PILLOWNOTES JACOB’S PILLOW EXTENDS SPECIAL THANKS by Maura Keefe TO OUR VISIONARY LEADERS The PillowNotes series comprises essays commissioned from our Scholars-in-Residence to provide audiences with a broader context for viewing dance. VISIONARY LEADERS form an important foundation of support and demonstrate their passion for and commitment to Jacob’s Pillow through Reggie Wilson is doing something old. And he’s doing something new. That pairing of past and present annual gifts of $10,000 and above. has driven Wilson since he founded his Brooklyn-based company in 1989. Old and new is not the only duality—there’s also music and dance, sacred and secular, highbrow and lowbrow, body and mind. And, of Their deep affiliation ensures the success and longevity of the course, fist and heel. Not pairings that duel, rather partners who complement and build. Pillow’s annual offerings, including educational initiatives, free public When enslaved Africans were brought to the United States, they were forbidden to use percussion programs, The School, the Archives, and more. instruments in dance and music, either in sacred or secular contexts. In place of drums, fists and heels created body percussions and voiced breath rhythms. Inspired by the ingenuity of dancers and musicians from the past, Wilson’s company beat and stamp out rhythms from various regions in Africa and the $25,000+ Americas. Or as Wilson explains it: “Fist and heel is clapping and stomping, shouting and hollerin’—and PRESENTS Carole* & Dan Burack Christopher Jones* & Deb McAlister the manipulation of energies.” REGGIE WILSON/FIST AND The Barrington Foundation Wendy McCain Frank & Monique Cordasco Fred Moses* One of Wilson’s driving artistic forces is his research, which he described in a PillowTalk as a process in HEEL PERFORMANCE GROUP Hon. Stephan P. Driscoll*, in honor and memory Jennie A. Kassanoff & Dan H. Schulman which he asks questions that lead to more questions. Mostly we think of choreographic research occurring of John Lindquist & Barton Mumaw Mark & Taryn Leavitt in places like the Pillow Lab, working with dancers to create a new work. While Wilson certainly does Doris Duke Theatre Stephanie & Robert ‡ Gittleman Sylvia T. Pope* that, since 1993 Wilson regularly leaves the studio to travel extensively and foster his choreographic Carolyn Gray & George Peppard Robert & Eileen Rominger explorations. For example, he went to the Mississippi Delta region and to Trinidad and Tobago to do Joan & Jim Hunter research with the Spiritual Baptists and Shangoists, and to Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa to July 10-14, 2019 work with dance and performance groups and Zionist religious communities. For Moses(es), seen at the Pillow in 2014, he traveled to Israel, Egypt, and Turkey. For POWER, the Pillow-commissioned work that premieres this summer, some of his research was done a little closer to home, here in the Berkshires. CHOREOGRAPHER Reggie Wilson $10,000+ Elements of what Wilson discovers in working with those different communities and their traditions Dr. Norman Abramson Ann* & Peter Herbst inspire his concert dance works. PERFORMERS Hadar Ahuvia Deborah & Charles Adelman Laura* & Nick Ingoglia Rhetta Aleong Aliad Fund Nancy K. Kalodner This process results in the creation of what he has termed “post-African/Neo-Hoodoo Modern dances.” Rick & Nurit Amdur Amy & Richard Kohan Hoodoo—while the origins of the word itself aren’t quite clear—is a kind of magic or folkloric practice that Yeman Brown Lizbeth & George Krupp Candace* & Rick Beinecke resulted from the intermingling of African beliefs, Native American botanical knowledge, and European Paul Hamilton Linda & Bob Berzok Jack & Elizabeth Meyer, in honor of folktales. The direct reference to African, the mix of cultures with Hoodoo, and the layering and modifying Sydelle & Lee Blatt Diane & Deval Patrick of words with “post” and “neo” suggest just how much blending Wilson does—and how deliberate he is in Lawrence Harding David Carlisle & Morene Bodner Hans* & Kate Morris doing so. Michel Kouakou Chervenak-Nunnallé Foundation Gov. Deval L. & Diane Patrick Clement Mensah Neil* & Kathleen Chrisman Claudia Perles Throughout Wilson’s choreographic career, his works have featured movement idioms from the slave Ranny Cooper & David Smith Caren & Barry Roseman tradition of the ring shout and South African gumboot dancing, to a variety of “hand-dancing” forms like Gabriela Silva Hunter K. Runnette* & Mark P. VandenBosch Jeffrey Davis & Michael T. Miller the Hustle and the Black Bottom. While Wilson draws from, as he puts it, “the movement languages of the Annie Wang David DeFilippo & Lisa Shapiro, in memory of Naomi Seligman & Ernie von Simson blues, slave and spiritual cultures of Africans in the Americas,” he is not reconstructing dances from the Robert Gittleman Mark Sena & Linda Saul-Sena past, nor is he trying to present a replica of a dance from a particular place. Rather, he mixes rhythms from Reggie Wilson Hermine Drezner Natalie & Howard Shawn one place with a song from another and movement from a third. This is where the postmodern aspect Michelle Yard Sheila Drill Lisbeth Tarlow & Stephen Kay comes in: Wilson layers different elements to make something completely new. As he explained in that Roger Tilles Nancy & Michael Feller same PillowTalk, while he operates from a position of respect for the traditions he discovers and explores, “OUTSIDE EYE” Phyllis Lamhut David & Nina Fialkow in honor of Stephen Weiner & Donald Cornuet he is also an artist, and thus he innovates within traditions. Deval & Diane Patrick and Mark A. Leavitt Ellen Weissman Susan Manning Jeanne Donovan Fisher Mark & Liz Williams In spring 2018, Wilson curated a platform of events called Dancing Platform Praying Grounds: Blackness, Joan* & Charlie Gross Elaine* & Irving Wolbrom Churches, and Downtown Dance that culminated with a series of lectures followed by performances at MATH ADVISOR Jesse Wolfson Danspace. In the church/performance space of St. Mark’s Church in New York City, Wilson probed and expanded the connections between the black church and performance. As he stated in a New York Times * Former Trustees, staff, faculty, interns, interview, “his dances are guided by two lines of inquiry: ‘What is the relationship between postmodern The School’s dancers, or arists-in-residence dance and African diasporic culture? And what is the relationship between Protestant Christianity and POWER is dedicated to The Dead. ‡ deceased African diasporic religions? Even if the piece seems like it has nothing to do with either of those, they creep back in there.’” In addition to his curation, Wilson also created a site-specific work titled ...they stood shaking, while others began to shout, inspired by his research on black Shakers. New York Times INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT dance critic Gia Kourlas wrote about the work, “Within the frame of postmodern dance—and with a As of May 23, 2019 major support for Jacob’s Pillow has been generously provided by the heady mix of spirituals, contemporary music and field recordings—he produces a remarkable work that following institutions: The Arison Arts Foundation; Arnhold Foundation; The Barr Foundation; flows seamlessly from start to finish.” Wilson’s research for the Jacob’s Pillow commissioned POWER builds The Barrington Foundation; Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation; Blue Cross Blue Shield on those interests and continues his focus on the Shakers. Visits and residencies at the Pillow Lab which of Massachusetts; The Chervenak-Nunnallé Foundation; The Feigenbaum Foundation; Gladys encompassed research at Hancock Shaker Village culminate in the new work’s world premiere. Krieble Delmas