company
Festival Week 6 | Wednesday, July 29 – Sunday, August 2
Doris Duke Theatre | Standard Seating WORLD PREMIERE | FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2021
A “master of momentum” (Chicago Tribune), Brian Brooks has choreographed for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Miami City Ballet, BODYTRAFFIC, Wendy Whelan, and his own New York-based company. In their return to Jacob’s Pillow, Brian Brooks Moving Company will present the world premiere of Elsewhere, featuring eight dancers tracked with motion capture and depth cameras. The dancers’ movement produces live video and generative graphics that spill across screens, shaped and guided by custom software. The dance is a meeting place for human bodies and digital systems, generating a shifting choreography that echoes and reframes itself in real time.
The program will also include the ensemble work Closing Distance (2020), set to Caroline Shaw’s Pulitzer Prize-winning score “Partita for Eight Voices,” an innovative a cappella composition created for the vocal group Roomful of Teeth. An interactive digital art platform that lives outside the theater will be accessible through an app to Festival audiences and remote viewers throughout the world.
In a new work by Brooks, principal dancers with Miami City Ballet, Macarena Giménez and Chase Swatosh, will appear as guest artists with the company, performing Can we be Quiet? (2026), recently commissioned in a collaborative project with New World Symphony and featuring an original score by Kevin Puts.
Brian Brooks explores the expansion of the body through interactive technologies. His self-directed research combines dance studies with interactive digital media and computer coding, which informs new work by his New York City-based performance group, the Moving Company. He has choreographed several off-Broadway productions, and his work has been presented at The Joyce Theater, New York City Center, BAM’s Next Wave Festival, and across the country.
Ephrat Asherie Dance
Festival Week 7 | Wednesday, August 5 – Sunday, August 9
Doris Duke Theatre | Standard Seating
LIVE MUSIC | FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2018
New York City-based director, choreographer, performer, and b-girl Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie always finds a dynamic groove at Jacob’s Pillow. From her company’s Festival performances in 2013, to the extraordinary Pillow premiere of ODEON in 2018, to her crowd-pleasing collaboration with Michelle Dorrance last summer, Asherie creates work that is aesthetically innovative, physically rigorous, and unceasingly curious. Her dynamic company Ephrat Asherie Dance is dedicated to honoring the ethos of the underground club community, rooted in Black and Latine vernacular dances including breaking, hip hop, house and waacking.
This summer, the company will perform Shadow Cities, a collaboration with Grammy Award-winning pianist and composer Arturo O’Farrill. Performed by seven dancers and four musicians, this work is a contemplative, raucous, celebratory reflection on the unexpected ways we encounter our most enlivened selves. In Shadow Cities, the company moves seamlessly through the edges of light and dark, exploring themes of belonging, longing and the ways we find joy in the in-between.
A Bessie Award winner and recipient of two National Dance Project Awards, Asherie has been presented on stages nationally and internationally with commissions from Fall for Dance at New York City Center, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, the Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences, Vail Dance Festival, PHILADANCO!, Parsons Dance, Malpaso, and more. Ephrat Asherie Dance is committed to celebrating and bringing awareness to street and club dance culture by creating and sharing innovative performance works, teaching workshops and classes, and creating platforms for dialogue across the field.
Brinae Ali
Festival Week 8 | Wednesday, August 12 – Sunday, August 16
Doris Duke Theatre | Standard SeatingLIVE MUSIC | PILLOW LAB ARTIST
Following her rousing performance on the outdoor stage in 2023, tap dancer, choreographer, and vocalist Brinae Ali returns to Jacob’s Pillow with Baby Laurence Legacy Project, developed during a Pillow Lab residency in 2024. The show explores and celebratesthe artistic genius of “Baby” Laurence Donald Jackson, a Baltimore innovator whose impact on tap dance and jazz music is legendary.
This evening-length production traces Laurence’s life from Baltimore to Harlem and Washington, D.C. to share his largely forgotten story with audiences, featuring songs by Laurence including “Baby at Birdland” and “An Afternoon of Percussion” reimagined with new arrangements and choreography— interspersed with technology that brings Laurence himself into the production. With music played live by the Baltimore Music Collective, Ali reveals how Laurence embodied the bebop aesthetic, reflecting a defiance of the white gaze and a self-referencing Black consciousness akin to the music of Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, and Charlie Parker. This work is the recipient of Jacob’s Pillow’s 2026 Joan B. Hunter New Work Commission.First introduced to the Pillow by Dormeshia, Ali was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, and has worked as an educator, grassroots organizer, and the artistic director of Tapology, Inc., a youth based outreach program. She is now the Creative Director of Destination 4 Ever, a platform for artists and an incubator for innovation, collaboration, and liberation.
