Blacks in Ballet
More than three decades of Pillow performances featuring Black dancers and/or choreographers are represented in these selections, with an even deeper history revealed in this multimedia essay on Janet Collins.
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MoBBallet Pathways to Performance
Home, 2024
An initiative of Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet, founder Theresa Ruth Howard’s Pathways to Performance Choreographic Program nurtures and develops established and emerging Black ballet choreographers such as Jennifer Archibald, whose Home is seen here.
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Dance Theatre of Harlem
Higher Ground, 2024
After choreographer Robert Garland assumed the position of DTH artistic director in 2023, he chose to open his first Pillow program with his own Higher Ground, which he describes as “a Sankofa-esque reflection on our current times.”
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Misty Copeland, 2023
While it’s true that Misty Copeland hasn’t yet performed here, this short film was created in celebration of her Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award, with performance excerpts from Giselle, The Nutcracker, and Swan Lake, as well as a 2014 PillowTalk in which she discussed her training and career (also available in this podcast), just a year before her history-making promotion to principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre.
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Dance Theatre of Harlem
This Bitter Earth, 2023
Originally created by Christopher Wheeldon for Fang-Yi Sheu & Artists (a group led by the former Martha Graham Dance Company star), This Bitter Earth is now often performed by New York City Ballet and it feels equally at home in Dance Theatre of Harlem’s repertory.
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Complexions Contemporary Ballet
Star Dust, 2023
Dwight Rhoden’s celebration of David Bowie shows off the brilliant technique of these Complexions dancers and has been hailed as “brilliantly made, magnificently performed and highly entertaining.”
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Houston Ballet
Reflections, 2021
Harper Watters was the first Black and openly gay dancer to hold the position of soloist at Houston Ballet, and he was promoted to the rank of principal dancer in 2025. He’s seen here in a Justin Peck work that was commissioned by Houston Ballet in 2019.
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Boston Ballet
Home Studies, 2021
This trio by Helen Pickett features My’Kal Stromile, an alumnus of the Jacob’s Pillow Ballet Program who joined Boston Ballet in 2018 and is now steadily gaining recognition as a choreographer, creating works for the Paris Opera Ballet, Boston Ballet, and other companies worldwide.
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Collage Dance Collective
Lineage, 2017
Founded and directed by Jacob’s Pillow Ballet Project alumnus Kevin Thomas, this Memphis-based company presented a work by Darrell Grand Moultrie in this return appearance a decade after their Pillow debut.
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Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
Light Rain (pas de deux), 2016
Gerald Arpino’s iconic duet provides an impressive showcase for Pete Leo Walker, a dancer who flourished for many years with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and later became a principal dancer with BalletX.
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Alonzo King's LINES Ballet
Biophony, 2015
Leading his own company since 1982, Alonzo King has presented a number of his ballets at Jacob’s Pillow, including this full-evening work that offers a meditative view of the natural world.
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Dance Theatre of Harlem
Act III Pas de Deux from Swan Lake, 2013
Before her untimely death at the age of 29, Michaela DePrince had achieved prominence in the 2011 documentary First Position, later performing with the Dutch National Ballet and Boston Ballet in addition to DTH.
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Dance Theatre of Harlem
The Lark Ascending, 2013
This surprisingly lyrical ballet by Alvin Ailey had never been presented en pointe until this production by Dance Theatre of Harlem.
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Jacoby & Pronk
Rhapsody Fantaisie, 2010
Before teaming up in 2007 and presenting their first full-evening program at the Pillow in 2010, Drew Jacoby performed with Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet while Rubinald Pronk danced with both Dutch National Ballet and Complexions. They first appeared in this Christopher Wheeldon duet as members of Wheeldon’s Morphoses in 2009.
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Armitage Gone! Dance
time is the echo of an axe within a wood, 2006
Long before she founded Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet, Theresa Ruth Howard performed with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Karole Armitage’s company, as seen here in a duet with William Isaac.
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Stockholm / 59° North
Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven, 1997
This was the first work by Ulysses Dove (1947-1996) to be presented at the Pillow, and it has been followed by his Episodes, Red Angels, and other ballets.
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New Amsterdam Ballet
Coup d'Estoc, 1991
Christian Holder was a prominent member of The Joffrey Ballet for 13 years, and he later became known as a choreographer, designer, and cabaret artist. Both his choreography and costume designs may be seen in this rare clip from a work he created in 1991, inspired by Les Liaisons Dangereuses.