Foundation; The Ford Foundation; Howard Gilman Foundation; Harkness Foundation for Dance; William Randolph Hearst Foundation; The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; MassDevelopment; The Andrew Wilson understands moving across time and from place to place. He uncovers paths laid down by Africans W. Mellon Foundation; Mertz Gilmore Foundation; New England Foundation for the Arts; and African Americans in the diaspora and in different regions of Africa as they traveled to the New World, National Endowment for the Arts; Onota Foundation; The Prospect Hill Foundation; The Shubert and from the South to the North in the Great Migration and, with his newest work, the Berkshires. And Foundation; The Robert and Tina Sohn Foundation; The Spingold Foundation; Talented Students what he finds reawakens the dances from those places and peoples onto the concert dance stage. in the Arts Initiative, a collaboration of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Surdna Foundation; The Thompson Family Foundation; The Velmans Foundation; Weissman Family © 2019 Maura Keefe and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Foundation; and Jacob’s Pillow Business Partners. Dance writer Maura Keefe has led audience programs at various venues around the country and is the Associate Director of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park,where she was named the Dorothy G. Madden Professor of Dance in 2018. PROGRAM COMPANY MEMBERSHIP SUPPORTS EVERYTHING YOU LOVE ABOUT POWER (World Premiere) Art Academy and University of MICHELLE YARD (Performer) was SPECIAL THANKS Minnesota Twin Cities. Silva has born in Brooklyn, New York. She GOD; Ancestors; Ira Sutton Ewing; JACOB’S PILLOW performed with Selmadanse, Jean CHOREOGRAPHY Reggie Wilson began her professional dance Lois J. Wilson, A’ntie C; A’nt Jean, Appolon Expressions, Danza Organica, training at Fiorello H. LaGuardia Uncle Rev., Uncle Von, Uncle Quicksilver Dance, Peter DiMuro, JOIN OUR THOUSANDS OF MEMBERS & SUPPORT THE COSTUME DESIGN Naoko Nagata High School of Music & Art and George, A’nt Wilma, Aba, Abba, Emily Beattie, and Marina Magalhães. Enver Charkatash Performing Arts. While in high Saba, David Wilson, Jr., Elaine MISSION OF JACOB’S PILLOW. She has been a teaching artist for the Indigo Batik by Arianne King Comer with Adjua Nsoroma, and Fist and Heel. school, she also studied at The Ailey Flowers, Phyllis Lamhut, Germaine Kroc Center, Community Art Center, School as a scholarship student. Yard Ingram, Tim O’Brien, the cities of You can help the Pillow present outstanding dance artists TECHNICAL DIRECTION/ Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, Boston graduated with a B.F.A. in Dance Philadelphia, Watervliet, Hancock, from around the world, provide training and support to LIGHTING DESIGN Jonathan Belcher Ballet, Boston Public Libraries, and from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Bellagio and Mount Lebanon, talented dancers of The School at Jacob’s Pillow, maintain Boston Public Schools. In 2014, she Yard was a longtime member of the Mary Ann Haagen and The Enfield our landmark site, and create free community programs PERFORMERS Hadar Ahuvia co-founded Costasis Arts Collective Mark Morris Dance Group. Yard is Shaker Singers, The Land of the with Terina-Jasmine Alladin to a certified Pilates instructor and that engage people of all ages and backgrounds with dance. Rhetta Aleong Blacks, Jesse Wolfson, Doetsch support collaborations between local teaches in New York City. She is Family Fund, Tara Rodman, Yeman Brown artists of color, community partners, thrilled to be dancing with Reggie Lucia Kellar, Estate of Samuel Paul Hamilton and presenters in Boston. Their Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Miller, Dave Snyder/Sara Coffey, Lawrence Harding collaborative works,I’ve picked and Group. Mom, thank you! DJ McManus Foundation, Inc., EVERY GIFT MATTERS. Michel Kouakou I’ve picked and I’ve picked; let fall; and Sarah Kim, Martha Sherman, Oyá and Mari Jiwe JOIN AND CHOOSE THE LEVEL RIGHT FOR YOU! Clement Mensah , were presented at Magda Gabor-Hotchkiss, Ainsley RAW Boston, EMW Bookstore, Green Gabriela Silva Boisson, Cathy Edwards, Janel Street Studios, Dance Complex, and Merritt, Polly Morris, Jean Cook, Explore the full list of benefits, join as a new Member, renew your Annie Wang Aeronaut Brewing Company. Silva Madeline Brine, Mike Johnson, current membership, or upgrade to a higher level Michelle Yard participated in a residency at the Pamela Tatge and the full team at jacobspillow.org/support/membership. with Reggie Wilson Institute of Contemporary Art Boston at the Pillow, Jennifer, Caitlin, in 2014 and the following year was the interpreters and the Hancock You can also make a donation by phone at 413.243.9919 x122 MUSIC The Staple Singers; John Davis, Bessie Jones & St. Simon’s Island Singers; Meredith Monk; named an Associate Artist at the Shaker Village crew, Lacy, Jerry, Lonnie Young, Ed Young and Lonnie Young Jr.; Craig Loftis; Henry Williams, Henry Thomas, Atlantic Center for the Arts, where and Sharon at Shaker Museum | George Roberts, Allan Lovelace; Omar Thiam with Jam Begum & Khady Saar; Edna Wright, she began her first independent Mount Lebanon, Lorraine E. Weiss Sustaining members support the Pillow year-round through easy, Henry Thomas, Henry Williams, & Margaret Wright choreographic project inspired by of the Shaker Heritage Society automatic monthly or quarterly gifts. Live vocals selected and arranged by Reggie Wilson her studies of Afro-Brazilian culture (Watervliet), and Richard Flanders under the tutelage of Reggie Wilson. of the Northeastern Woodworkers Most recently, Silva trained, taught, Association, Susan Manning, Depending on your level, membership gives you access to: FUNDING and presented her work at Sarayyet Adrian, Nick, Merrit, and the POWER was co-commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Ramallah in Palestine. cohort and Administration team Early Ticketing POWER was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance at the Rockefeller Bellagio, Polly at Fan level & above Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. ANNIE WANG (Performer) trained at Lynden Sculpture Garden, Arianne Mellon Foundation. It was created in part during multiple residencies in the Pillow Lab and the Martha Graham School and the King Comer and Adjua Nsoroma, Admission to Cast Parties premiered at Jacob’s Pillow July 10, 2019. This project is also supported in part by an award Boitsov School of Classical Ballet. She Judy, Lydia, Sophie, and Danspace Contributor level & above from the National Endowment for the Arts. has had the pleasure of dancing for and St. Mark’s Church in-the- General Operating support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch, Parijat Desai, Bowery, Sam, Harry, Kerry, Karen, Pillow Lab showings where you can witness the creative process with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and is funded and made possible in Nicole Stanton, Pia Vinson, Asako Arielle, Robin at Philadelphia Supporter level & above part by Dance/NYC’s Dance Advancement Fund, made possible by the Ford Foundation. Miyahira, Boitsov Classical Ballet Contemporary and Partners for Company, Dance Elixir, and MADart Sacred Places, Sophie/Lotus Arts Priority Parking Passes Booking information: Sophie Myrtil-McCourty. Lotus Arts Management, 72-11 Austin Productions. She has presented Management, Fist and Heel Board Partners’ Circle level & above Street, Suite 371 Forest Hills, NY 11375 Tel: 347.721.8724; [email protected]; choreography at the 92nd Street Y, lotusartsmgmt.com of Directors, members of the BRIC, Brooklyn Studios for Dance, Advisory Council, the performers Invitations to Member-Exclusive Events Special thanks to Joan B. Hunter for her support for the development of POWER at Five Myles Art and Performance past and present for their time on Hancock Shaker Village. Space, the WestFest Dance Festival, this project, their commitment Discounts in The Pillow Store Triskelion Arts, Hot Wood Arts Gallery, over the years prioritizing and Sky Gallery, and The Chocolate sacrificing, and their relentless Factory Theater. Wang is a BRIClab Jacob’s Pillow is committed to providing an environment that cultivates the celebration of the art of dance talent. Help make dance creation, presentation, education, and and its positive impact on community. 