This work is supported by Chamber Music America New Jazz Works, National Dance Projects, Robert W. Deutsch Foundation, Johns Hopkins University Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts, and the Peabody Conservatory Jazz Department.
Huang Yi
Festival Week 9 | Wednesday, August 19 – Sunday, August 23
Doris Duke Theatre | Standard SeatingPILLOW DEBUT
Named by Dance Magazine as one of the “25 to Watch” in 2011, Taiwanese dancer, choreographer, and inventor Huang Yi creates partnership between humans and robots. Huang will appear for his first-ever engagement at Jacob’s Pillow to present Ink, in which he and audio-visual pioneer Ryoichi Kurokawa dismantle and reconstruct the lines from a hundred artworks in renowned calligrapher Tong Yang-Tze’s Silent Music series.
Exploring textures of movement, sound, visual art, and space, Huang and his dancers perform alongside stunning holographic projection and two industrial robots. Mixing movement with mechanical and multimedia elements to create dance that corresponds with the flow of data, Ink makes each performer, whether human or machine, a dancing instrument.
Ink was co-commissioned by the National Taichung Theater and National Theater Taipei in Taiwan and had its world premiere in June 2023. This presentation of Huang Yi is made possible in part with support from the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan and the Taipei Cultural Center of New York.
PERFORMANCES ON THE OUTDOOR HENRY J. LEIR STAGE
“Choose What You Pay” with a suggested ticket price of $25, plus $3.50 per ticket fee. Rain or Shine tickets from $45, plus $3.50 per ticket fee; outdoor performances by San Francisco Ballet from $65, plus $3.50 fee per ticket. Henry J. Leir performances will begin at 5:30pm.
Uppercut Dance Theater
Festival Week 1 | Thursday, June 25 – Friday, June 26
Henry J. Leir Stage | General AdmissionU.S. PREMIERE | U.S. DEBUT | PILLOW DEBUT
Founded in 1982, Uppercut Dance Theater is one of Denmark’s longest-running dance companies and a pioneer in bringing contemporary dance into nontraditional spaces. Now led by artistic directors Stephanie Thomasen and Mark Philip, the company brings 40 years of innovation and cross-genre exploration to the stage.
BENCHED is a dynamic, brutally honest bodily tale about life’s big—and very small—questions: about settling down, daring to sit in opposition, being put off or benched, and learning when to take, create, or give space before the bench ends beneath you. In this high-energy work, five dancers navigate Johan Kølkjær’s striking set of oversized mobile benches, which are constantly shifting and transforming. Created by award-winning choreographer Thomasen, the performance combines sharp musicality, athletic physicality, and vivid interaction to examine human relationships with humor, risk, and urgency. Contemporary dance merges seamlessly with street dance, capoeira, acrobatics, and physical theater, showcasing Uppercut’s signature hybrid style.
The School at Jacob’s Pillow: Contemporary Ballet Performance Ensemble
Festival Week 1 | Saturday, June 27 | Henry J. Leir Stage
WORLD PREMIERE
Performances by The School at Jacob’s Pillow Performance Ensembles showcase the work of the next generation of dance artists. This performance is the culmination of a two-week Contemporary Ballet Program, featuring original repertoire by Program Director and choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, as well as choreographer Claudia Schreier and Artist Faculty Rubén Martín and Tiit Helimets.
Dancers of The School at Jacob’s Pillow are apprentices, trainees, pre-professionals, and early-career professionals from around the world. The School’s professional advancement programs are held onsite during the Festival to nurture the artistic voices and growth of the dancers.
Compañía Nélida Tirado Flamenco
Festival Week 2 | Thursday, July 2 | Henry J. Leir StageLIVE MUSIC
Hailed by The New York Times as “magnificent” and “utterly compelling,” flamenco dancer Nélida Tirado is internationally recognized for her intensity, natural grace, and powerful style. Tirado choreographs and teaches in New York City, where she is based. Her work has been presented at the Flamenco Festival NY, Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture, Joe’s Pub, Queens Theatre, Albuquerque Flamenco Festival, Joyce SoHo, and Abrons Arts Center.
