Back at Jacob's Pillow

Jacob’s Pillow opens next week, and the pastoral campus in Becket, MA, is jumping.    

   The school is already in session, training the next generation of ballet, modern, jazz and hip-hop dancers. The companies that open the season are on site, rehearsing. Interns are preparing the box office, the free shows, the archives and the exhibitions. And, says Executive Director Ella Baff, none of the rich array of free programming is being cut this year, despite the fact that the dance world is in the worst “struggle and strife, the most difficult time any of us have ever seen.  You can’t compromise the art,†she says. And for anyone struggling financially this year, the Pillow is one of the best resources in the tri-state region. Where else can you spend an entire day taking in the best the art world has to offer, for free? This year alone, the Inside/Out stage will host companies from Korea, India and Quebec, performances that span contemporary ballet, tap, traditional Irish and South-African-inspired step dancing, as well as internationally acclaimed companies like Erick Hawkins and the youngest up-and-coming dancers.

   Of course the paid performances are the centerpiece of the Festival. Two theaters — the proscenium-stage Ted Shawn, and the black-box Doris Duke — host 18 different companies spanning the most wildly diverse repertoire imaginable, often with live music.

   The first company, Mujeres, opening June 24, performs contemporary flamenco; and the last, Doug Elkin & Friends, is doing a deliciously silly send up of the “Sound of Music†called “Fraulein Maria.†(Video clips of these and almost all the companies performing are available right on the Pillow’s Website ­— an easy and helpful way to get a taste of each before deciding whether to buy tickets.)

   In between, this year’s lineup skews heavily to the contemporary and experimental. Even the ballet companies will have nary a tutu nor swan on display. Instead, there will be music by modern masters such as Phillip Glass (in Doug Varone’s sweeping “Luxâ€) and alt-rock group RadioHead, featured in Ballet Maribor’s evening-length ballet, “Radio and Juliet†created by Romanian choreographer Edward Clug. “It’s a cast of one Juliet and six men,†Baff says. “They’re gorgeous. And so is she.â€

   The granddaddy of contemporary and experimental choreographers, Merce Cunningham, turns 90 this year. He has just announced plans to disband his company in two years, so the performances this summer will be among the last opportunities to see his handpicked dancers performing under his direction. Cunningham will receive the $25,000 Jacob’s Pillow Award this weekend, and the company will perform from July 22 to 26. Cunningham’s dances are often created independently from the music to which they are performed, and this time the audience will have an active role in determining what score is heard: each audience member will receive an ipod shuffle, and can choose what music to listen to while watching.

   Baff is a champion of the up-and-coming and less familiar choreographers and performers.

   “If you see only one thing this summer,†she urges, “make it Jason Samuel Smith.†This tap prodigy recently appeared as a guest artist on TV’s “So You Think You Can Dance.†Smith got his start as a teenager performing with Savion Glover and is, Baff says, “one of the great performers working today.†He and his company will occupy the Doris Duke for two weeks.  

   Also not to be missed, says Baff, is young choreographer Crystal Pite, formerly of William Forsythe’s post-modernist Frankfort Ballet, and her company, Kidd Pivot.

   As for me, I’m lining up for Doug Varone, one of my all-time favorites for his lyricism, wit and musicality. Somehow I’ve never made it to the much loved and lauded Ballet Hispanico, so I will rectify that at last.

   And, who knows, by late August perhaps vaudevillian gags set to “Climb Every Mountain†is just what I’ll need to round out a summer of wonderful dancing.

 Jacob’s Pillow is in Becket, MA, about an hour’s drive from Salisbury. For tickets and information call 413-243-0745 or go to www.Jacobspillow.org.

   To view the video clips click on The Festival / Artists and calendar.