Jacob's Pillow Dance - History

History

The Pillow, as it is often called, was first settled in 1790 by the Carter family as a mountaintop farm at the crest of a stagecoach road between Boston, Massachusetts and Albany, New York. The zigzagging road from the bottom of the hill resembled the rungs of a ladder, so New Englanders named it "Jacob’s Ladder." A large, pillow-shaped boulder behind the Carter’s farmhouse was thought to resemble a pillow. The Carter farm acquired the name "Jacob's Pillow" as a combination of the story of Jacob from the Book of Genesis, which tells of Jacob laying his head upon a rock and dreaming of a ladder to heaven and the farm’s proximity to the "Jacob’s Ladder" road.

In 1931, modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn bought the farm as a retreat. At the time of the purchase, Shawn and his wife, Ruth St. Denis, led the highly regarded Denishawn Company. Their Denishawn Company had popularized a new dance form rooted in theatrical and multi-cultural traditions rather than those of European ballet. Their innovative work and cross-country tours paved the way for the next generation of dance pioneers: Martha Graham, Charles Weidman, Doris Humphrey, and Jack Cole were all Denishawn members. But Shawn and St. Denis had recently separated, personally and professionally, and in the fall of 1931, Shawn conducted the last rehearsals of the Denishawn era at Jacob’s Pillow.

One of Shawn's goals was to legitimize dance as a career for American men. In 1933, he recruited eight men, including Denishawn dancer Barton Mumaw and several physical education students from Springfield College for his new company. Shawn and his dancers were intent on challenging the image of men in dance; they forged a new, muscular style. In their "off-time," they constructed buildings still used today at Jacob’s Pillow.

In July 1933, Shawn and his Men Dancers started giving public "Tea Lecture Demonstrations" to promote their work—and to raise money. Their audience expanded so that by summer’s end, audiences were being turned away at the door. During a period Shawn termed "seven magic years," Shawn and his Men Dancers toured throughout the United States and to Canada, Cuba, and England, performing more than 1,250 times in 750 cities, and continued the summer "Tea Lecture Demonstrations" at the Pillow. Radical changes were necessitated by the Selective Service Act of 1939, although Shawn also justifiably believed that his artistic statement had been made and that it was time to end his successful crusade. In May 1940, The Men Dancers disbanded and joined the armed forces.

Deep in debt, Shawn proposed selling Jacob’s Pillow to Mary Washington Ball, a dance teacher who leased the property and produced the Berkshire Hills Dance Festival on site in 1940. Shawn credited Miss Ball for beginning the diverse programming that was forever after the Pillow’s hallmark, but the summer was a financial failure. Shawn leased the Pillow again in 1941, this time to British ballet stars Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin. Their International Dance Festival was so successful that local supporters formed the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Committee, raised $50,000 to buy the property and to build a theater (performances had been held in the barn studio), and made Shawn director. Despite wartime hardships, such as gasoline and tire rationing, audiences climbed the hill on foot and horseback to attend a wide array of programs: ballet, modern dance, mime, ballroom dance, and folk dance of many cultures.

On July 9, 1942, the Ted Shawn Theatre, the first theater in the United States designed specifically for dance, opened its doors. Architect Joseph Franz, who also built The Music Shed at Tanglewood, had agreed with Shawn that the theater exterior must harmonize with the existing farmhouse and barns. Franz also hand cut the weathervane atop the theater, which depicts Barton Mumaw, Shawn’s leading dancer. Inside the theater on either side of the stage are life-size portraits of Shawn in his Hopi Indian Eagle Dance and Ruth St. Denis as Kwannon—the Japanese Goddess of Mercy, painted during the Denishawn era by Albert Herter.

Other than a year sabbatical for an Australian tour in 1947, Shawn remained at the helm of the Pillow until his death in 1972 at the age of 80. For a time the survival of Jacob’s Pillow seemed uncertain. Shawn’s designated successor, John Christian, was unable to serve more than one year (1972) due to illness. The next leader was dance critic Walter Terry (1973), but a huge deficit sent the Pillow’s Board of Directors searching again, and in the interim Charles Reinhart took on the Pillow in addition to the American Dance Festival (1974). A measure of stability came with the appointment of Norman Walker (1975–79), who revamped and upgraded the Pillow’s educational and presentational standards.

Liz Thompson launched a series of innovations between 1980 and 1990, such as the popular Inside/Out presentations and open access to the grounds and studios, that have continued to the present. Thompson was also the catalyst for the construction of the Doris Duke Studio Theatre. Samuel A. Miller, who had worked in partnership with Thompson since 1986, followed (1990–94) with the renovation and enlargement of the Ted Shawn Theatre and the installation of Blake’s Barn. From 1995 through 1997, Sali Ann Kriegsman led the Pillow through a difficult period, eliminating a $4.8 million debt with the assistance of Board Chairman Neil Chrisman, orchestrating a range of new projects, and ending her successful tenure with a celebration of the 65th anniversary season. The Board then launched an extensive nationwide search and in 1998 selected Ella Baff as Executive Director, a position she currently holds.

In 2003, Jacob’s Pillow was declared a National Historic Landmark by the federal government as "an exceptional cultural venue that holds value for all Americans." It is the only dance entity in the U.S. to receive this honor. The Pillow celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2007, and has launched its first endowment campaign, The Fund for Jacob’s Pillow.

In March 2011, Jacob's Pillow was named a recipient of the 2010 National Medal of Arts, an award of distinction given by President Barack Obama. This was the first time a dance presenting organization was honored. The medal was received from the President by Ella Baff, Executive and Artistic Director of Jacob's Pillow, and Joan Hunter, Chair of Jacob's Pillow Board of Directors, on March 2 in a ceremony at the White House.