Tirado’s artistic vision is shaped by the histories of beauty, love, pain, and loss that pulse through flamenco and Latin dance. Born of migration and cultural exchange—from the Iberian Peninsula to the heart of New York—these forms emerged as acts of survival and “rebellious disobedience” for communities asserting their existence.
Flamenco and Latin dance converge in Tirado’s singular style, affirming both her identity and her expansive range. She began her formal training at age six at Ballet Hispánico and went on to tour nationally before serving as a soloist and dance captain in Spain with Compañía María Pagés and Compañía Antonio El Pipa, performing at major festivals and on national television.
Eisenhower Dance Detroit
Festival Week 2 | Friday, July 3 | Henry J. Leir Stage35TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON | FIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2019
Hailed by CBS Detroit as “the city’s artistic ambassadors,” Eisenhower Dance is considered one of the finest contemporary dance companies in the Midwest. Now in its 35th season, the company tours nationally and internationally, presenting the work of renowned choreographers while collaborating with a wide range of musicians, composers, visual designers, and directors.
Returning to Jacob’s Pillow since their 2019 debut, the company will feature I Am Not Myself by esteemed London choreographer Maxine Doyle, most known for her creative direction on Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More. I Am Not Myself is inspired by the viral song “Hi Ren” by Welsh musician Ren and explores the multiple complex voices within us—our beautiful dancing demons. The company will also present excerpts of Ongaeshi: The Debt of Feathers, a meditative contemporary work choreographed by Yoshito Sakuraba and inspired by the Japanese folktale “The Grateful Crane,” in which dancers inhabit stages of surreal transformation, exploring fragile threads of memory, sacrifice, and loss.
Anubhava Dance Company
Festival Week 2 | Saturday, July 4 | Henry J. Leir StagePILLOW DEBUT
Based in Boston, Anubhava Dance Company is a Bharatanatyam ensemble that champions Indian classical dance as a living, evolving art form: intellectually rigorous, emotionally resonant, and deeply relevant. Rooted in the precision and expressive power of this centuries-old form, the company’s performances range from traditional works to those with contemporary perspectives crafted with novel music and choreography.
Anubhava has toured nationally since their acclaimed debut at the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival, the largest Indian classical music and dance festival outside India. Their recent works have explored themes drawn from science, mental health, literature, and interactive technology. Critics note the company’s exceptional clarity, ensemble cohesion, and performers whose physical and emotional investment is thrilling to witness onstage. They will be performing an excerpt of their latest work Explorations at Jacob’s Pillow.
Acosia Red Elk
Festival Week 3 | Thursday, July 9 | Henry J. Leir StageLIVE MUSIC
An enrolled member of the Umatilla Tribe from the northeastern Oregon territory, Acosia Red Elk is a renowned performing artist and Jingle Dancer who has won ten world championships at the Gathering of Nations, the largest powwow on the continent. In her return to Jacob’s PIllow, she will perform an evening-length work featuring Native violinist Geneviève Gros-Louis.
Acosia Red Elk travels internationally performing and sharing cultural knowledge, movement, and meditation. In addition to tribal dance performance, she is known for public speaking and storytelling, teaching fitness through a tribal lens, and instructing powwow dance to tribal youth across Turtle Island. As a yoga instructor and health advocate, she is passionate about using movement to heal from historical and intergenerational trauma. The practice she has created, called Powwow Yoga, braids together tribal dancing and yoga for a well-rounded workout with an Indigenous approach to wellness. She received a Doris Duke Artist Award in 2024.
Pua Aliʻi ʻIlima
Festival Week 3 | Friday, July 10 | Henry J. Leir StageFIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2012
Pua Ali‘i ‘Ilima returns to the Henry J. Leir Stage for the first time since 2012. The mission of this hālau hula (school of Hawaiian dance) is to preserve and perpetuate Native Hawaiian arts and cultural traditions for future generations. This hālau was founded by Kumu Vicky Holt Takamine, a 2024 Gish Prize recipient and a preeminent native Hawaiian leader noted for her artistry and advocacy on social justice issues, the protection of native Hawaiian rights, and the natural and cultural resources of Hawai’i.
