PillowVoices: Dance Through Time

By Jacob's Pillow ArchivesSociety & Culture Arts History Performing Arts

PillowVoices: Dance Through Time episodes

December 27, 2025 50 Seasons with Norton Owen
Behind the scenes stories of how the exhibition 'Connecting Through Time: 50 Seasons with Norton Owen' came together. Scholar in Residence Maura Keefe guides the conversation with exhibit curator Wendy Perron, Pillow Archivist Patsy Gay, and Director of Preservation Norton Owen. Recorded during July 2025 PillowTalk.
52 min
November 22, 2025 Tap is the Root, with Robyn Watson
Dance Interactive Video Excerpts of Tap Performances at Jacob’s Pillow
Dance Interactive Multimedia Essays on Tap curated by Brian Seibert

20 min
October 25, 2025 Frederic Franklin's Ballet Memories
See Frederic Franklin dancing with Alexandra Danilova in 1948 at Jacob's Pillow on DANCE INTERACTIVE
'Frederic Franklin Returns' PillowTalk 2007 - video excerpt on YOUTUBE
32 min
September 27, 2025 Audio Description for Dance at Jacob’s Pillow
Links to disability artistry projects mentioned in this podcast:
POD Access by Thomas Reid and Cheryl Green
Reid My Mind Radio hosted by Thomas Reid
Social Audio Description Collective
Kinetic Light
Kayla Hamilton
Christopher Unpezverde Núñez
Krishna Washburn
Curiosity Paradox
31 min
August 23, 2025 Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Dance scholar Nancy Wozny highlights the life and work of Moroccan and Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Cherkaoui was honored with the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award in 2022 for his achievements in the worlds of both concert and commercial dance including choreography for Beyoncé and the Broadway production of Jagged Little Pill.
28 min
July 26, 2025 Bill T. Jones: Philosophies and Memories
Norton Owen introduces highlights from past PillowTalks with choreographer Bill T. Jones, including reflections on his philosophy of partnering and its roots in contact improvisation. He also offers advice on how audiences might best approach his work and shares the personal story of a gift from two Pillow patrons.
21 min
June 21, 2025 Dancing Mr. Talley Beatty's Blackness
Dance Scholar Mora-Amina Parker illuminates the historical and cultural context of Mr. Talley Beatty's choreography as well as the significant impact on in her course as a professional dancer after discovering his ballets.
22 min
May 31, 2025 Resident Dance Photographers at Jacob's Pillow
Guest host Benjamin Richards focuses the lens on four different resident dance photographers: John Lindquist, Stephan Driscoll, Mike van Sleen and Christopher Duggan.
27 min
April 26, 2025 La Nijinska
Highlights from a 2022 PillowTalk with Lynn Garafola, author of the biography La Nijinska: Choreographer of the Modern speaking with scholar-in-residence Brian Schaefer. Garafola illuminates Bronislava Nijinska’s life as a Russian born dancer, sibling to Vaslav Nijinsky, and groundbreaking 20th century ballet choreographer. Garafola also shares some fascinating documentation of Nijinska's pivotal connections to Jacob's Pillow.
47 min
March 29, 2025 Celebrating Carmen de Lavallade
Highlights from Carmen de Lavallade's Pillow debut as a dancer in Lester Horton's company in 1953, all the way through the premiere of her one woman show at the age of 83. Host Norton Owen guides us through the many spirited connections Ms. de Lavallade holds both in American dance history and with Jacob's Pillow.
33 min

About PillowVoices: Dance Through Time

From the publisher's feed

PillowVoices: Dance Through Time brings listeners closer to notable dance artists connected with Jacob's Pillow, from 1933 to today. Each piece exemplifies Jacob's Pillow's mission to 'support dance creation, presentation, education, and preservation; and to engage and deepen public appreciation and support for dance' by utilizing archival recordings brought to life in the personal stories and narration of current thought-leaders and scholars. Jacob's Pillow, lauded by The New York Times as "the dance center of the nation," is a National Historic Landmark, a recipient of the prestigious National Medal of Arts, and home to America’s longest-running international dance festival, located in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.