2016 resident artist, a 2015 Associate Artist at the Atlantic Center for the preservation at Jacob’s Pillow possible. While in our theaters, please refrain from behavior that could disturb other patrons and performers during the performance. We ask that you silence your cell phone; do not photograph or video record performances; keep your ticket with you at all times; observe that food and beverages are not allowed, with the Arts, and a 2014 artist-in-residence at exception of water; and please let a staff member know if you need help. the Marble House Project in Vermont. Thank you! Thank you for observing these House Rules so that everyone can have an enjoyable experience. She was a 2017-18 Brooklyn Arts We are so glad you are here. Enjoy the show! Council grantee to develop Marigram, an international collaborative work inspired by mass protests. COMPANY REGGIE WILSON (Executive and also a 2002 Bessie Award winner Dorfman, David Neumann, Doug Artistic Director, Choreographer, for his work The Tie-tongued Goat Elkins, Gina Gibney, Jimena Paz, Liz Performer) founded Fist and Heel and the Lightning Bug Who Tried Lerman, Nora Chipaumire, Urban Performance Group in 1989. Wilson to Put Her Foot Down and a 2002 Bush Women, Zvi Gotheiner, and draws from the cultures of Africans John Simon Guggenheim Fellow. many others. Working closely in the Americas and combines He has been an artist advisor for with collaborators, Nagata helps them with post-modern elements the National Dance Project and bring to life what she herself calls, and his own personal movement Board Member of Dance Theater “the creation of a shared dream.” style to create what he often calls Workshop. In recognition of his She enjoys studying Alexander “post-African/Neo-HooDoo Modern creative contributions to the field, Technique with June Ekman. dances.” Wilson was named a 2009 United Working with Chakartash on this States Artists Prudential Fellow project has truly been “Heaven on His work has been presented and is a 2009 recipient of the earth”. nationally and internationally at Herb Alpert Award in Dance. His venues such as Brooklyn Academy evening-length work The Good ENVER CHAKARTASH (Costume of Music, New York Live Arts, Dance–dakar/brooklyn premiered Designer) is a New York based Summerstage (NYC), Jacob’s Pillow at the Walker Art Center and on costume designer and wardrobe Dance Festival (Becket, MA), Yerba the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s stylist. He has designed costumes Buena Center for the Arts (San 2009 Next Wave Festival. In 2012, for Tony Oursler, The Wooster Francisco), UCLA Live, Redcat (Los New York Live Arts presented a Group, Young Jean Lee, and Angeles), VSA NM (New Mexico), concert of selected Wilson works, Half Straddle. Chakartash began Myrna Loy (Helena, MT), The Flynn theRevisitation, to critical acclaim, collaborating with Reggie Wilson/ (Burlington, VT), Contemporary and the same year he was named Fist and Heel Performance Group in Arts Center (New Orleans), Dance a Wesleyan University’s Creative 2016. Since then, he has designed Umbrella (Austin, TX), Linkfest, Campus Fellow, received an costumes for CITIZEN and consulted Festival e’Nkundleni (Zimbabwe), inaugural Doris Duke Performing on costumes for “...they stood Dance Factory (South Africa), Artist Award, and received the shaking while others began to Danças na Cidade (Portugal), 2012 Joyce Foundation Award for shout”. Working with Nagata on this Festival Kaay Fecc (Senegal), The his successful work Moses(es). His project has been one of the most Politics of Ecstasy, and Tanzkongress critically acclaimed workCITIZEN rewarding experiences of his life. 2013 (Germany). premiered in 2016 at FringeArts and BAM’s Next Wave Festival. JONATHAN BELCHER (Lighting Wilson is a graduate of New York Wilson was curator of Danspace Designer, Technical Director) was University, Tisch School of the Project’s Dancing Platform Praying born in Rochester, NY, and now Arts (1988, Larry Rhodes, Chair). Grounds: Blackness, Churches, and lives in Brooklyn. He is Lighting He has studied composition and Downtown Dance (Platform 2018), Director, Set Designer, and Studio been mentored by Phyllis Lamhut. and created the commissioned Manager for City University of He performed and toured with work …they stood shaking while New York Television. Previously, he Ohad Naharin before forming Fist others began to shout specifically was resident Lighting Designer at and Heel. He has lectured, taught, for the space at St. Mark’s Church the Kitchen, The Harkness Dance and conducted workshops and in-the-Bowery. Most recently, he Festival 2001, The University of community projects throughout curated Grounds That Shout! (and Michigan Musical Society, SUNY the U.S., Africa, Europe, and others merely shaking), a series Purchase Conservatory of Dance, the Caribbean. He has traveled of performances in Philadelphia’s Dance Theater Workshop, and extensively; to the Mississippi Delta historic sacred spaces. The Yard. Belcher’s career has to research secular and religious been distinguished by two Bessie aspects of life there; to Trinidad and NAOKO NAGATA (Costume Awards—one for his Visual Design, Tobago to research the Spiritual Designer) started her career as a and the second for his winning Baptists and the Shangoists; and biochemist in Japan. Her evolution performance of Exhausting Love by also to Southern, Central, West, into costume making is a long Luciana Achugar. He was also one and East Africa to work with dance/ story. With literally no formal of three Lighting Designers featured performance groups as well as training, she has been creating for in the 2009 New York Times article diverse religious communities. He a diverse group of choreographers by Roslyn Sulcas entitled “Lighting has served as visiting faculty at and dancers non-stop since Designers Illuminate Ballet”. several universities including Yale, 1998. She has collaborated with Belcher designed a number of Princeton, and Wesleyan. Wilson David Thomson, Ralph Lemon, projects with Amanda Loulaki, is the recipient of the Minnesota Reggie Wilson, Vicky Shick, Kyle Bill Young, Luciana Achugar, Blk Dance Alliance’s McKnight National Abraham for Alvin Ailey American Market Membership, Dean Moss, Fellowship (2000-2001). Wilson is Dance Theater, Bebe Miller, David Maria Hassabi, Jill Sigman, Jeremy Wade, Sara Michelson, and Reggie COMPANY Wilson. Belcher’s guiding principal Brown received his B.F.A. from the other Neurological diseases. He has in lighting design is, “look at things Florida State University’s School been a member of Fist and Heel differently, if for no other reason of Dance and danced as a summer since 1993, and continues to delight than it’s a lot more fun that way.” scholarship student at The Ailey in discovering himself in Reggie’s School and The American Dance work. He gives continued thanks to HADAR AHUVIA (Performer) was Festival. Brown resides in Brooklyn Remi, D.Z. Martha, Samuel, and all raised in Israel/Palestine and the and has been a performer with Fist the dead ones. Big love to the ‘rents U.S. Ahuvia studied at Lines Ballet, and