Under the direction of Nā Kumu Hula Vicky Holt Takamine and Kumu Jeffrey Kānekaiwilani Takamine, the hālau hula is based in Honolulu, with extensions in Nuioka (New York City) and Kauaʻi. This performance on the Leir Stage will feature performers from Oahu, New York, and Massachusetts and repertory reflecting both ancient and contemporary hula traditions.
BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance
Festival Week 3 | Saturday, July 11 | Henry J. Leir Stage
In this special outdoor performance as part of Pillow Pride weekend, BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance will present three artists sharing 15 minutes each of dance work, followed by a Q&A session. Audiences can enjoy performances by Abdiel, a former principal dancer of the Martha Graham Dance Company; Imani Gaudin, a movement artist with TRIBE under the direction of Shamel Pitts; and Edrimael Delgado Reyes, an interdisciplinary Puerto Rican artist of the ballroom scene.
Developed over three decades from a volunteer force into a year-round cultural destination firmly rooted in The Bronx, BAAD! has bloomed into a nationally-recognized arts organization that brings a queer perspective to the sociopolitical and cultural dialogue of New York City. Founded by former Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company member Arthur Avilés and longtime community activist Charles Rice-González, BAAD! creates, produces, presents, and supports the development of cutting-edge works in contemporary dance and other disciplines that empower women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ communities.
Michela Marino Lerman
Festival Week 4 | Thursday, July 16 – Friday, July 17 | Henry J. Leir StagePILLOW DEBUT | LIVE MUSIC
Michela Marino Lerman is a tap dancer, choreographer, musician, and educator, celebrated for her dynamic performances and innovative approach to tap. Recognized by Downbeat Magazine as “jazz’s premier tap dancer,” her work explores the intersection of tap and jazz, elevating tap as both dance and music.
This summer, Michela leads an ensemble of tap dancers and musicians, including acclaimed singer Charenee Wade, in Steppin’ with “The Kid”: A Celebration of Betty Carter, honoring iconic vocalist and one of Michela’s greatest inspirations, Betty Carter.
The only woman lifetime honorary member of The Copasetics and recipient of the Hoofer Award, Michela has performed on iconic stages including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and Newport Jazz Festival. Mentored by tap legends Gregory Hines, Buster Brown, and others, she has collaborated with jazz greats including Wynton Marsalis, Esperanza Spalding, and Jon Batiste. As a teacher, Marino Lerman shares her expertise at universities and tap festivals worldwide, continuing to push the boundaries of tap dance in music.
The School at Jacob’s Pillow: Contemporary Performance Ensemble
Festival Week 4 | Saturday, July 18 | Henry J. Leir StageLIVE MUSIC
Performances by The School at Jacob’s Pillow Performance Ensembles showcase the work of the next generation of dance artists. This performance is the culmination of a three-week Contemporary Program, featuring original repertoire by Choreographer/Directors Emilie Leriche, Omar Román de Jesús, Jermaine Spivey, and Spenser Theberge, with Rehearsal Director and Artist Faculty Francisco Martinez.
Dancers of The School at Jacob’s Pillow are apprentices, trainees, pre-professionals, and early-career professionals from around the world. The School’s professional advancement programs are held onsite during the Festival to nurture the artistic voices and growth of the dancers.
Kalindá
Festival Week 5 | Thursday, July 23 | Henry J. Leir StagePILLOW DEBUT | LIVE MUSIC
Kalindá is a professional live music and dance ensemble that performs bomba, Puerto Rico’s oldest musical tradition. Based in Kissimmee, Florida, the ensemble has drawn audiences across central Florida to hundreds of performances marked by bomba dancing, drumming, and singing in full traditional wardrobe. At Jacob’s Pillow, the ensemble will perform Zafra: A Tribute to Afro-Puerto Rican Heritage.
Kalindá, along with its non-profit organization Escuela de Bomba y Plena Tata Cepeda, continue the legacy of the Cepeda family, a world-renowned family in Puerto Rico known for keeping bomba music alive for eight generations. The members of Kalindá are always quick to get the audience engaged with invitations to dance and sing along. The group sees their live shows as a tool to help create “camaraderie, prevention of violence, [and] peaceful creation and recreation.”
Ogemdi Ude
Festival Week 5 | Friday, July 24 | Henry J. Leir StagePILLOW DEBUT | LIVE MUSIC
Ogemdi Ude is a Brooklyn-based dance, theater, and interdisciplinary artist creating performances that focus on Black femme legacies and futures, grief, and memory. In her Pillow debut, she will present MAJOR, a dance theater project that explores the physicality, history, and politics of majorette dance.
