By Cherylynn Tsushima,The Berkshire Eagle
Copyright berkshireeagle
BECKET — Jacob’s Pillow will host its first fully produced fall performance weekend, Oct. 24–26, featuring dancers Caleb Teicher and Nic Gareiss at the newly opened Doris Duke Theatre.
The weekend marks a step in Jacob’s Pillow’s expansion beyond its summer festival, providing new opportunities for audiences and artists to engage with dance year-round. This programming also includes the Pillow Lab residency program, which supports choreographic development and research.
“The reimagined Doris Duke Theatre not only lets Jacob’s Pillow return to its full presenting footprint, but also supports year-round programming and unites artists with our region’s dance audience,” said Pamela Tatge, executive and artistic director of Jacob’s Pillow, in a release.
In addition to the fall weekend, Jacob’s Pillow will present ZAZ by SOLE Defined at Williams College Sept. 26–27, and Deborah Hay’s “Short-sighted” at Mass MoCA on Dec. 11. These co-presentations extend the organization’s reach beyond its campus and offer audiences more contemporary dance experiences throughout the region.
Caleb Teicher & Nic Gareiss is a work of playful transgression, blending improvisation, song, and percussive dance. The pair moves at the intersection of jazz and folk, social and solo dance, creating an evening rooted in time and place yet uniquely their own.
“Our show is all singing and dancing, a meeting of our backgrounds,” Teicher said. “My background in tap, jazz and swing comes together with Nic’s background in traditional folk music and dance. The show is virtuosic, funny and heartfelt.”
Jacob’s Pillow’s Pillow Lab residency program continues this year with artists Grisha Coleman, Marjani Forté-Saunders, Jerron Herman and Candace L. Feldman, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, mayfield brooks, Reggie Wilson / Fist and Heel Performance Group and slowdanger. An eighth residency will be announced in early 2026.
The Pillow Lab provides support for U.S.-based and international dance artists in developing, researching and refining choreographic projects. Artists work in the Pillow’s retreat-like setting, taking advantage of studio spaces and the surrounding wooded landscape. Some residencies will be held in the Doris Duke Theatre, which includes a makerspace that allows artists to incorporate emerging technologies and fully realize tech-driven work.
JACOB’S PILLOW FALL SEASON
Tickets can be purchased online at jacobspillow.org and by calling the box office at 413-243-0745.
‘ZAZ’ by SOLE Defined
What: A high-energy evening from SOLE Defined, blending percussive dance and storytelling.
Where: ’62 Center for Theatre & Dance, Williams College, 1000 Main St., Williamstown
Performances: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26-27
Tickets: $30 general admission
‘Caleb Teicher & Nic Gareiss’
What: A work of playful transgression, blurring boundaries to explore improvisation, song and the world of percussive dance. The pair will move and sound together at the intersection of jazz and folk, social and solo dance, creating a breathtaking evening rooted in time and place, yet uniquely their own.
Where: Doris Duke Theatre, Jacob’s Pillow, 358 George Carter Road, Becket
Performances: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 24-25; 2 p.m. Oct. 25-26
Tickets: $69.50 general admission
‘Short-sighted’ by Deborah Hay
What: A new work by Deborah Hay, one of the most influential choreographers of the past half-century, offering audiences a rare chance to experience her singular vision.
Where: Mass MoCA, 1040 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams
Performances: 7 p.m. Dec. 11
Tickets: $29 general admission
2025-26 PILLOW LAB RESIDENCIES
The work created during each residency is at varying stages of development and may or may not be performed as part of the annual Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Programming and dates are subject to change. Invitations for in-person and online performances are offered to members based on membership level.
Grisha Coleman – Technology Residency
What: Dance and interdisciplinary artist Grisha Coleman develops “THE MOVEMENT UNDERCOMMONS: Technology as Resistance | Future Archive,” exploring human movement through mobile motion capture technology and creating data-driven “kinetic haikus.”
Where: Doris Duke Theatre
Performances: 2 p.m. Oct. 11, invited showing
Residency Dates: Oct. 1–12
Marjani Forté-Saunders – Developmental Residency
What: Choreographer and performer Marjani Forté-Saunders develops “float,” a meditation and study on the wondrous, inspired by Zen Buddhist concepts of clouds and water.
Where: Perles Family Studio
Performances: 2 p.m. Nov. 1, invited showing
Residency Dates: Oct. 22 – Nov. 5
Jerron Herman & Candace L. Feldman – Pillow Lab Residency
What: Herman and Feldman develop “Many Ways to Raise a Fist,” a full-length devised theater piece featuring a fully disabled cast, exploring protest, justice and Structuralism.
Where: Perles Family Studio, Jacob’s Pillow, 358 George Carter Road, Becket
Performances: 2 p.m. Nov. 22, invited showing
Residency Dates: Nov. 17–23
A.I.M by Kyle Abraham – Developmental Residency
What: Choreographer Kyle Abraham creates “White Space,” an evening-length dance-theater work for 12 dancers exploring humor, solitude, comfort and catastrophe, with an original commissioned score.
Where: Perles Family Studio
Performances: 6 p.m. Dec. 6, invited showing
Residency Dates: Dec. 1–7
mayfield brooks – Developmental Residency
What: Choreographer mayfield brooks develops “Whale Fall,” an early-stage work exploring the life and death cycle of whales, whale song and human/nonhuman entanglements.
Where: Perles Family Studio
Performances: 2 p.m. Jan. 31, invited showing
Residency Dates: Jan. 21 – Feb. 1
Reggie Wilson / Fist and Heel Performance Group – Developmental Residency
What: Choreographer Reggie Wilson, with Nicholas Galanin, develops “Sublimation of Clarity [working title],” exploring kinesthetic storytelling, resilience, grief and community through dance and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Where: Perles Family Studio
Performances: 2 p.m. Feb. 21, invited showing
Residency Dates: Feb. 11–22
slowdanger – Technical Production Residency
What: Multidisciplinary performance group slowdanger develops “STORY BALLET,” a surreal dance-theater quintet with an intergenerational cast, holographic projections and live sound, reimagining Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique.”
Where: Doris Duke Theatre, Jacob’s Pillow, 358 George Carter Road, Becket
Performances: 2 p.m. March 28, invited showing
Residency Dates: March 18–29