Heel Performance Group since and the family. the SF Conservatory of Dance, 2013, was nominated for a Bessie and Sarah Lawrence College. She Award for his work in CITIZEN, and MICHEL KOUAKOU (Performer) is has worked with Sara Rudner, Jill named Dance Magazine’s 2018 a choreographer and dancer from Sigman, Donna Uchizono, Molly “25 Dancers to Watch”. Brown the Ivory Coast. He is the founder Poerstel, and Kathy Westwater, and was recently featured in Mumford and director of Daara Dance. has delighted in working with Fist & Sons’ music video Woman, Kouakou received his M.F.A. in & Heel since 2016. Ahuvia’s work, and makes his Broadway debut Dance from Hollins University. He is deconstructing her Zionist cultural in the musical Jagged Little Pill in the recipient of the Vilcek Prize for heritage, has been supported by a Fall 2019. He would like to thank Creative Promise in Dance (2012), a Brooklyn Arts Council, DTW/NYLA, God and his parents for their Jerome Foundation Fellowship for Movement Research, the 14th unconditional love and guidance. research in dance (2012), winner Street Y, CUNY Dance Initiative, of a New York Foundation of the EtM Choreographer + Composer PAUL HAMILTON (Performer) is a Arts Artist Fellowship (2008), and Residency, Yaddo, and Baryshnikov Brooklyn-based movement artist. winner of the U.S. Japan Fellowship Arts Center. She has presented her He attended SUNY Purchase, where (2008) to conduct research in Tokyo performative research at the 14th he trained with Kazuko Hirabayashi, and Kyoto. He was nominated for Street Y, Art Stations Foundation, Kevin Wynn, and Neil Greenberg; the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts The James Gallery, Whitman he also studied at The Ailey School. Initiative (2008), and in 2010 was College, and Danspace Project. Her He has performed with Elizabeth a finalist in The A.W.A.R.D. Show work Everything you have is yours? Streb, the Martha Graham Dance in New York City and Los Angeles. earned her a Bessie nomination Company, The Barnspace Dance, Kouakou maintains an active for Outstanding Breakout Mauri Cramer Dancers, Ballet Arts touring and teaching schedule and Choreographer. Theatre, Ralph Lemon (Bessie continues to pursue his long-term nominee Scaffold Room), Deborah goal of building an “artistic bridge” RHETTA ALEONG (Company Hay, David Thomson, Headlong between the Ivory Coast and the Administrator, Performer) has Dance Theater, David Gordon’s The U.S. performance roots grounded in Matter 2019, and The Museum community theater, performance of Modern Art, recreating Bruce CLEMENT MENSAH (Performer) art, and a Catholic all-girls high Nauman’s Wall/Floor Positions. He is also a choreographer and an school in Trinidad and Tobago. is a member of Reggie Wilson/Fist educator. He is a third culture kid She has a B.F.A. in Journalism with and Heel Performance Group, Keely who was born and raised in Ghana, an art concentration from The Garfield Dance, and Jane Comfort West Africa. After living and going School of Visual Arts, and is a fifth and Company, and is currently to school in the Netherlands, degree black belt. Aleong began working with Melinda Ring on a the U.S., and the U.K., where he working with Wilson in ’91 and new Danspace project commission. received his postgraduate degree “wears many hats” within Fist and at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, Heel Performance Group. Creative LAWRENCE A.W. HARDING Mensah is humbled to have artists of special significance to (Performer) was born in Sierra performed, taught, and traveled Aleong include Pat Akien, Michael Leone and now practices Physical with many dance companies to Steele, Helen Camps, Noble Douglas Therapy in New York. He is the more than 49 countries. Mensah (Trinidad), Anita Gonzalez, Ms. Director of Fitness at The Axis founded Off the Radar in 2015 to Hattie Gossett, Tiyé Giraud, Cynthia Project, a multidisciplinary center educate the young generation. Oliver, and Lawrence Goldhuber. that serves people with physical Mensah joined Reggie Wilson/Fist Respect to those before, after, disabilities and empowers them and Heel Performance Group in above, and below. to pursue a healthy and active 2012. lifestyle. He is also the developer YEMAN BROWN (Performer) was and President of Spinal Mobility, GABRIELA SILVA (Performer) is born and raised in Tallahassee, a novel manual technique that a freelance Brazilian-American Florida where he developed a enables clinicians to improve their performer and choreographer passion for performing at local rehabilitative interventions for based in New York City. She churches and theater groups. people with Spinal Cord Injury and studied dance at the OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center, Boston PROGRAM COMPANY MEMBERSHIP SUPPORTS EVERYTHING YOU LOVE ABOUT POWER (World Premiere) Art Academy and University of MICHELLE YARD (Performer) was SPECIAL THANKS Minnesota Twin Cities. Silva has born in Brooklyn, New York. She GOD; Ancestors; Ira Sutton Ewing; JACOB’S PILLOW performed with Selmadanse, Jean CHOREOGRAPHY Reggie Wilson began her professional dance Lois J. Wilson, A’ntie C; A’nt Jean, Appolon Expressions, Danza Organica, training at Fiorello H. LaGuardia Uncle Rev., Uncle Von, Uncle Quicksilver Dance, Peter DiMuro, JOIN OUR THOUSANDS OF MEMBERS & SUPPORT THE COSTUME DESIGN Naoko Nagata High School of Music & Art and George, A’nt Wilma, Aba, Abba, Emily Beattie, and Marina Magalhães. Enver Charkatash Performing Arts. While in high Saba, David Wilson, Jr., Elaine MISSION OF JACOB’S PILLOW. She has been a teaching artist for the Indigo Batik by Arianne King Comer with Adjua Nsoroma, and Fist and Heel. school, she also studied at The Ailey Flowers, Phyllis Lamhut, Germaine Kroc Center, Community Art Center, School as a scholarship student. Yard Ingram, Tim O’Brien, the cities of You can help the Pillow present outstanding dance artists TECHNICAL DIRECTION/ Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, Boston graduated with a B.F.A. in Dance Philadelphia, Watervliet, Hancock, from around the world, provide training and support to LIGHTING DESIGN Jonathan Belcher Ballet, Boston Public Libraries, and from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Bellagio and Mount Lebanon, talented dancers of The School at Jacob’s Pillow, maintain Boston Public Schools. In 2014, she Yard was a longtime member of the Mary Ann Haagen and The Enfield our landmark site, and create free community programs PERFORMERS Hadar Ahuvia co-founded Costasis Arts Collective Mark Morris Dance Group. Yard is Shaker Singers, The Land of the with Terina-Jasmine Alladin to a certified Pilates instructor and that engage people of all ages and backgrounds with dance. Rhetta Aleong Blacks, Jesse Wolfson, Doetsch support collaborations between local teaches in New York City. She is Family Fund, Tara Rodman, Yeman Brown artists of color, community partners, thrilled to be dancing with Reggie Lucia Kellar, Estate of Samuel Paul Hamilton and presenters in Boston. Their Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Miller, Dave Snyder/Sara Coffey, Lawrence Harding collaborative works,I’ve picked and Group. Mom, thank you! DJ McManus Foundation, Inc., EVERY GIFT MATTERS. Michel Kouakou I’ve picked and I’ve picked; let fall; and Sarah Kim, Martha Sherman, Oyá and Mari Jiwe JOIN AND CHOOSE THE LEVEL RIGHT FOR YOU! Clement Mensah , were presented at Magda Gabor-Hotchkiss, Ainsley RAW Boston, EMW Bookstore, Green Gabriela Silva Boisson, Cathy Edwards, Janel Street Studios, Dance Complex, and Merritt, Polly Morris, Jean Cook, Explore the full list of benefits, join as a new Member, renew your Annie Wang Aeronaut Brewing Company. Silva Madeline Brine, Mike Johnson, current membership, or upgrade to a higher level