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November 2012
Greetings!
The new videos described below fit into more than one category. While they have been chosen primarily to celebrate recent or upcoming awards for Pillow-related artists, these additions also bring two great 20th century choreographers to Dance Interactive for the first time: Agnes de Mille and Kenneth MacMillan. And they cover a typical breadth of styles, including classical ballet, musical theater, and contemporary dance. But please don't stop with the few excerpts highlighted below - take a few minutes to let these entry points lead you to other treasures, and allow them to inspire you! 
Norton Owen
Director of Preservation
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival
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 The Award-Winning Kyle & Camille
Kyle Abraham has been selected as the 2012-2014 New York Live Arts Resident Commissioned Artist (with nearly $280,000 of direct support), a fine addition to his 2012 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award. Meanwhile, Camille A. Brown was the 2012 recipient of Wesleyan's Mariam McGlone Emerging Choreographer Award and she has also been chosen as one of the first four Fellows in Ailey's New Directions Choreography Lab. This video shows the two award-winners together onstage for the first time, in a duet they created for the 2011 Pillow season.
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 Celebrating de Lappe & de Mille Later this month, Gemze de Lappe receives a Martha Hill Award for Lifetime Achievement. Among her many achievements are vibrant restagings of classic dances by her mentor, Agnes de Mille. An example may be seen in this excerpt from Brigadoon as performed by New York Theatre Ballet. This past February, de Lappe celebrated her 90th birthday and she remains busy professionally, recreating the original choreography in iconic musical revivals across the country.
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 Dance Magazine Hails Julie Kent
One of American Ballet Theatre's most beloved and longest-reigning stars, Julie Kent, will receive a 2012 Dance Magazine Award in early December. Kent has so far danced at Jacob's Pillow only once, and that one-time-only performance with Robert Hill (in a rapturous pas de deux from Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Manon) can now be sampled online for the first time. MacMillan's choreography was first presented at the Pillow in 1959 by Ballet Rambert, but this is the only MacMillan dance recorded here on video.
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 Tapper Dianne Walker is Tapped
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 Meredith Monk's Milestones
2012 has been a banner year for the multi-faceted composer/singer/director/choreographer/filmmaker Meredith Monk. She turns 70 on November 20, after already having received a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and being named Composer of the Year by Musical America. Monk's 1998 performance seen here came nearly 40 years after her first Jacob's Pillow experience as a dance student in The School. After her Pillow summer, she was mentored at Sarah Lawrence College by Bessie Schönberg (see below).
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 A New Prize for Baryshnikov
One of the world's most celebrated artists in any genre, Mikhail Baryshnikov was awarded the 2012 Vilcek Prize, presented in previous years to filmmaker Mike Nichols, composer Osvaldo Golijov, and visual artist Christo. The prize honors foreign-born scientists and artists who have made outstanding contributions to society in the U.S. One of his memorable performances at Jacob's Pillow, in a solo by Lucinda Childs, may be sampled here.
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 Advice from the Original "Bessie"
While most of the Pillow-related artists above are mentioned because of awards they have received, here's an artist whose very name embodies an award - specifically the New York Dance and Performance Awards, which have been known as The Bessies since their inception. Bessie Schönberg joined the Pillow faculty in 1980 and taught here nearly every summer until her death in 1997. This generous excerpt is from a 1986 talk she presented to Pillow interns, suggesting how to look at dance. It's good advice for anyone!
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In Case You Missed It... (Other winners of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award - click text to view)
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Virtual Pillow Views represents the monthly culmination of many hours of research, curatorial selection, video editing, and writing. If you enjoy this publication, please consider making a donation to help us continue sharing the latest additions to Dance Interactive with you. 
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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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