Jacob's Pillow starts summer season in Becket

Jacob's Pillow Dance, recent recipient of a prestigious National Medal of Arts, announces its full 2011 Festival calendar, including more than 120 ticketed performances and 200 free events, performances, talks, exhibits, and tours. Free event highlights include Annie Leibovitz: DANCE, an exclusive photography exhibit featuring dance images of acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz, created especially for the Pillow. This season's Inside/Out schedule features free showings by dancers of The School at Jacob's Pillow Samba Program (July 2 & 9), Abaku Afro-Latin Dance Company (July 21), the all-female hip-hop group Decadancetheatre (July 29), Flamenco Dance Project (August 12), Boston-based Urbanity Dance (August 24), and many others.

---

"Our free events are our way of saying that Jacob's Pillow belongs to everyone." —Ella Baff, Executive Director

---

Free PillowTalks, held Thursdays at 5pm and Saturdays at 4pm, include speakers such as composer David Lang (July 28), The Huffington Post's Debra Levine and Jennifer Edwards (August 13), Humanities scholar and cultural critic David Kyuman Kim (August 18), and Festival artist and choreographer Mark Morris (August 25). The Pillow's annual Community Dance Day (July 10), the second annual "Weekend OUT" (August 3-7), and events which are part of the Berkshire County-wide "Lift Ev'ry Voice" festival celebrating African-American Culture and Heritage in the Berkshires further welcome and engage visitors from around the world. "Our free events are our way of saying that Jacob's Pillow belongs to everyone. The Pillow is a place to socialize with friends and family, meet new people, enjoy the idyllic grounds, and fall in love with dance," states Ella Baff, Executive and Artistic Director. Jacob's Pillow kicks off the Festival and new season of free Inside/Out performances on June 22 with the Grand Re-Opening of the Marcia and Seymour Simon Performance Space and new Henry J. Leir Stage. Following opening remarks and an official ribbon cutting, The Vanaver Caravan will perform; the ensemble was one of the first dance companies to perform when the Inside/Out series launched in the 1980s. This free event, celebrating the broad community of audience members and artists that supported the rebuilding of the stage, begins at 5:45pm and all are invited. Since 1983 the Pillow's outdoor stage has featured hundreds of free performances by emerging and established dance companies and showings by dancers of The School at Jacob's Pillow. In Festival 2011 this beloved performance tradition continues every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening at 6:15pm during the Festival. Last season, with generous and broad-based support from the general public, Jacob's Pillow raised enough funding to rebuild the stage. The funds raised during the "Save the Stage" initiative completed a $1.1 million campaign to improve amenities and facilities at the Pillow, with the support of a $400,000 Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund matching challenge grant. Updates and improvements include the new Henry J. Leir Stage with expanded entrances and exits for artists; the Sylvia T. Pope Musicians' Stage; the newly expanded dressing areas; the Jennie Ann Kassanoff Garden; new benches, many of which are named in honor of donors and artists; and a re-graded public seating area with improved sightlines. For a complete listing of all Festival 2011 ticketed and free events, please visit the Web site www.jacobspillow.org. The 79th Festival begins June 18 with the Season Opening Gala and concludes August 28. —Courtesy of Jacob's Pillow