PillowVoices: Dance Through Time

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

PillowVoices: Dance Through Time episodes

October 30, 2021 Focus the Lights: On Dance and the Field, with Adrian Madison Cario
Adrian Madison Cario hosts this episode on the relationship between lighting design and dance, featuring some of the 20th century's most prominent designers—Tom Skelton, Beverly Emmons, Jennifer Tipton, and Mark Stanley. Now the CEO of San Francisco's Minnesota Street Project, Cario draws upon their beginnings in lighting design to illuminate different perspectives on design, collaboration, and building a world on stage.
Special thanks to New England Public Media, for their support of this episode of PillowVoices.
25 min
September 25, 2021 CONTRA-TIEMPO: A Talk with Ana Maria Alvarez and Maura Keefe
We join Pillow Scholar Maura Keefe in conversation with award-winning Ana Maria Alvarez, the founder of CONTRA-TIEMPO, a multilingual Los-Angeles-based activist performing company dedicated to transforming the world through dance. This is a recast of a PillowTalk presented live on July 11, 2021.
Special thanks to New England Public Media, for their support of this episode of PillowVoices.
37 min
August 28, 2021 The History of Jazz Dance: Melanie George and LaTasha Barnes
In this episode we share a PillowTalk that took place at Jacob's Pillow on August 15, 2021. Pillow Scholar and Associate Curator Melanie George hosts this conversation with a foremost tradition-bearer of Black American social dance, LaTasha Barnes. Through her work, The Jazz Continuum, Barnes places jazz dance in the context of House, Hip-Hop, Waacking, and Lindy Hop. LaTasha Barnes is an internationally-recognized and award-winning dancer, choreographer, educator, performer, and ambassador of culture. She has been honored to be a frequent collaborator with Dorrance Dance, Ephrat Asherie Dance, Ladies of Hip-Hop, and Caleb Teicher & Company.
Special thanks to New England Public Media for their support of this episode of PillowVoices.
47 min
July 31, 2021 Remembering Anna Halprin
In this episode hosted by Jennifer Edwards, we celebrate the life, work, and impact of Anna Halprin (1920-2021). A visionary force in both dance and healing, Halprin played a crucial role in the evolution of post-modern dance and developing ethical social practice through art. We learn about Halprin's work from scholars Ninotchka Bennahum and Wendy Perron, from Halprin biographer Janice Ross, and from Anna Halprin herself.
Special thanks to New England Public Media for their support of this episode of PillowVoices.
*Audio note: in this episode, Ellis Rovin was our composer and editor; our engineer was Adam BW
36 min
June 26, 2021 Wendy Perron on Grand Union: Democracy or Anarchy?
Dance writer Wendy Perron, a former associate director of Jacob's Pillow, explores Grand Union, a maverick 1970s improvisation group based in downtown New York. Perron tells their story through the voices of four key members: Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, Trisha Brown, and David Gordon.

Special thanks to New England Public Media, for their support of this episode of PillowVoices.
26 min
May 22, 2021 The Complexities of Indian Dance at The Pillow
Professor of dance at UCLA and Pillow Scholar, Lionel Popkin explores the complicated history and relationship between Indian dance, American modern dance, and Jacob's Pillow. Posing pointed questions about the 'use' of Indian dance movement and esthetics in the work of The Denishawn Company, the curatorial lens applied to Indian dance over time, and ultimately the influence and legacy of those choices on the dance landscape of today.
Introduction to Bharatanatyam
Lakshmi Vishwanathan: https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/lakshmi-vishwanathan/varnam/
Ragamala: https://www.ragamaladance.org
Shantala Shivalingappa: http://shantalashivalingappa.com/en/
Nrityagram: https://nrityagram.org
Akram Khan: https://www.akramkhancompany.net
Aakash Odedra: https://aakashodedra.com
Pramila Vasudevan: http://www.aniccha.org
Hari Krishnan: https://www.indance.ca
Lionel Popkin: http://www.lionelpopkin.org
37 min
April 24, 2021 Choreographing the Social Consciousness: Part 3, Making Sense of the World
Into Sunlight trailer: https://vimeo.com/131009698
STILL: https://vimeo.com/476315913/3a7f9258bb

33 min
March 27, 2021 Native Contemporary Dance: No Longer in Sepia Tones
Explore Artists Mentioned in This Episode:
Christopher K Morgan and Artists
Daystar Rosalie Jones
Lemi Ponifasio
Neil Ieremia
Moss Patterson
Santee Smith
Red Sky Performance
Rosy Simas
Emily Johnson
Maura Garcia
Brooke Smiley
Dakota Camacho
Anthony Hudson
Timothy White Eagle
AKU-MATU Alison Akootchook Warden
Deeper dive:
Code Switch Episode, "The Hawaiin Language Nearly Died. A Radio Show Sparked its Revival."
PillowPlaylist: Indigenous Dance of the Americas
32 min
February 20, 2021 Remembering Marge Champion
As mentioned in this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NckTgsBsrKE
Author Mindy Aloff shares stories from her book Hippo in a Tutu: Dancing in Disney Animation along with screening brief film excerpts that illustrate the evolution of dance used in Disney animation from the 1930s to 1950s. Joined by Marge Champion, who is interviewed for Hippo in a Tutu and was the dancer and live model for both Snow White and the Hippopotamus Ballerina in Fantasia. Moderated by Jacob's Pillow Director of Preservation Norton Owen.

Watch the award-winning short film, Keep Dancing. (https://vimeo.com/153283760)
"Singularly endearing!" - The New York Times
"Keep Dancing is a testament to the vitality of existence." - Slash Film
"Elegant gem of a film" - City Arts
"Enchantingly inspiring film!" - Backstage
After celebrated careers, legendary dancers Marge Champion and Donald Saddler became friends while performing together in the Broadway show Follies in 2001. When the show closed, they decided to rent a private studio together, and they have been choreographing and rehearsing original dances ever since. At age 90, they continue to pursue their passion for life through their love and mastery of dance. Keep Dancing seamlessly blends nine decades of archival film and photographs with present-day footage to tell a story through dance of the passing of time and the process of aging.
Official Selection at South by Southwest, Dance on Camera at Lincoln Center, Silverdocs, Sedona International Film Festival and over 25 other international film festivals. Nominated for the IDA Short Documentary of the Year Award.
37 min
January 30, 2021 Choreographing the Social Consciousness: Part 2, The Body Politic(al)
In part 2 of this several-part series, we explore how dancers and choreographers have embodied and confronted social constraints and constructs. Highlighing conversations between Pillow Scholar Maura Keefe and Carmen de Lavallade, Tere O'Connor and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, we discover personal, artistic, and political perspectives on age, culture and queerness.
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.