Michelle Yard participated in a residency at the Pamela Tatge and the full team at jacobspillow.org/support/membership. with Reggie Wilson Institute of Contemporary Art Boston at the Pillow, Jennifer, Caitlin, in 2014 and the following year was the interpreters and the Hancock You can also make a donation by phone at 413.243.9919 x122 MUSIC The Staple Singers; John Davis, Bessie Jones & St. Simon’s Island Singers; Meredith Monk; named an Associate Artist at the Shaker Village crew, Lacy, Jerry, Lonnie Young, Ed Young and Lonnie Young Jr.; Craig Loftis; Henry Williams, Henry Thomas, Atlantic Center for the Arts, where and Sharon at Shaker Museum | George Roberts, Allan Lovelace; Omar Thiam with Jam Begum & Khady Saar; Edna Wright, she began her first independent Mount Lebanon, Lorraine E. Weiss Sustaining members support the Pillow year-round through easy, Henry Thomas, Henry Williams, & Margaret Wright choreographic project inspired by of the Shaker Heritage Society automatic monthly or quarterly gifts. Live vocals selected and arranged by Reggie Wilson her studies of Afro-Brazilian culture (Watervliet), and Richard Flanders under the tutelage of Reggie Wilson. of the Northeastern Woodworkers Most recently, Silva trained, taught, Association, Susan Manning, Depending on your level, membership gives you access to: FUNDING and presented her work at Sarayyet Adrian, Nick, Merrit, and the POWER was co-commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Ramallah in Palestine. cohort and Administration team Early Ticketing POWER was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance at the Rockefeller Bellagio, Polly at Fan level & above Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. ANNIE WANG (Performer) trained at Lynden Sculpture Garden, Arianne Mellon Foundation. It was created in part during multiple residencies in the Pillow Lab and the Martha Graham School and the King Comer and Adjua Nsoroma, Admission to Cast Parties premiered at Jacob’s Pillow July 10, 2019. This project is also supported in part by an award Boitsov School of Classical Ballet. She Judy, Lydia, Sophie, and Danspace Contributor level & above from the National Endowment for the Arts. has had the pleasure of dancing for and St. Mark’s Church in-the- General Operating support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch, Parijat Desai, Bowery, Sam, Harry, Kerry, Karen, Pillow Lab showings where you can witness the creative process with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and is funded and made possible in Nicole Stanton, Pia Vinson, Asako Arielle, Robin at Philadelphia Supporter level & above part by Dance/NYC’s Dance Advancement Fund, made possible by the Ford Foundation. Miyahira, Boitsov Classical Ballet Contemporary and Partners for Company, Dance Elixir, and MADart Sacred Places, Sophie/Lotus Arts Priority Parking Passes Booking information: Sophie Myrtil-McCourty. Lotus Arts Management, 72-11 Austin Productions. She has presented Management, Fist and Heel Board Partners’ Circle level & above Street, Suite 371 Forest Hills, NY 11375 Tel: 347.721.8724; [email protected]; choreography at the 92nd Street Y, lotusartsmgmt.com of Directors, members of the BRIC, Brooklyn Studios for Dance, Advisory Council, the performers Invitations to Member-Exclusive Events Special thanks to Joan B. Hunter for her support for the development of POWER at Five Myles Art and Performance past and present for their time on Hancock Shaker Village. Space, the WestFest Dance Festival, this project, their commitment Discounts in The Pillow Store Triskelion Arts, Hot Wood Arts Gallery, over the years prioritizing and Sky Gallery, and The Chocolate sacrificing, and their relentless Factory Theater. Wang is a BRIClab Jacob’s Pillow is committed to providing an environment that cultivates the celebration of the art of dance talent. Help make dance creation, presentation, education, and and its positive impact on community. 2016 resident artist, a 2015 Associate Artist at the Atlantic Center for the preservation at Jacob’s Pillow possible. While in our theaters, please refrain from behavior that could disturb other patrons and performers during the performance. We ask that you silence your cell phone; do not photograph or video record performances; keep your ticket with you at all times; observe that food and beverages are not allowed, with the Arts, and a 2014 artist-in-residence at exception of water; and please let a staff member know if you need help. the Marble House Project in Vermont. Thank you! Thank you for observing these House Rules so that everyone can have an enjoyable experience. She was a 2017-18 Brooklyn Arts We are so glad you are here. Enjoy the show! Council grantee to develop Marigram, an international collaborative work inspired by mass protests. PILLOWNOTES JACOB’S PILLOW EXTENDS SPECIAL THANKS by Maura Keefe TO OUR VISIONARY LEADERS The PillowNotes series comprises essays commissioned from our Scholars-in-Residence to provide audiences with a broader context for viewing dance. VISIONARY LEADERS form an important foundation of support and demonstrate their passion for and commitment to Jacob’s Pillow through Reggie Wilson is doing something old. And he’s doing something new. That pairing of past and present annual gifts of $10,000 and above. has driven Wilson since he founded his Brooklyn-based company in 1989. Old and new is not the only duality—there’s also music and dance, sacred and secular, highbrow and lowbrow, body and mind. And, of Their deep affiliation ensures the success and longevity of the course, fist and heel. Not pairings that duel, rather partners who complement and build. Pillow’s annual offerings, including educational initiatives, free public When enslaved Africans were brought to the United States, they were forbidden to use percussion programs, The School, the Archives, and more. instruments in dance and music, either in sacred or secular contexts. In place of drums, fists and heels created body percussions and voiced breath rhythms. Inspired by the ingenuity of dancers and musicians from the past, Wilson’s company beat and stamp out rhythms from various regions in Africa and the $25,000+ Americas. Or as Wilson explains it: “Fist and heel is clapping and stomping, shouting and hollerin’—and PRESENTS Carole* & Dan Burack Christopher Jones* & Deb McAlister the manipulation of energies.” REGGIE WILSON/FIST AND The Barrington Foundation Wendy McCain Frank & Monique Cordasco Fred Moses* One of Wilson’s driving artistic forces is his research, which he described in a PillowTalk as a process in HEEL PERFORMANCE GROUP Hon. Stephan P. Driscoll*, in honor and memory Jennie A. Kassanoff & Dan H. Schulman which he asks questions that lead to more questions. Mostly we think of choreographic research occurring of John Lindquist & Barton Mumaw Mark & Taryn Leavitt in places like the Pillow Lab, working with dancers to create a new work. While Wilson certainly does Doris Duke Theatre Stephanie & Robert ‡ Gittleman Sylvia T. Pope* that, since 1993 Wilson regularly leaves the studio to travel extensively and foster his choreographic Carolyn Gray & George Peppard Robert & Eileen Rominger explorations. For example, he went to the Mississippi Delta region and to Trinidad and Tobago to do Joan & Jim Hunter research with the Spiritual Baptists and Shangoists, and to Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa to July 10-14, 2019 work with dance and performance groups and Zionist religious communities. For Moses(es), seen at the Pillow in 2014, he traveled to Israel, Egypt, and Turkey. For POWER, the Pillow-commissioned work that premieres this summer, some of his research was done a little closer to home, here in the Berkshires. CHOREOGRAPHER Reggie Wilson $10,000+ Elements of what Wilson discovers in working with those different communities and their traditions Dr. Norman Abramson Ann* & Peter Herbst inspire his concert dance works. PERFORMERS Hadar Ahuvia Deborah & Charles Adelman Laura* & Nick Ingoglia Rhetta Aleong Aliad Fund Nancy K. Kalodner This process results in the creation of what he has termed “post-African/Neo-Hoodoo Modern dances.” Rick & Nurit Amdur Amy & Richard Kohan Hoodoo—while the origins of the word itself aren’t quite clear—is a kind of magic or folkloric practice that Yeman Brown Lizbeth & George Krupp Candace* & Rick Beinecke resulted from the intermingling of African beliefs, Native American botanical knowledge, and European Paul Hamilton Linda & Bob Berzok Jack & Elizabeth Meyer, in honor of folktales. The direct reference to African, the mix of cultures with Hoodoo, and the layering and modifying Sydelle & Lee Blatt Diane & Deval Patrick of words with “post” and “neo” suggest just how much blending Wilson does—and how deliberate he is in Lawrence Harding David Carlisle & Morene Bodner Hans* & Kate Morris doing so. Michel Kouakou Chervenak-Nunnallé Foundation Gov. Deval L. & Diane Patrick Clement Mensah Neil* & Kathleen Chrisman Claudia Perles Throughout Wilson’s choreographic career, his works have featured movement idioms from the slave Ranny Cooper & David Smith Caren & Barry Roseman tradition of the ring shout and South African gumboot dancing, to a variety of “hand-dancing” forms like Gabriela Silva Hunter K. Runnette* & Mark P. VandenBosch Jeffrey Davis & Michael T. Miller the Hustle and the Black Bottom. While Wilson draws from, as he puts it, “the movement languages of the Annie Wang David DeFilippo & Lisa Shapiro, in memory of Naomi Seligman & Ernie von Simson blues, slave and spiritual cultures of Africans in the Americas,” he is not reconstructing dances from the Robert Gittleman Mark Sena & Linda Saul-Sena past, nor is he trying to present a replica of a dance from a particular place. Rather, he mixes rhythms from Reggie Wilson Hermine Drezner Natalie & Howard Shawn one place with a song from another and movement from a third. This is where the postmodern aspect Michelle Yard Sheila Drill Lisbeth Tarlow & Stephen Kay comes in: Wilson layers different elements to make something completely new. As he explained in that Roger Tilles Nancy & Michael Feller same PillowTalk, while he operates from a position of respect for the traditions he discovers and explores, “OUTSIDE EYE” Phyllis Lamhut David & Nina Fialkow in honor of Stephen Weiner & Donald Cornuet he is also an artist, and thus he innovates within traditions. Deval & Diane Patrick and Mark A. Leavitt Ellen Weissman Susan Manning Jeanne Donovan Fisher Mark & Liz Williams In spring 2018, Wilson curated a platform of events called Dancing Platform Praying Grounds: Blackness, Joan* & Charlie Gross Elaine* & Irving Wolbrom Churches, and Downtown Dance that culminated with a series of lectures followed by performances at MATH ADVISOR Jesse Wolfson Danspace. In the church/performance space of St. Mark’s Church in New York City, Wilson probed and expanded the connections between the black church and performance. As he stated in a New York Times * Former Trustees, staff, faculty, interns, interview, “his dances are guided by two lines of inquiry: ‘What is the relationship between postmodern The School’s dancers, or arists-in-residence dance and African diasporic culture? And what is the relationship between Protestant Christianity and POWER is dedicated to The Dead. ‡ deceased African diasporic religions? Even if the piece seems like it has nothing to do with either of those, they creep back in there.’” In addition to his curation, Wilson also created a site-specific work titled ...they stood shaking, while others began to shout, inspired by his research on black Shakers. New York Times INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT dance critic Gia Kourlas wrote about the work, “Within the frame of postmodern dance—and with a As of May 23, 2019 major support for Jacob’s Pillow has been generously provided by the heady mix of spirituals, contemporary music and field recordings—he produces a remarkable work that following institutions: The Arison Arts Foundation; Arnhold Foundation; The Barr Foundation; flows seamlessly from start to finish.” Wilson’s research for the Jacob’s Pillow commissioned POWER builds The Barrington Foundation; Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation; Blue Cross Blue Shield on those interests and continues his focus on the Shakers. Visits and residencies at the Pillow Lab which of Massachusetts; The Chervenak-Nunnallé Foundation; The Feigenbaum Foundation; Gladys encompassed research at Hancock Shaker Village culminate in the new work’s world premiere. Krieble Delmas Foundation; The Ford Foundation; Howard Gilman Foundation; Harkness Foundation for Dance; William Randolph Hearst Foundation; The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; MassDevelopment; The Andrew Wilson understands moving across time and from place to place. He uncovers paths laid down by Africans W. Mellon Foundation; Mertz Gilmore Foundation; New England Foundationor f the Arts; and African Americans in the diaspora and in different regions of Africa as they traveled to the New World, National Endowment for the Arts; Onota Foundation; The Prospect Hill Foundation; The Shubert and from the South to the North in the Great Migration and, with his newest work, the Berkshires. And Foundation; The Robert and Tina Sohn Foundation; The Spingold Foundation; Talented Students what he finds reawakens the dances from those places and peoples onto the concert dance stage. in the Arts Initiative, a collaboration of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation anddna Sur Foundation; The Thompson Family Foundation; The Velmans Foundation; Weissmanamily F © 2019 Maura Keefe and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Foundation; and Jacob’s Pillow Business Partners. Dance writer Maura Keefe has led audience programs at various venues around the country and is the Associate Director of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park,where she was named the Dorothy G. Madden Professor of Dance in 2018. PROGRAM COMPANY MEMBERSHIP SUPPORTS EVERYTHING YOU LOVE ABOUT POWER (World Premiere) Art Academy and University of MICHELLE YARD (Performer) was SPECIAL THANKS Minnesota Twin Cities. Silva has born in Brooklyn, New York. She GOD; Ancestors; Ira Sutton Ewing; JACOB’S PILLOW performed with Selmadanse, Jean CHOREOGRAPHY Reggie Wilson began her professional dance Lois J. Wilson, A’ntie C; A’nt Jean, Appolon Expressions, Danza Organica, training at Fiorello H. LaGuardia Uncle Rev., Uncle Von, Uncle Quicksilver Dance, Peter DiMuro, JOIN OUR THOUSANDS OF MEMBERS & SUPPORT THE COSTUME DESIGN Naoko Nagata High School of Music & Art and George, A’nt Wilma, Aba, Abba, Emily Beattie, and Marina Magalhães. Enver Charkatash Performing Arts. While in high Saba, David Wilson, Jr., Elaine MISSION OF JACOB’S PILLOW. She has been a teaching artist for the Indigo Batik by Arianne King Comer with Adjua Nsoroma, and Fist and Heel. school, she also studied at The Ailey Flowers, Phyllis Lamhut, Germaine Kroc Center, Community Art Center, School as a scholarship student. Yard Ingram, Tim O’Brien, the cities of You can help the Pillow present outstanding dance artists TECHNICAL DIRECTION/ Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción, Boston graduated with a B.F.A. in Dance Philadelphia, Watervliet, Hancock, from around the world, provide training and support to LIGHTING DESIGN Jonathan Belcher Ballet, Boston Public Libraries, and from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Bellagio and Mount