BECKET, Mass. - After cancelling all in-person performances last year, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival is getting ready for the start of its 2021 season at the end of the month. 

What You Need To Know

  • Jacob's Pillow is resuming in-person performances this summer
  • All performances will be outside, many focused on nature and history
  • COVID-19 protocols will be in place, and performances will be available digitally
  • Work has begun to re-build the theater which burned down last year

“I think what’s exciting about this summer is that we’ll be back,” said Pillow executive and artistic director, Pamela Tatge. “Artists will be back performing. Audiences will be back here finally attending and seeing live performance.”

Nine dance companies will perform at the Festival’s new outdoor theater, the Henry J. Leir Stage, this summer. There will be several site-based works scattered throughout the campus as well.

Many of the productions will reflect the natural beauty and the history of the Berkshires.

“We’re looking at the multiple histories that exist here at Jacob’s Pillow,” said Tatge. “Not only the history of Ted Shawn, our founder, but also the indigenous peoples, who were here long before us, and what are their traditions and how can we bring audiences into that work. And also, people don’t know this, but Jacob’s Pillow was a stop on the Underground Railroad, so we will be celebrating the contributions of African American artists to the dance field.”

Some COVID-19 protocols, including capacity limits and masking, will still be in place. The Festival will also continue its expanded digital presence, after presenting last year’s season entirely virtually.

“We’ll open with two international companies that we can’t present live,” said Tatge, “so we’re going to engage with them virtually, and then every performance at the Henry J. Leir Stage will be translated into a performance film that people will have the opportunity to see two weeks after its live performance.”

This season also comes after a fire destroyed the historic Doris Duke Theatre in November.

Tatge called the loss of the theater devastating, but they’ve already started the process of rebuilding.

“Now, we’re in the process of selecting an architect,” said Tatge, “and it’s our hope to be able to raise the funds and open a theater in the summer of 2023.”