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Greetings!
With Valentine's Day just ahead, we thought it might be fun to focus exclusively on some of the duets found online in the Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive. Whether passionate, amusing, ambiguous, romantic, or acrobatic, each of these duos offers its own interesting view of human relationships.
George Balanchine famously said, "You put a man and woman onstage together, and already it's a story." Not all the stories seen here involve a man and a woman, and one appears to be a trio even though it's performed by two men, but his point still rings true.
Whether you check out the first three new videos just added, sample some of the older favorites highlighted below, or explore Dance Interactive in search of other duets, we hope you'll be reminded why they say it takes two to tango!
Norton Owen
Director of Preservation Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival
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 Ballet Genève in Romeo and Juliet
French choreographer Joëlle Bouvier's take on Romeo and Juliet is more abstract than most people expect in a "story ballet". But the lush Prokofiev score and the gorgeous dancing were powerful enough to make some audience members say that this was the most moving version of the classic tale that they had ever seen.
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 Argentine Tango from Tangueros del Sur
For anyone who saw Forever Tango on Broadway, dancer-choreographer Natalia Hills needs no further introduction. So the company she brought from her native Argentina was highly-anticipated, and the live music helped the dancers truly sizzle. While the full evening traced the entire history of the tango form, this particular section focused on the glory days of the 1940s and 50s.
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 Korea's Laboratory Dance Project
This enigmatic male duet evokes friendship, bonding, and competitiveness, and it was the popular centerpiece of an all-male program presented by Korea's pioneering modern company. How appropriate to see these dancers at the Pillow, where Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers blazed similar trails in the 1930s!
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 An Unforgettable Kiss from Aszure Barton
Yes, you're seeing correctly - she really is holding his tongue between her teeth for the entirety of this one-minute duet. They get down on the floor, roll around, and he lifts her overhead, all without ever losing mouth-to-mouth contact. Seeing is believing, so have a look for yourself!
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 Barak Marshall Demonstrates 1 + 1 = 3
There really are only two men onstage in this clip, but who's that mysterious lady sitting between them? This ingenious dance was devised by Israeli-American choreographer Barak Marshall, whose PillowTalk can also be sampled here. In the talk, Marshall tells a moving story about the power of dance to bridge different cultures, and his mother, legendary Israeli performer Margalit Oved, may be heard ululating from the audience. |
 A Classic Dulaine and Marceau Gem
The Washington Post described this clip as "a minute and 22 seconds of perfection, writ in whipped cream" and we can't possibly sum it up more artfully. You can read the entire Post article here, and learn more about why our online resources were called "the closest thing the dance world has to an online museum." Or just click on the image to see Pierre Dulaine and Yvonne Marceau express the indescribable in dance!
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In Case You Missed It... (still more duets from past Virtual Pillow Views - click text to view)
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Header Photo Credits (left to right): Ted Shawn, photo Shapiro Studios; Drew Jacoby, photo Liza Voll; Cynthia Gregory, photo ©Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotos; Savion Glover, photo Len Irish; Shantala Shivalingappa, photo C.P. Satyajit
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