David Hallberg Dances Duato       

Only a few hundred people were lucky enough to witness David Hallberg's riveting performance of a Nacho Duato solo at the 80th Anniversary Season Opening Gala, so here's another chance to sample a true rarity.  Adding to the impact was the breathtaking sight of the open doors at the back of the Ted Shawn Theatre stage on a picture-perfect Berkshires evening.   

David Neumann as Everyman      

This evocation of a wily Everyman was presented at the 2011 Gala and is excerpted here from a Doris Duke Theatre performance that Neumann shared with Jodi Melnick.  After Deborah Jowitt saw the solo at Jacob's Pillow, she wrote, "Neumann is a master of timing, of the small gesture, of the twitch of an eye."    

 

Paul Taylor's Company B        

When Company B premiered in 1991, a Newsweek critic wrote, "some of the most glorious dancing to be seen anywhere bursts forth in the male solos Taylor has made for Company B."  Here you can see original cast member Andrew Asnes in "Tico Tico," in which he was described as "dashing and suave but with an undercurrent of anguish."  The same review went on to call Taylor "our greatest living choreographer," and this clip offers a tantalizing glimpse of his genius. 

The One and Only Ted Shawn         

Filmed in the Pillow's Bakalar Studio in 1938, this excerpt from Shawn's Four Dances Based on American Folk Music shows a surprisingly simple and stripped-down side of a performer who was often bigger than life.  In 1986, after having been preserved for decades as a silent film, this dance was reunited with its music by longtime Shawn composer/accompanist Jess Meeker.  The Pillow commissioned Meeker to synchronize his music with several hours of Shawn's works, all of which are now permanently maintained in the Pillow Archives. 

Bill T. Jones Dances to Mozart      

This delicious example of Bill T. Jones's early work was created in 1982 and later anthologized in a solo evening called The Breathing Show.  He performed it at the Pillow in 2000, the same year he was named an "Irreplaceable Dance Treasure" by the Dance Heritage Coalition and well before his Broadway successes and the 2010 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award.  He's seen here at almost the exact same age as Shawn in the clip above (48 versus Shawn at 47), offering fascinating opportunities for comparisons.         

Stephen Petronio on Inside/Out       

This 25-year-old clip reminds us of just how long Stephen Petronio has been on the contemporary scene, dating back to the earliest years of his company.  At the time of this presentation, he was only one year past his 7-year tenure with the Trisha Brown Company, where he had the distinction of being the company's first male dancer.  His first Pillow appearance was with Trisha Brown when she made her own Pillow debut in 1980.