PillowVoices: Dance Through Time

Acosia Red Elk, an award-winning artist of the Umatilla people of Northeastern Oregon, shares her journey with dance and healing. Her oral history is framed by Sarah Nguyễn, Director of the Jacob's Pillow Archives, exploring her dance origins and how she guides others toward healing through movement.

Pillow Scholar-in-Residence Ramón H. Rivera-Servera is joined by Ballet Hispánico's Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro, flamenco artist Nélida Tirado and choreographer Luis Salgado in a lively conversation about what it means to carry the fullness of Latinidad culture into dance. Recorded August 22, 2026.

Archie Burnett is a legendary New York house and vogue dancer, and Sally Sommer is a dance historian and critic who helped document underground club culture. They first connected as student and teacher in the early 80's at the School of Visual Arts. More than 40 years later they reflect on how they first met, their highs and lows through the decades, and what they hope to pass on to future house and club dancers around the world.

About guest host: Jennifer Harge is a choreographer, performance artist, and educator. Her creative research conjures and theorizes Black worldmaking practices through intimate collaborations with the sacred, through ancestral lineages, experimental performance, and Black feminist thought. For over a decade, she has developed her work almost exclusively in Detroit, Michigan, critically engaging the interior, geographic, and spiritual worlds of Black life. Learn more at https://www.hargedancestories.com

Learn more about Bebe Miller at https://bebemillercompany.org/

Bebe Miller multi-media essay by Maura Keefe

https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/themes-essays/women-in-dance/bebe-miller/

Bebe Miller Company: Landing Place 2007 video excerpt

https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/bebe-miller-company/landing-place/

Bebe Miller Company: A Haven for Restless Angels of Mercy 1986 video excerpt

https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/bebe-miller-company/a-haven-for-restless-angels-of-mercy/

Learn more about host Katherine Helen Fisher

View excerpt of Lamentation: Dancing the Archive on Dance Interactive

Judith Jamison dancing in 1988 at Jacob's Pillow on Dance Interactive

Linda Celeste Sims performing Cry in 2007 at Jacob's Pillow on Dance Interactive

Learn more about host Christian Warner

Multi-media essay 'Tracing a Legacy: Martha Graham's Centuryl Long Journey to Jacob's Pillow'

Ann Hutchinson Guest's Century Plus(2022)

Dance Interaction videos and essays related to this episode include:

Soles of Duende

Urban Bush Women

PillowVoices podcasts related to this episode include:

Remembering Blondell Cummings with Paloma McGregor

Virginia Johnson of Dance Theatre of Harlem and Misty Copeland of American Ballet Theatre discuss their own training, the universality of performing classical ballets, the responsibilities of role models before and after the emergence of social media, and how dance skills can prepare young people for careers beyond the stage. Recorded during a 2014 PillowTalk moderated by Maura Keefe.

Behind the scenes stories of how the exhibition 'Connecting Through Time: 50 Seasons with Norton Owen' came together. Scholar in Residence Maura Keefe guides the conversation with exhibit curator Wendy Perron, Pillow Archivist Patsy Gay, and Director of Preservation Norton Owen. Recorded during July 2025 PillowTalk.

Dance Interactive Video Excerpts of Tap Performances at Jacob’s Pillow

Dance Interactive Multimedia Essays on Tap curated by Brian Seibert

See Frederic Franklin dancing with Alexandra Danilova in 1948 at Jacob's Pillow on DANCE INTERACTIVE

'Frederic Franklin Returns' PillowTalk 2007 - video excerpt on YOUTUBE

Links to disability artistry projects mentioned in this podcast:

POD Access by Thomas Reid and Cheryl Green

Reid My Mind Radio hosted by Thomas Reid

Social Audio Description Collective

Kinetic Light

Kayla Hamilton

Christopher Unpezverde Núñez

Krishna Washburn

Curiosity Paradox

Dance scholar Nancy Wozny highlights the life and work of Moroccan and Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. Cherkaoui was honored with the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award in 2022 for his achievements in the worlds of both concert and commercial dance including choreography for Beyoncé and the Broadway production of Jagged Little Pill.

Norton Owen introduces highlights from past PillowTalks with choreographer Bill T. Jones, including reflections on his philosophy of partnering and its roots in contact improvisation. He also offers advice on how audiences might best approach his work and shares the personal story of a gift from two Pillow patrons.

Dance Scholar Mora-Amina Parker illuminates the historical and cultural context of Mr. Talley Beatty's choreography as well as the significant impact on in her course as a professional dancer after discovering his ballets.

Guest host Benjamin Richards focuses the lens on four different resident dance photographers: John Lindquist, Stephan Driscoll, Mike van Sleen and Christopher Duggan.

Highlights from a 2022 PillowTalk with Lynn Garafola, author of the biography La Nijinska: Choreographer of the Modern speaking with scholar-in-residence Brian Schaefer. Garafola illuminates Bronislava Nijinska’s life as a Russian born dancer, sibling to Vaslav Nijinsky, and groundbreaking 20th century ballet choreographer. Garafola also shares some fascinating documentation of Nijinska's pivotal connections to Jacob's Pillow.

Highlights from Carmen de Lavallade's Pillow debut as a dancer in Lester Horton's company in 1953, all the way through the premiere of her one woman show at the age of 83. Host Norton Owen guides us through the many spirited connections Ms. de Lavallade holds both in American dance history and with Jacob's Pillow.