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March 2013
Greetings!
Jacob's Pillow founder Ted Shawn always defined dance in the broadest possible terms, encompassing "every way that man has moved rhythmically to express himself." His programming included mimes and satirists and others who stretched conventional boundaries.
This month's newest offerings break down more barriers in showing how puppetry has been integrated into Pillow performances in recent years. How is this dance? I think I know what Shawn's answer would be, but I'll let you have a look and decide for yourself!
Norton Owen
Director of Preservation
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival |
 Jane Comfort and Company
Although this segment is a striking example of Jane Comfort's work, it would be hard to call it typical because this versatile artist has transcended genres since the 1970s. It's particularly fitting to add this vignette from Underground River, a work created in part at the Pillow. And it's timely to include the music of Toshi Reagon, who returns here this summer to collaborate with Michelle Dorrance.
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 Basil Twist's Petruchka It seems only natural to transition from the segment above to this one, as both employ the theatrical wizardry of Basil Twist. It was Twist's stroke of brilliance to adapt this classic Ballets Russes story centering on a puppet (a role created for the great Nijinsky) into a presentation with an all-puppet cast. Even the timeless Stravinsky score is here transformed, performed live by identical twin Russian pianists.
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 Teatro Hugo & Inés
Although this is one of the longer offerings yet to be included in our online collection (at just over two minutes), the segment seen here is already highly distilled and particularly challenging to excerpt effectively. You'll see why. These two astoundingly creative artists illustrate the cycle of life, managing to somehow "create" a believable character who ages before our very eyes from a robust and energetic youth to one who must confront the ravages of time.
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 Barak Marshall's MONGER
Just as Hugo & Inés utilize their own two bodies to magically create a third, here you can see how a pair of Barak Marshall's dancers seem to conjure a flirty female presence out of thin air. Which leg is which, and whose hands are wandering where they shouldn't be? You have to watch very closely to figure it out, but all is revealed in the end.
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 Compagnie Käfig
Unlike the segments above, the body seen here is entirely human - it just looks unreal. Of course, the illusion is both intentional and extraordinary, pushing the limits of what seems humanly possible. After an auspicious 2001 debut engagement seen here, more than a decade passed before the group returned to the Pillow last summer. The gap won't soon be repeated, however, as the company returns for Festival 2013.
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In Case You Missed It... Other genre-bending performances:
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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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