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The Pillow Remembers

While any dance video represents some kind of captured memory, these clips are particularly resonant for various reasons.

8 performances

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The Pillow Remembers

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Carmen de Lavallade

The Creation, 2014

With the back doors of the Ted Shawn Theatre flung wide open, Carmen de Lavallade electrified the 2014 Gala audience with this excerpt from husband Geoffrey Holder’s solo tour de force, The Creation, and she was able to share the video with him prior to his death the following October. The unstoppable 83-year-old de Lavallade also premiered her autobiographical As I Remember It a few days after this performance.

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Playing 1 of 8

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Chandralekha Group

Yantra, 1994

One of several prominent Indian artists who made their U.S. debuts at Jacob’s Pillow, Chandralekha brought her company here in a full-evening work dedicated to Pina Bausch on the occasion of Bausch’s Indian debut.

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Playing 2 of 8

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Universal Ballet Company

Ulysses, 1985

While Patrick Bissell’s life was cut tragically short at age 30, his single appearance at Jacob’s Pillow lives on through this rare footage.

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Playing 3 of 8

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Richard Cragun

Requiem, 1983

Cemented into Pillow history through his appearance on the 50th anniversary season, here Cragun dances a rarely-seen solo by Kenneth MacMillan, Requiem, created to honor the memory of John Cranko.

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Playing 4 of 8

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Manuel Alum

Made in Japan, 1981

Among a generation of artists who were lost to the dance world because of the AIDS crisis, Manuel Alum made an indelible mark on Pillow history in his Made in Japan, performed throughout the auditorium of the Ted Shawn Theatre.

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Playing 5 of 8

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Maria Tallchief

Sylvia Pas de Deux, 1951

Relatively new to our online offerings is this variation from George Balanchine’s Sylvia, premiered in late 1950 and performed here just a few months later. It’s posted in tribute to one of Balanchine’s greatest ballerinas, who performed at the Pillow regularly in the 1950s and 60s, and is immortalized onsite with a student cabin named for her.

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Playing 6 of 8

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Jean Léon Destiné & Jeanne Ramon

Martinique, 1950

Hailed as the father of Haitian professional dance, Destiné’s Pillow visits spanned more than a half century. Here’s one of his first appearances, captured outdoors in 1950, the year after his Pillow debut.

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Playing 7 of 8

Anna Duncan

Unidentified dance by Isadora Duncan, 1942

This extremely rare footage documents one of the last performances by one of Isadora Duncan’s adopted daughters, recorded in color during the first season of the Ted Shawn Theatre.

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Playing 8 of 8

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