As there is no such thing as universal agreement when we’re talking about tastes and preferences — particularly when it comes to art —herewith is simply a sampling of the many dance-related performances coming to the region this summer. The intention is to entice you to look further into all that the various venues have to offer on this summer’s many-flavored dance menu.

Bard Summerscape
1. Urban Bush Women

Over its 40-year history, this company has demonstrated, again and again, how stories can be told quite clearly through dance; indeed, how dance can sometimes say so much more than words. Though set in a fictional jazz club, choreographer and UBW founder Jawole Willa Jo Zollar’s "SCAT! The complex lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar" draws upon real family history to tell this “…love story of two people making their way during the Great Migration through song, dance, and storytelling.” With an original score by Craig Harris played by a live jazz band and the UBW’s now-expansive, now-subtle, always vibrant dancing, expect this joint to be jumping. June 28-30

The Foundry
2. Happenstance Theatre

There’s plenty of movement in any circus. But the physical comedy in Happenstance Theatre’s "PREPOSTEROUS!" has been elevated to into a realm of whimsy you won’t find in the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. This recontextualized circus, where vintage clowns become circus animals and sing as a human calliope, will offer music and movement and mime…and, rumor has it, pie (presumably, not to eat but for shtick-related purposes). June 29

PS21
3. Paul Taylor Dance Company

Paul Taylor, the eponymous founder of this venerable modern dance troupe, and one of the very familiar names in the early modern dance family “tree,” died in 2018. Although these days the company’s repertoire also includes works by other famous choreographers, as well as dances by newer generations, this program will include three Taylor-made works: the stark, enigmatic, etched "Runes" from 1975; the regal yet playful 1988 "Brandenburgs;" and his elegiac "Promethean Fire," from 2002. The formal grandeur of that last piece almost crosses a line into melodrama but instead the stoic virtuosity of the fine dancers helps viewers see — and feel — the visceral truth and beauty of this, one of Taylor’s late gems. August 2-3

4. Ismaël Mouaraki, "Le sacre de Lila"

Quebec-based choreographer Ismaël Mouaraki’s company, Destins Croisés, depicts, through a contemporary/modern dance lens, the “traditional mystical and musical celebrations” of “Lila” (“night”) ceremonies of Mouaraki’s native Morocco. In Mouaraki’s 2022 Le sacre de Lila the dancers — eight men — rave together, ecstatic, and rest, sometimes against another, exhausted. Set to Antoine Berthiaume’s electronic score, the sometimes trippy, sometimes trance-like atmosphere at times conjures a pulsing nightclub, at other times a campfire on a beach. Ritualism, sensuality, danger, and beauty linger and mix. August 24-25

Jacob's Pillow


Photo credit: Andrej-Uspensk

5. The Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom

Any chance to see “the Royal,” as it’s known, one of the world’s top ballet companies, is reason enough to hurry for a ticket. There’ll be even more electricity in the air, given that this is the first time the company is appearing at the Pillow. There’ll be 12 performances in the Pillow’s two main theaters over the course of five days. The programs will include works by iconic British choreographers of the past — Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan —and present —Wayne McGregor and Christopher Wheeldon; as well as Pam Tanowitz, the recipient of this year’s prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award. July 3-7

6. Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève

The first time I saw this company, in 2007, was its first Pillow appearance; and it was the first time I’d seen the work of choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Now the director of the group, Cherkaoui has a particular knack for creating visually sumptuous choreography that elicits both creaturely and human qualities from the dancers. The all-Cherkaoui program includes his stunning, erotically (and acrobatically) fey duet "Faun" — an homage to Vaslav Nijinsky’s shocking (at the time) 1912 "L’après midi d’un faune" — and "Noetic", a dance theatre ensemble work with a driving, sometimes haunting original score and a shape-shifting, seemingly alive sculpture. July 10-14

7. MoBBallet: Creating Pathways to Performance

Full disclosure: Over the years, I have been an ardent fan, a grateful student, and occasionally, a lucky colleague of the dynamic Theresa Ruth Howard, the dancer, teacher, journalist, diversity consultant, and now, curator/director of these performances. MoBBallet (Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet) features Black and brown dancers culled from various companies and the program includes ballets exclusively by Black choreographers. July 10-11

8. Camille A. Brown & Dancers

Longtime Pillow audiences have had the pleasure of witnessing the continuous, and, given her huge talent, inevitable, rise of dancer and choreographer Camille A. Brown. Her résumé has expanded in very prominent ways, with directing and/or choreography work for television and Broadway. She returns to the Pillow stage with her own company of dancers to present "I AM," a world premiere inspired by a very particular episode from the HBO series “Lovecraft Country.” Will Josephine Baker be conjured here, as she was in that TV episode? July 31-August 4

Photo credit: Jesse Rodkin

9. Soledad Barrio & Noche Flamenca

It’s been more than 20 years since Noche Flamenca — the fabulous company of dancers and musicians directed by the celebrated Barrio and her husband, Martin Santangelo — has gifted the Pillow with its electric yet poetic presence. The program will include excerpts from the new work "Searching for Goya," a series of vignettes inspired by the paintings of Francisco de Goya. The preview performance of Goya I saw last year at Williams College made an indelible impression — the choreography, music, lighting, costumes, props and stage décor seemed to meld together in a way as if indeed a painting come to life. It’s an epic work with an epic artist — Barrio — at its center. August 14-18

10. Dance Theatre of Harlem

Co-founded in 1969 by the Black ballet icon Arthur Mitchell in the aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, Dance Theatre of Harlem continues to be an essential institution showcasing excellent Black and brown ballet dancers in a field which continues to struggle, appallingly, to be truly diverse and equitable. DTH has been coming to the Pillow almost right from its beginning. With new director Robert Garland at the helm, this beloved Pillow “family member” will perform a program that represents its past and present, including works by Garland, George Balanchine, and William Forsythe. August 21-25

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