Majorette dance originated in the 1960s in the American South, where Black femme teams at Historically Black Colleges and Universities created a sensual yet strong movement style, accompanied by marching bands. In MAJOR, six performers embrace this dance form as a fundamental relic of Black girlhood, and an intimate journey of returning to bodies they thought lost. A fierce investigation of physical memory, sexuality, sensuality, and community, MAJOR features a music score that integrates Southern rap, horns, drumlines, and melodic R&B and soul by Lambkin. It is a nuanced musical love letter to the folks who taught the team how to be proudly Black and proudly femme.
Benjamin Akio Kimitch
Festival Week 5 | Saturday, July 25 | Henry J. Leir StagePILLOW DEBUT
Jacob’s Pillow welcomes Brooklyn-based artist and producer Benjamin Akio Kimitch for his Pillow debut with Tiger Hands. Inspired by his varied training in Chinese dance and intimate encounters with Peking opera, Kimitch crafts a vivid performance that also honors his late mother, a Japanese American folk dancer and taiko drummer.
In Tiger Hands, Peking opera technique becomes a channel for reconnection, transformation, and personal expression. In this cosmic work, Kimitch and his collaborators draw on the experimental energy that birthed this artform, simultaneously preserving and expanding its traditions.
Tiger Hands is performed by Pareena Lim, Julie McMillan Castellano, and Lai Yi Ohlsen; featuring music by Claire M Singer, costumes by Carlos Soto, and dramaturgy by Jeffrey Gan. A 2023 Bessie Award and 2026 Creative Capital award recipient, Kimitch has premiered his works at The Shed, The Noguchi Museum, Danspace Project, and more.
UFlyMothership
Festival Week 6 | Thursday, July 30 | Henry J. Leir StagePILLOW DEBUT | LIVE MUSIC
UFlyMothership is a musical and artistic collaboration of dancer, singer, and songwriter Tendayi Kuumba and barber, visual artist, and music producer Greg Purnell. Together, they have created multimedia experiences using sound, visuals, fashion, and movement since 2017. Each new piece, they say, “is a sonic portal of self discovery.”
A former touring company member of Urban Bush Women, Kuumba recently made her Broadway debut in David Byrne’s America Utopia on Broadway, and appeared in the accompanying documentary film directed by Spike Lee. She will come to the Pillow having just traveled as a dancer with David Byrne’s “Who is the Sky?” world tour.
Purnell is a David Prize-winning creative and collaborator, born and bred in Brooklyn, who has worked with Urban Bush Women, The Illustrious Blacks, and a wide range of art, music, and film groups. He will come to the Pillow in the midst of his Look Good Feel Good Movement initiative, which provides partnership and free hair care to communities in need.
KaJe Movement Collective
Festival Week 6 | Friday, July 31 | Henry J. Leir StagePILLOW DEBUT | LIVE MUSIC
Founded by Kara Jenelle Wade, M.F.A., KaJe Movement Collective is a performance ensemble of radiant artistic Sistas embodying cultural legacy, creativity, and powerful presence. Rooted in rhythms of the African diaspora, social dance, and contemporary expression, the company integrates spoken word, musical composition, and cinematic visuals to evoke, educate, and represent their culture as members of the global majority. Their choreographies honor the impact of Black histories, the vibrancy of Black joy, and the urgency of liberation.
ÌYÁguration is a live performance and ceremonial work adapted from Wade’s original dance film, celebrating the resilience, joy, and sisterhood of Black women across the diaspora. Blending storytelling, rhythm, and ancestral memory, this work is a journey exploring the call of the djembe, sacred hymns, coiled crowns, and movement practices from West Africa to the Americas. Standing on the shoulders of the great mothers that came before us, KaJe Movement Collective ignites stages worldwide—dancing abundantly, unapologetically, and freely in the spirit.
Art Omi: Dance
Festival Week 6 | Saturday, August 1 | Henry J. Leir StagePILLOW DEBUT
Jacob’s Pillow welcomes a special program from Art Omi titled 20 Years of International Exchange. Based in Ghent, New York, this international arts center is celebrating two decades of fearless experimentation, boundary-breaking collaboration, and a global community of dance artists.
