Digital Resource of the Week: Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive

Jacob’s Pillow, “America’s longest running international dance festival,” brings you an interactive website full of performances from the 1930s through today’s hottest dancers. The history of Jacob’s Pillow is rooted in an old New England farm, purchased by dance couple Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis in 1930. And it’s still making history – in March of this year, President Obama awarded Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival the National Medal of Arts.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive showcases dancers from the annual festival. Search by artist to find your favorite performer, like Alvin Ailey or Pearl Primus. You can also search by genre, such as ballet or cultural, or by era, like the 1950s.

Virtual Pillow leads you to even more interactive resources, including PillowTalk (interviews and conversations with choreographers, dancers, and others).

Want to learn more about Jacob’s Pillow? Search the UArts Libraries’ catalog for “Jacob’s Pillow” as a keyword (in quotation marks!), Ted Shawn or Ruth St. Denis to find more great resources. There’s also an entry on Jacob’s Pillow in the online International Encyclopedia of Dance.

from Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

Ruth St. Denis