Asian and Asian-American
Although Asian dance has been presented at the Pillow since 1941, the first moving images date from Sahomi Tachibana’s Pillow debut in 1953, which leads off this playlist. Highlighted in these videos are both Asians and Asian-Americans, either as dancers, choreographers, company directors, or all three.
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Sahomi Tachibana
Odori - Yukata, 1953
Tachibana’s Pillow appearances spanned nearly two decades, while her professional dance activities continued until she was 95. This silent film and sound recording were synchronized in 2021, and Tachibana herself has sanctioned the result—reuniting dance and music for the first time in nearly 70 years.
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Eiko Otake
A Body at the Pillow, 2017
This site-specific performance work is part of a series that Eiko has created in various kinds of spaces, independent from her work with Koma.
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Koma Otake
The Ghost Festival, 2017
Koma also brought a site-specific solo work to the Pillow in the same season as Eiko, though he imported his own performance venue—a mobile trailer.
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Reona Seo
AUN, 2017
After first coming to the Pillow as a participant in the 2014 Tap Program in The School at Jacob’s Pillow, Reona Seo was selected by Michelle Dorrance to perform in an evening called TIRELESS: A Tap Dance Experience.
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Bereishit Dance Company
BOW, 2016
This Korean company was selected for the Pillow’s first all-online season in 2020—a testament to the power of this particular duet by company director Soon-ho Park.
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Shantala Shivalingappa
Akasha, 2013
Through her work with Pina Bausch, Maurice Béjart, Peter Brook, and other Western artists, Shantala Shivalingappa has focused fresh attention on Indian dance.
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The Hong Kong Ballet
Symphony in Three Movements, 2012
Though the choreographer and company director at the time of this Pillow debut were both Scandinavian, most of the dancers in this ensemble hail from China.
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LDP / Laboratory Dance Project
Modern Feeling, 2011
Korean choreographer Insoo Lee is one of the two dancers in this duet, which won the grand prize at the Seoul International Choreographer Festival in the year it was created.
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Yin Mei Dance
City of Paper, 2010
Born in China, Yin Mei has been blending Asian traditional performance and Western contemporary dance since coming to the U.S. in 1985.
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Pichet Klunchun
Chui Chai, 2010
This is a contemporary Thai interpretation of the Ramayana epic which had its U.S. premiere at the Pillow.
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LAFA & Artists
Summer Fantasia Part I, 2009
Choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava and dancer Fang-Yi Sheu were the first Asian artists-in-residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and Sheu was also a revered principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company.
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Ko & Edge Co.
Improvisation, 2008
Ko Murobushi had a similar lineage to Eiko and Koma, all three having studied with the Butoh originator Tatsumi Hijikata.
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Shen Wei Dance Arts
Map, 2006
This group’s name is a nod to all the art forms that Shen incorporates into his work: dance, theater, Chinese opera, painting, sculpture, and a unique hybridism of Western and Eastern cultures.
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Project Fukurow
Ozma, 2005
Fukurow Ishikawa is a Tokyo-based kinetic artist who brings organic materials to life with technology, and this Pillow appearance marked his first full-evening presentation in the U.S.
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Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
Songs of the Wanderers, 2002
Renowned as the first contemporary dance company in any Chinese-speaking community, Cloud Gate’s roots are in Asian myths, folklore, and aesthetics.
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Dance: The Spirit of Cambodia
Reamker, 2001
The Pillow’s support for Cambodia’s traditional dance arts began with the first U.S. appearance by former members of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia in 1981.
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Taipei Crossover Dance Company
The Dark Side of the Moon, 2001
Founded by five artists who had begun their careers with Cloud Gate, the Taipei Crossover Dance Company aimed to combine contemporary dance with other art forms.
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Rosy Co.
Chinoise Flower, 2000
Originally trained in Butoh, choreographer Kota Yamazaki later turned to Western forms including ballet and modern dance in addition to studies in music and fashion design.
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The Peony Pavilion, 1999
An unprecedented three-month residency at Jacob’s Pillow culminated in this showing of the first full-length staging of The Peony Pavilion in three hundred years.
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Myung Soo Kim
"Taepyungmu" from Kut Choom '97, 1997
Myung Soo Kim was born in Seoul and studied with traditional dance masters before making her debut as a modern dancer in 1980, and later moving to the U.S.
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Min Tanaka & Cecil Taylor
I...Sit, 1996
Choreographer/performer Min Tanaka felt a keen kinship to Jacob’s Pillow, having co-founded the Body Weather Farm near Tokyo in order to explore the origins of dance in an agricultural life.
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Yoshiko Chuma & The School of Hard Knocks, 1987
During a multi-week residency in the summer of 1987, the Japanese-born Yoshiko Chuma showcased her company on the Pillow’s Great Lawn in the Season Opening Gala.
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Maria Cheng
Seasonal Images of a Courtesan, 1984
Combining her studies in Hong Kong and Minneapolis, Maria Cheng developed a distinctive contemporary dance style which she used in shaping solo theatrical works.
Explore Playlists
Indrani
Tarangam, 1979
After having made her U.S. debut at Jacob’s Pillow in 1960, Indrani made her only other Pillow appearance nearly two decades later, captured here on film.