Lebanon, talented dancers of The School at Jacob’s Pillow, maintain Boston Public Schools. In 2014, she Yard was a longtime member of the Mary Ann Haagen and The Enfield our landmark site, and create free community programs PERFORMERS Hadar Ahuvia co-founded Costasis Arts Collective Mark Morris Dance Group. Yard is Shaker Singers, The Land of the with Terina-Jasmine Alladin to a certified Pilates instructor and that engage people of all ages and backgrounds with dance. Rhetta Aleong Blacks, Jesse Wolfson, Doetsch support collaborations between local teaches in New York City. She is Family Fund, Tara Rodman, Yeman Brown artists of color, community partners, thrilled to be dancing with Reggie Lucia Kellar, Estate of Samuel Paul Hamilton and presenters in Boston. Their Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance Miller, Dave Snyder/Sara Coffey, Lawrence Harding collaborative works,I’ve picked and Group. Mom, thank you! DJ McManus Foundation, Inc., EVERY GIFT MATTERS. Michel Kouakou I’ve picked and I’ve picked; let fall; and Sarah Kim, Martha Sherman, Oyá and Mari Jiwe JOIN AND CHOOSE THE LEVEL RIGHT FOR YOU! Clement Mensah , were presented at Magda Gabor-Hotchkiss, Ainsley RAW Boston, EMW Bookstore, Green Gabriela Silva Boisson, Cathy Edwards, Janel Street Studios, Dance Complex, and Merritt, Polly Morris, Jean Cook, Explore the full list of benefits, join as a new Member, renew your Annie Wang Aeronaut Brewing Company. Silva Madeline Brine, Mike Johnson, current membership, or upgrade to a higher level Michelle Yard participated in a residency at the Pamela Tatge and the full team at jacobspillow.org/support/membership. with Reggie Wilson Institute of Contemporary Art Boston at the Pillow, Jennifer, Caitlin, in 2014 and the following year was the interpreters and the Hancock You can also make a donation by phone at 413.243.9919 x122 MUSIC The Staple Singers; John Davis, Bessie Jones & St. Simon’s Island Singers; Meredith Monk; named an Associate Artist at the Shaker Village crew, Lacy, Jerry, Lonnie Young, Ed Young and Lonnie Young Jr.; Craig Loftis; Henry Williams, Henry Thomas, Atlantic Center for the Arts, where and Sharon at Shaker Museum | George Roberts, Allan Lovelace; Omar Thiam with Jam Begum & Khady Saar; Edna Wright, she began her first independent Mount Lebanon, Lorraine E. Weiss Sustaining members support the Pillow year-round through easy, Henry Thomas, Henry Williams, & Margaret Wright choreographic project inspired by of the Shaker Heritage Society automatic monthly or quarterly gifts. Live vocals selected and arranged by Reggie Wilson her studies of Afro-Brazilian culture (Watervliet), and Richard Flanders under the tutelage of Reggie Wilson. of the Northeastern Woodworkers Most recently, Silva trained, taught, Association, Susan Manning, Depending on your level, membership gives you access to: FUNDING and presented her work at Sarayyet Adrian, Nick, Merrit, and the POWER was co-commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Ramallah in Palestine. cohort and Administration team Early Ticketing POWER was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance at the Rockefeller Bellagio, Polly at Fan level & above Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. ANNIE WANG (Performer) trained at Lynden Sculpture Garden, Arianne Mellon Foundation. It was created in part during multiple residencies in the Pillow Lab and the Martha Graham School and the King Comer and Adjua Nsoroma, Admission to Cast Parties premiered at Jacob’s Pillow July 10, 2019. This project is also supported in part by an award Boitsov School of Classical Ballet. She Judy, Lydia, Sophie, and Danspace Contributor level & above from the National Endowment for the Arts. has had the pleasure of dancing for and St. Mark’s Church in-the- General Operating support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch, Parijat Desai, Bowery, Sam, Harry, Kerry, Karen, Pillow Lab showings where you can witness the creative process with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and is funded and made possible in Nicole Stanton, Pia Vinson, Asako Arielle, Robin at Philadelphia Supporter level & above part by Dance/NYC’s Dance Advancement Fund, made possible by the Ford Foundation. Miyahira, Boitsov Classical Ballet Contemporary and Partners for Company, Dance Elixir, and MADart Sacred Places, Sophie/Lotus Arts Priority Parking Passes Booking information: Sophie Myrtil-McCourty. Lotus Arts Management, 72-11 Austin Productions. She has presented Management, Fist and Heel Board Partners’ Circle level & above Street, Suite 371 Forest Hills, NY 11375 Tel: 347.721.8724; [email protected]; choreography at the 92nd Street Y, lotusartsmgmt.com of Directors, members of the BRIC, Brooklyn Studios for Dance, Advisory Council, the performers Invitations to Member-Exclusive Events Special thanks to Joan B. Hunter for her support for the development of POWER at Five Myles Art and Performance past and present for their time on Hancock Shaker Village. Space, the WestFest Dance Festival, this project, their commitment Discounts in The Pillow Store Triskelion Arts, Hot Wood Arts Gallery, over the years prioritizing and Sky Gallery, and The Chocolate sacrificing, and their relentless Factory Theater. Wang is a BRIClab Jacob’s Pillow is committed to providing an environment that cultivates the celebration of the art of dance talent. Help make dance creation, presentation, education, and and its positive impact on community. 2016 resident artist, a 2015 Associate Artist at the Atlantic Center for the preservation at Jacob’s Pillow possible. While in our theaters, please refrain from behavior that could disturb other patrons and performers during the performance. We ask that you silence your cell phone; do not photograph or video record performances; keep your ticket with you at all times; observe that food and beverages are not allowed, with the Arts, and a 2014 artist-in-residence at exception of water; and please let a staff member know if you need help. the Marble House Project in Vermont. Thank you! Thank you for observing these House Rules so that everyone can have an enjoyable experience. She was a 2017-18 Brooklyn Arts We are so glad you are here. Enjoy the show! Council grantee to develop Marigram, an international collaborative work inspired by mass protests. PILLOWNOTES JACOB’S PILLOW EXTENDS SPECIAL THANKS by Maura Keefe TO OUR VISIONARY LEADERS The PillowNotes series comprises essays commissioned from our Scholars-in-Residence to provide audiences with a broader context for viewing dance. VISIONARY LEADERS form an important foundation of support and demonstrate their passion for and commitment to Jacob’s Pillow through Reggie Wilson is doing something old. And he’s doing something new. That pairing of past and present annual gifts of $10,000 and above. has driven Wilson since he founded his Brooklyn-based company in 1989. Old and new is not the only duality—there’s also music and dance, sacred and secular, highbrow and lowbrow, body and mind. And, of Their deep affiliation ensures the success and longevity of the course, fist and heel. Not pairings that duel, rather partners who complement and build. Pillow’s annual offerings, including educational initiatives, free public When enslaved Africans were brought to the United States, they were forbidden to use percussion programs, The School, the Archives, and more. instruments in dance and music, either in sacred or secular contexts. In place of drums, fists and heels created body percussions and voiced breath rhythms. Inspired by the ingenuity of dancers and musicians from the past, Wilson’s company beat and stamp out rhythms from various regions in Africa and the $25,000+ Americas. Or as Wilson explains it: “Fist and heel is