To mark this milestone, Art Omi is hitting pause on their annual dance residency and launching a one-time anniversary edition that reunites alumni who first met in residence. Led by Art Omi: Dance program director Christopher K. Morgan and program manager jeremy de’jon guyton, Art Omi has invited four international collaborations to return to its Hudson Valley campus to create bold new short-form works that embody the connection, curiosity, and creative risk that define the residency.
The Art Omi: Dance residency is a gently facilitated process of experimentation and collaboration that welcomes professional dancers and choreographers of all dance genres. The result is a model of creative process and community building whose impact extends beyond the sphere of art making.
San Francisco Ballet
Festival Week 7 | Wednesday, August 5 – Saturday, August 8 | Henry J. Leir StageFIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 1956 | ALSO ON THE INDOOR STAGE
Deemed “strikingly modern [and] technically stunning” (Daily Californian), the nation’s longest-running professional ballet company will return to the site of its heralded East Coast debut this summer after a 70-year absence. Led by Artistic Director and former Artistic Director of London’s English National Ballet Tamara Rojo, San Francisco Ballet will come to Jacob’s Pillow for the first time since 1956 to perform a mixed program featuring works from the classical ballet canon and works by Hans van Manen, George Balanchine, Tamara Rojo, and Ben Stevenson.
In an expansive two-stage engagement, San Francisco Ballet will perform different programs on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage and in the Ted Shawn Theatre in the same week. Audiences interested in attending both programs will be able to enjoy the full outdoor performance in time to view the indoor performance.
San Francisco Ballet is a world-leading ballet company and a trailblazing commissioner, collaborator, and presenter in dance. Along with American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet, the company has been described in the “triumvirate of great classical companies defining the American style on the world stage today” (The Observer).
Since its founding in 1933 (the same year Jacob’s Pillow was founded), the company has been an innovator in the art form and an originator of beloved cultural traditions, from staging the first American production of Swan Lake to bringing an annual holiday Nutcracker to U.S. audiences. With a deep commitment to new and contemporary works and the classical repertoire, San Francisco Ballet invests in commissions and acquisitions, presents established and emerging choreographers, uplifts creatives across disciplines, and cultivates the next generation of the world’s top dancers in its San Francisco Ballet School.
Sorzano Dance Works
Festival Week 8 | Thursday, August 13 | Henry J. Leir StagePILLOW DEBUT
Sorzano Dance Works is the artistic home of dancer, educator, and choreographer Yusha-Marie Sorzano. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Sorzano performed principal roles with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and toured internationally with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, BODYTRAFFIC, Morphoses, and Camille A. Brown & Dancers. She has embodied works by choreographers including Dianne McIntyre, Kyle Abraham, Jermaine Spivey, and Spenser Theberge. Her choreography has led to collaborations across music and movement—most recently with the U.K.’s Phoenix Dance Theatre—and to A Ballet Through Mud, a collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA.
Sorzano is currently an MFA candidate in Interdisciplinary Dance Research at NYU. Her work draws from the rhythms of her Caribbean upbringing and the rigor of her classical training. She creates where those lineages meet—where identity, migration, and memory move through the body as lived experience.
Artists of the Berkshires
Festival Week 8 | Friday, August 14 | Henry J. Leir Stage
The outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage hosts selected Berkshire-region artists for a special one-day-only performance on August 14, as part of Jacob’s Pillow’s annual Community Day. Tickets to this performance and all Community Day programs are free—or purchase a Rain or Shine ticket to ensure access to our indoor performance venue in the event of inclement weather. Additional details about this program will be published closer to the performance date.
HopeBoykinDance
Festival Week 8 | Saturday, August 15 | Henry J. Leir StagePILLOW DEBUT
Two-time Bessie Award-winning choreographer, writer, director, and filmmaker Hope Boykin arrives for her highly anticipated Pillow debut with HopeBoykinDance. Known for her deeply expressive movement language, Boykin has recently created new works for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Black of London, Martha Graham Dance Company, and Paul Taylor Dance Company.An acclaimed former member of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, PHILADANCO!, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Boykin brings a compelling collaboration of contemporary modern movement, spoken word, and storytelling to the stage. She has brought Jacqueline Woodson’s The Other Side to the stage for the Kennedy Center’s Family Theater, BAM-Brooklyn Academy of Music, and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. She choreographed the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS at the Kennedy Center and has presented HopeBoykinDance at The Joyce Theater, 92NY, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.
