Directing from Offstage
Dance artists have been naming companies after themselves ever since Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn first combined their names to create Denishawn a century ago. And while all of the artists in these selections have performed in their eponymous companies, all are offstage in these particular dances. Even so, you can feel the creative spirit behind the dancers who bring these works to life.
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Dorrance Dance
The Blues Project, 2015
Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards stepped into this solo spot in 2015’s The Blues Project, and both Dorrance and Sumbry-Edwards return in 2016.
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Gauthier Dance//Dance Company Theaterhaus Stuttgart
Malasangre, 2015
This German ensemble – returning for Festival 2016 – made a stunning first impression in 2015, presenting works by its director and others.
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Jessica Lang Dance
The Wanderer, 2015
One of Lang’s most fully-realized works to date, incorporating live music and a remarkable set, The Wanderer enjoyed a two-week run in 2015.
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Henri Oguike Dance Company
Second Signal, 2007
With both dancers and musicians onstage together in Second Signal, the Nigerian/Welsh choreographer Henri Oguike brought his U.S. debut engagement to an exciting close.
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Seán Curran Company
Sonata (We Are What We Were), 2004
On a stage filled with both dancers and a sea of miniature chairs, Curran’s Sonata grapples with the idea of how shared experiences can lead to healing, all set to a hauntingly beautiful score.
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Stephen Petronio Company
City of Twist, 2003
Petronio is looking at a different kind of community in the midst of its own healing in City of Twist, created in the aftermath of 9/11 as “a love letter to New York.”
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David Gordon / Pick Up Performance Company
Private Lives of Dancers, 2002
The performers in David Gordon’s work are delightfully idiosyncratic, and they embody theatricalized versions of themselves in Private Lives of Dancers.
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K. Kvarnström & Co
Fragile, 2002
This Finnish choreographer brought his Stockholm-based dancers to the Pillow for their U.S. debut in the full-evening Fragile, two years after his work was first seen here in the repertory of Stockholm 59° North.
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Paul Taylor Dance Company
Company B, 2000
This 1991 work was created long after Paul Taylor retired from the stage, but his presence is unmistakable in this virtuosic solo.
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THARP!
The Fugue, 1998
Performed without music, Twyla Tharp’s The Fugue is anything but silent. Every footfall comes through crystal-clear, testifying to the rigor of this classic trio. It was first performed at the Pillow in 1977 and recorded here 21 years later.
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Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians
Magnetic, 1989
Now that Dean has retired from both making new dances and restaging old ones, it’s a special treat to include one of her classic works in our online collection, Magnetic from 1986.
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Ted Shawn's Men Dancers
Sixth Prelude from The Well Tempered Clavichord, 1933
While only a fragment, this is the earliest known film of Shawn’s groundbreaking company, captured during the Pillow’s very first season.