Photographs by John Lindquist
Each of the dance clips on this site concludes with a photo from the Pillow Archives, and a substantial number of these were taken by John Lindquist, who served as staff photographer from 1938 until 1980. Some of these images were also included in a 2024 Blake’s Barn exhibition, John Lindquist: As of Today.
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Patricia McBride & Edward Villella
Grand Pas de Deux from The Nutcracker, 1969
This rare footage was in private hands for more than 50 years, making it a true time capsule. And Lindquist’s color photo at the end brings it into even sharper focus.
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Carola Goya & Matteo, 1963
This film footage may be in black-and-white, but the vibrant Lindquist image at the end is reminiscent of a Hollywood film in Technicolor.
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Jean Cébron
Wild Horse, 1957
Lesser-known today than one of his star pupils, Pina Bausch, Jean Cébron is seen here in one of his early solos. Like many Pillow films of this era, the footage is silent, but that’s fitting in this case because the dance itself was performed with no accompaniment.
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San Francisco Ballet
Concerto Barocco, 1956
For those accustomed to the stark costumes of leotards and tights that are customarily used today for Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, these costumes seem dated. Lindquist’s final image demonstrates just how colorful they were as well.
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Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Septet, 1955
The Lindquist photo at the end of this clip shows us some of the visual details (and COLOR) we’re missing in the fuzzy film footage.
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Emily Frankel & Mark Ryder
At the Still Point, 1955
This is one of the most striking films in all of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive, distinctive because of the slow sustained movement and emotional subtext. Frankel’s long red hair is a surprising feature of Lindquist’s final image.
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Sahomi Tachibana
Odori - Yukata, 1953
A treasured Pillow artist from the 1950s into the 1970s, Tachibana was able to view and enjoy this clip of her dancing before her death at age 100 in 2024.
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National Ballet of Canada
Lilac Garden (Jardin aux Lilas), 1953
Unlike most of the Lindquist photos in this playlist, this is a stage shot which brilliantly captures the drama in Antony Tudor’s classic ballet.
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Tatiana Grantzeva, Nicholas Polajenko, Ralph McWilliams
Trio Con Brio, 1952
This Antony Tudor ballet was almost completely forgotten until New York Theatre Ballet revived it in 2015, and photographer Christopher Duggan also recreated Lindquist’s photo as seen at the end of this clip from the revival.
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Alexandra Danilova
Sugar Plum Fairy variation from The Nutcracker, 1952
Nutcracker fans can compare and contrast this Sugar Plum Fairy variation with the one by Alicia Markova in this same playlist.
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La Meri
Hamsa-Rani, 1951
Although the Lindquist photo seen here is from a different dance, it shows off one of the many colorful costumes that La Meri employed in her performances.
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Tanaquil LeClercq & Nicholas Magallanes
La Valse, 1951
Through the use of a floorcloth and LeClercq’s own costume, Lindquist attempted to capture the enigmatic spirit of this Balanchine ballet.
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Tom Two Arrows
Iroquois Indian Dance, 1949
When Red Sky Performance made their Pillow debut in 2019, they honored the noble tradition of Indigenous dance at Jacob’s Pillow by including this precious film clip at the beginning of each show. In a reciprocal show of respect, Red Sky Performance’s musical accompaniment has now been added to the silent film.
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Ballet Theatre
Interplay, 1949
While this excerpt from the Jerome Robbins ballet is unusually long, you’ll want to stick around until the end to appreciate Irene Sharaff’s brilliantly colorful costumes.
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Ruth St. Denis
Liebestraum, 1949
Lindquist’s stunning outdoor portrait of Ruth St. Denis had rarely been seen before it was featured in a 2024 Pillow exhibition.
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Alexandra Danilova & Frederic Franklin
Gaité Parisienne, 1948
Leonide Massine’s ballet held an important place in the repertory of Danilova & Franklin for many years—and Lindquist’s closing photo captures their final pose from the dance.
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Talley Beatty
"Mourner's Bench" from Southern Landscape, 1948
Brilliantly brought back to the Pillow stage by Taylor Stanley in 2022, this solo boasts a Lindquist photo that accentuates its iconic status.
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José Limón
Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías, 1946
This rarely-seen image of Limón documents his appearance in Doris Humphrey’s seminal work, which had premiered only two weeks earlier.
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Alicia Markova
Sugar Plum Fairy variation from The Nutcracker, 1941
Three Nutcrackers in the same playlist?! It goes to show that The Nutcracker is never out of season.
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Ted Shawn
"Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" from Four Dances Based on American Folk Music, 1938
Lindquist’s informal portrait of Ted Shawn was made some years after the dance that precedes it, but it succeeds in humanizing the Pillow’s founder, who often presented himself as larger-than-life.