Jacob's Pillow Dance - The Festival

The Festival

The Pillow presents international dance in many forms, styles, and traditions, and approximately 200 free events each season, including performances, lectures, tours, films, exhibits, and talks with artists from all over the world, culminating in approximately 80,000 visitors annually.

Pillow Founder Ted Shawn was instrumental in beginning the careers of Martha Graham and Jack Cole, and the Pillow has continued this mentoring role in the careers of artists such as Alvin Ailey, José Limón, and Mark Morris. Companies such as Dance Theatre of Harlem, the Parsons Dance Company, and Trey McIntyre Project made their debuts at the Pillow, and international groups such as The Royal Danish Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theatre, Black Grace and Hofesh Shechter Company have made their U.S. debuts here. World premieres have been commissioned from choreographers such as Merce Cunningham and Paul Taylor, and artists such as Margot Fonteyn and Mikhail Baryshnikov have been showcased in works.

Performances at Jacob’s Pillow take place on three stages. The Ted Shawn Theatre, designed by Joseph Franz in 1942 as the first theater in America created specifically for dance, has a capacity of 620 reserved seats. The Doris Duke Studio Theatre, built in 1990 as a flexible, experimental space, has 220 general admission seats. Talks by Pillow Scholars-in-Residence take place before every performance in these two theaters. Additionally, Post-Show Talks happen in the Ted Shawn Theatre on Thursdays and in the Doris Duke Studio Theatre on Fridays, giving audiences an opportunity to engage with artists in moderated Q&A sessions.

The third stage is Inside/Out, which presents free performances of established and emerging artists from all over the world in an informal, outdoor venue set against a panoramic vista of the Berkshire hills. Wednesdays preview the Doris Duke Studio Theatre artists, Thursdays and Fridays feature emerging artists, and Saturdays showcase the dancers of The School at Jacob’s Pillow. Each performance at Inside/Out concludes with a Q&A session with the artists.

Another facet of Jacob’s Pillow’s ongoing educational efforts is the PillowTalk series, which covers the art of dance and artists performing each week through intimate panel discussions, interviews, film screenings, and book signings. Exhibits are free and open to the general public, as are The Archives, which offer the opportunity to view videos, read books, access the Pillow’s computer catalog, or view The Pillow's permanent collections of programs and photographs. Free historical walking tours are available to the public weekly during the summer.