Jacob’s Pillow Dance Company in the Berkshires is Summer Home to Most of the Dance World



AXIS Dance Company will perform in Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2023, which runs June 28-August 27. Photo by David DeSilva, courtesy of Jacob’s Pillow.

How did you spend the spring?

Pamela Tatge, the executive director of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Company, in Beckett, Massachusetts, where thousands of New Jerseyans go each summer on vacation, spent it in Taiwan.

Oh, yes, she spent it in Taiwan!

Miss Tatge, in charge of the 91 year old dance institution in the hills of the Berkshires, flew to Taiwan and in just five days saw performances by eight different dance troupes.

That is being BUSY (Look Up the word  BUSY in the dictionary and you’ll see her picture next to it).

This is part of a renewed effort of Jacob’s Pillow to be the American home for international dance troupes.

The Berkshires’ dance theater held that honor for many years before the Pandemic hit Massachusetts. “The Pandemic did not wreck us, but it hurt. Last year we had a great season and prospects for this year look even more promising.  I am so encouraged by our audiences,” she said. “They are here, strong as ever. The pandemic did not ruin their enthusiasm. Not at all.”

Jacob’s Pillow Director Pamela Tatge; photo by Hayim Heron

She counted up the international ballets to perform there this summer. “It’s about the same as four or five years ago, so our comeback is coming along nicely,” she said. They include the Dutch National Ballet,  the Gauthier Dance Company, Compagnie Kafix, OD Works, and Decidedly Jazz.

Her  favorite feeling about the comeback?

“Oh, the joy I think we bring to so many people who come here for the dance companies. You can see it in their eyes, and in their kids’ eyes, too,” Ms. Tatge added.

The dance theater in the Berkshires is home to half a dozen or so foreign dance companies this summer. They not only give the Pillow it’s prestige, but surprisingly, serve as sort of home grown dance companies for Pillow audiences.

“Last week we had our annual gala here and we had people from 35 different countries at it. 35…that’s a really, really strong international look.”

Yes, it is.

Dutch National Ballet will perform ‘Grand Pas Classique’ in Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2023, which runs June 28-Aug. 27. Photo by Hans Gerritsen, courtesy of Jacob’s Pillow.

The process of booking a dance company from another country, such as the red hot Dutch National Ballet, is not as easy as it seems.

First, Tatge and her colleagues at the Pillow need to get the dance company booked by a second venue here in the United States each summer to make the trip, thousands of miles, worth the dance troupe’s trouble.

The Pillow selects dance companies after exhaustive investigation. Ms, Tatge has two assistants who work at the Pillow help her make the decision. They work with another dance expert on a “committee.” The members of the committee might see some international company during the year that they recommend. They look at videos sent by foreign companies. They might not be terribly interested in the overall company, but some of the dancers they’d like to bring here. This summer Jacob’s Pillow will host  some dancers from a dance troupe in Northern Ireland for the first time.

Jacob’s Pillow has been very popular for years, but it isn’t just the foreign national dance companies.

“Our founder, Ted Shawn, loved bringing over international dance companies. He believed, as we believe today, that our American audiences can learn from other country’s dance troupes. He, and we today, also believed that dance is performed differently in other parts of the world. Why not let Americans experience that, too? It isn’t just that. We have lots of very impressive American companies, and performers. We have an indoor theater and an outdoor theater. We have a dance library, archives, for people who want to study the history of dance.”

Decidedly Jazz Danceworks will perform in Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2023. Photo by Trudie Lee

Tatge pauses. “Oh, and the scenery. This spot in Massachusetts is one of the prettiest in the country. We have an ‘open campus’ here where you can walk around. You can come here an hour or two early and tour the whole place, trees and plants and all. You can have yourself a picnic here. The views of the hills here are wonderful. I think all of that, combined makes us a special place.”

She pauses once more. “You can go to a lot of places in the U.S. and see great dance, but this is the only place where you can see it at several theaters, in a forest wonderland and study it, too. I think that has been our strength over all these years.”

Speaking of the archives, Ms. Tatge chuckles. “You go into the archives in the hope of finding out something about the legendary Martha Graham. Well, here we’ve got photos of her dancing when she visited us back in the 1940s. That’s special.”

The future? Who knows.

“I’m delighted to be a, well, shepherd of dance here, now,  and I do the best I can. Oh, the Pillow will probably be here 91 years from now, and it’ll be special, but I don’t what twists and turns will take place. We’ll see…” she said.

Jacob’s Pillow Executive & Artistic Director Pamela Tatge; photo by Hayim Heron​​​​​​​

Bruce Chadwick worked for 23 years as an entertainment writer/critic for the New York Daily News. Later, he served as the arts and entertainment critic for the History News Network, a national online weekly magazine. Chadwick holds a Ph. D in History and Cultural Studies from Rutgers University. He has written 31 books on U.S. history and has lectured on history and culture around the world. He is a history professor at New Jersey City University.