clapping and stomping, shouting and hollerin’—and PRESENTS Carole* & Dan Burack Christopher Jones* & Deb McAlister the manipulation of energies.” REGGIE WILSON/FIST AND The Barrington Foundation Wendy McCain Frank & Monique Cordasco Fred Moses* One of Wilson’s driving artistic forces is his research, which he described in a PillowTalk as a process in HEEL PERFORMANCE GROUP Hon. Stephan P. Driscoll*, in honor and memory Jennie A. Kassanoff & Dan H. Schulman which he asks questions that lead to more questions. Mostly we think of choreographic research occurring of John Lindquist & Barton Mumaw Mark & Taryn Leavitt in places like the Pillow Lab, working with dancers to create a new work. While Wilson certainly does Doris Duke Theatre Stephanie & Robert ‡ Gittleman Sylvia T. Pope* that, since 1993 Wilson regularly leaves the studio to travel extensively and foster his choreographic Carolyn Gray & George Peppard Robert & Eileen Rominger explorations. For example, he went to the Mississippi Delta region and to Trinidad and Tobago to do Joan & Jim Hunter research with the Spiritual Baptists and Shangoists, and to Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa to July 10-14, 2019 work with dance and performance groups and Zionist religious communities. For Moses(es), seen at the Pillow in 2014, he traveled to Israel, Egypt, and Turkey. For POWER, the Pillow-commissioned work that premieres this summer, some of his research was done a little closer to home, here in the Berkshires. CHOREOGRAPHER Reggie Wilson $10,000+ Elements of what Wilson discovers in working with those different communities and their traditions Dr. Norman Abramson Ann* & Peter Herbst inspire his concert dance works. PERFORMERS Hadar Ahuvia Deborah & Charles Adelman Laura* & Nick Ingoglia Rhetta Aleong Aliad Fund Nancy K. Kalodner This process results in the creation of what he has termed “post-African/Neo-Hoodoo Modern dances.” Rick & Nurit Amdur Amy & Richard Kohan Hoodoo—while the origins of the word itself aren’t quite clear—is a kind of magic or folkloric practice that Yeman Brown Lizbeth & George Krupp Candace* & Rick Beinecke resulted from the intermingling of African beliefs, Native American botanical knowledge, and European Paul Hamilton Linda & Bob Berzok Jack & Elizabeth Meyer, in honor of folktales. The direct reference to African, the mix of cultures with Hoodoo, and the layering and modifying Sydelle & Lee Blatt Diane & Deval Patrick of words with “post” and “neo” suggest just how much blending Wilson does—and how deliberate he is in Lawrence Harding David Carlisle & Morene Bodner Hans* & Kate Morris doing so. Michel Kouakou Chervenak-Nunnallé Foundation Gov. Deval L. & Diane Patrick Clement Mensah Neil* & Kathleen Chrisman Claudia Perles Throughout Wilson’s choreographic career, his works have featured movement idioms from the slave Ranny Cooper & David Smith Caren & Barry Roseman tradition of the ring shout and South African gumboot dancing, to a variety of “hand-dancing” forms like Gabriela Silva Hunter K. Runnette* & Mark P. VandenBosch Jeffrey Davis & Michael T. Miller the Hustle and the Black Bottom. While Wilson draws from, as he puts it, “the movement languages of the Annie Wang David DeFilippo & Lisa Shapiro, in memory of Naomi Seligman & Ernie von Simson blues, slave and spiritual cultures of Africans in the Americas,” he is not reconstructing dances from the Robert Gittleman Mark Sena & Linda Saul-Sena past, nor is he trying to present a replica of a dance from a particular place. Rather, he mixes rhythms from Reggie Wilson Hermine Drezner Natalie & Howard Shawn one place with a song from another and movement from a third. This is where the postmodern aspect Michelle Yard Sheila Drill Lisbeth Tarlow & Stephen Kay comes in: Wilson layers different elements to make something completely new. As he explained in that Roger Tilles Nancy & Michael Feller same PillowTalk, while he operates from a position of respect for the traditions he discovers and explores, “OUTSIDE EYE” Phyllis Lamhut David & Nina Fialkow in honor of Stephen Weiner & Donald Cornuet he is also an artist, and thus he innovates within traditions. Deval & Diane Patrick and Mark A. Leavitt Ellen Weissman Susan Manning Jeanne Donovan Fisher Mark & Liz Williams In spring 2018, Wilson curated a platform of events called Dancing Platform Praying Grounds: Blackness, Joan* & Charlie Gross Elaine* & Irving Wolbrom Churches, and Downtown Dance that culminated with a series of lectures followed by performances at MATH ADVISOR Jesse Wolfson Danspace. In the church/performance space of St. Mark’s Church in New York City, Wilson probed and expanded the connections between the black church and performance. As he stated in a New York Times * Former Trustees, staff, faculty, interns, interview, “his dances are guided by two lines of inquiry: ‘What is the relationship between postmodern The School’s dancers, or arists-in-residence dance and African diasporic culture? And what is the relationship between Protestant Christianity and POWER is dedicated to The Dead. ‡ deceased African diasporic religions? Even if the piece seems like it has nothing to do with either of those, they creep back in there.’” In addition to his curation, Wilson also created a site-specific work titled ...they stood shaking, while others began to shout, inspired by his research on black Shakers. New York Times INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT dance critic Gia Kourlas wrote about the work, “Within the frame of postmodern dance—and with a As of May 23, 2019 major support for Jacob’s Pillow has been generously provided by the heady mix of spirituals, contemporary music and field recordings—he produces a remarkable work that following institutions: The Arison Arts Foundation; Arnhold Foundation; The Barr Foundation; flows seamlessly from start to finish.” Wilson’s research for the Jacob’s Pillow commissioned POWER builds The Barrington Foundation; Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation; Blue Cross Blue Shield on those interests and continues his focus on the Shakers. Visits and residencies at the Pillow Lab which of Massachusetts; The Chervenak-Nunnallé Foundation; The Feigenbaum Foundation; Gladys encompassed research at Hancock Shaker Village culminate in the new work’s world premiere. Krieble Delmas Foundation; The Ford Foundation; Howard Gilman Foundation; Harkness Foundation for Dance; William Randolph Hearst Foundation; The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency; MassDevelopment; The Andrew Wilson understands moving across time and from place to place. He uncovers paths laid down by Africans W. Mellon Foundation; Mertz Gilmore Foundation; New England Foundation for the Arts; and African Americans in the diaspora and in different regions of Africa as they traveled to the New World, National Endowment for the Arts; Onota Foundation; The Prospect Hill Foundation; The Shubert and from the South to the North in the Great Migration and, with his newest work, the Berkshires. And Foundation; The Robert and Tina Sohn Foundation; The Spingold Foundation; Talented Students what he finds reawakens the dances from those places and peoples onto the concert dance stage. in the Arts Initiative, a collaboration of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and Surdna Foundation; The Thompson Family Foundation; The Velmans Foundation; Weissman Family © 2019 Maura Keefe and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Foundation; and Jacob’s Pillow Business Partners. Dance writer Maura Keefe has led audience programs at various venues around the country and is the Associate Director of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park,where she was named the Dorothy G. Madden Professor of Dance in 2018.