Kia the Key & Company / The Era Footwork Collective
Festival Week 9 | Thursday, August 20 | Henry J. Leir Stage
In this special split-bill performance, Jacob’s Pillow welcomes the local street and club dance company Kia the Key & Company and the Chicago footwork crew The Era Footwork Collective.
\Kia the Key & Company is led by Shakia “The Key” Barron, a professor of dance at Mount Holyoke College who also serves as co-artistic director for Ladies of Hip-Hop Dance Collective and as faculty at The School at Jacob’s Pillow this summer. Established in 2022, this Western Massachusetts company is grounded in street and club dances, and brings together dancers across race, nationality, and background to explore the complexity and beauty of Black social dance: as cultural expression, political resistance, and collective healing. Barron explores how these forms carry cultural memory and wisdom that is deeply connected to the African Diaspora.
The Era Footwork Collective are pioneers of the battle dance known as Chicago footwork. Since 2014, they have expanded upon what it means to be a dance crew, addressing inequality and racism through their lyrics, panel discussions, and work to make women and girls more visible in the history and documentation of footwork. The Era has toured from Japan to Peru, performing and choreographing alongside leading artists such as Chance the Rapper, DJ Rashad, DJ Spinn, and Theaster Gates. The crew has been featured by VICE, CBC, and the Chicago Tribune, which declared that “The Era has taken footwork back for Chicago.”
New York Theatre Ballet
Festival Week 9 | Friday, August 21 | Henry J. Leir StageFIRST APPEARANCE SINCE 2016
New York Theatre Ballet returns to Jacob’s Pillow for the first time since 2016, celebrating their 47th season. The company will present works by a wide variety of choreographers and composers, performing small classic masterpieces and new contemporary works for adults and young children alike. Their engagement at Jacob’s Pillow will feature a mixed program including Antony Tudor’s Trio Con Brio—a revival of a piece premiered at Jacob’s Pillow in 1952 and later rebuilt from archival film—and two company premieres by Melissa Twogood and Annie-B Parson.Founded in 1978, New York Theatre Ballet has featured cutting-edge programming and an ever-expanding repertory. Carrying the modern sensibilities of both established and up-and-coming choreographers, the company has brought fresh insight to classic revivals, exploring the past while boldly taking risks on the future. The company tours nationally and abroad, and has become one of the most widely seen chamber ballet companies in the United States.
The School at Jacob’s Pillow: Musical Theatre Performance Ensemble
Festival Week 9 | Saturday, August 22 | Henry J. Leir Stage\
Performances by The School at Jacob’s Pillow Performance Ensembles showcase the work of the next generation of dance artists. This performance is the culmination of a three-week Musical Theatre Program, featuring original repertoire by Choreographer/Directors Dominique Kelley, Mayte Natalio, and Luis Salgado.
Dancers of The School at Jacob’s Pillow are apprentices, trainees, pre-professionals, and early-career professionals from around the world. The School’s professional advancement programs are held onsite during the Festival to nurture the artistic voices and growth of the dancers.
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, which will celebrate its 94th season in Summer 2026. Jacob’s Pillow acknowledges that it rests on the ancestral homelands of the Muh-he-con-ne-ok or Mohican people. We pay honor and respect to their ancestors and elders past and present as we commit to building a more inclusive and equitable space for all. In addition, we acknowledge the Nipmuc, the Wampanoag and other tribal nations who also made their homes in what is now known as Massachusetts.
Founded by Ted Shawn in 1933, 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, a prestigious professional dance training center, advances the careers of the upcoming generation of performers and choreographers; during the Festival, 100 international dancers evolve as artists in ballet, choreography, contemporary, musical theatre, tap, and other genres; and year round, artist faculty and accomplished alumni nurture younger dancers in a series of Jacob’s Pillow 360 workshops and intensives offered in partnership with leading dance institutions across the United States. The Pillow also provides professional advancement opportunities across the disciplines of arts administration, through seasonal internships. Through its 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 highlighted online at jacobspillow.org/explore-dance, 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, Min Tanaka, Savion Glover, and countless 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.
MAJOR INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR JACOB’S PILLOW IS GENEROUSLY PROVIDED BY: Arison Arts Foundation, Barr Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Doris Duke Foundation, Ford Foundation, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, Shelby Cullom Davis Charitable Fund, and The Shubert Foundation.