Dance Icons
A collection of videos featuring iconic dancers, legendary individuals, and other galvanizing forces.
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Carmen de Lavallade
As I Remember It, 2014
More than sixty years after her Pillow debut, Carmen de Lavallade still offers something incomparable to her audiences. In this case, it is a brand-new collage of her career, presented in its world premiere engagement in the intimate Doris Duke Theatre. Channeling Billie Holiday and juxtaposing a powerful bit of poetry, this is a must-see highlight of the 2014 season.
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Lucas Hoving
Growing Up in Public, 1991
A masterful charter member of the José Limón Company, Hoving was a frequent Pillow performer in the 1950s and 60s, ultimately bringing a memorable solo show here as he neared the age of 80. Though his words may be heavily-accented, his movement language reads loud and clear as he recalls one of his most famous works, Icarus.
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Reggie Wilson / Fist & Heel Performance Group
Moses(es), 2014
The Biblical figure of Moses was the impetus for Reggie Wilson to create this full-evening work exploring what the story of Exodus can mean to us today. As the title implies, this may be more than one image, and Wilson layers the references meaningfully through both sight and sound.
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Kyle Abraham
Inventing Pookie Jenkins, 2010
A MacArthur “Genius” Award and the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award are only two of the honors already amassed by this rising star, seen here as the iconic Pookie Jenkins.
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Ted Shawn
"Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" from Four Dances Based on American Folk Music, 1938
No exploration of dance icons would be complete without Jacob’s Pillow founder Ted Shawn, here presenting one of his simplest and most powerful solos, Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.
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Wendy Whelan
First Fall from Restless Creature, 2013
Just two months before giving her farewell performance with New York City Ballet in 2013, the great Wendy Whelan premiered her Restless Creature project at the Pillow, later taking the work on a cross-country tour.
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Doug Elkins and Friends
Fräulein Maria, 2012
Who better than Doug Elkins to take on the cultural juggernaut embodied by Julie Andrews in the film of The Sound of Music? Here are two excerpts from the final engagement of this modern masterpiece.
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Martha @ The Pillow
Debate 2002 / Three Seascapes, 2002
The Judson Dance Theatre’s iconic Yvonne Rainer speaks about some of her groundbreaking work here in a mock “debate” with Richard Move channeling Martha Graham. These choice moments from 2002 include Patricia Hoffbauer’s recreation of an early Rainer solo.