{"id":4297,"date":"2026-07-05T06:36:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T06:36:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4297"},"modified":"2026-07-05T06:36:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T06:36:52","slug":"jacobs-pillow-is-in-full-swing-and-more-local-arts-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4297","title":{"rendered":"Jacob\u2019s Pillow is in full swing, and more local arts news"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With the festive gala and last week\u2019s season-opening programs, Jacob\u2019s Pillow Dance Festival is now in full swing. So, while the Boston area is hopping with crowded Fourth of July hoopla, dance lovers may want to avoid the multitudes \u2014 and perhaps beat some of the heat \u2014 by heading west to the Berkshires, where headlining the dance festival this week is Urban Bush Women\u2019s provocative, high-energy \u201cSCAT!… The Complex Lives of Al & Dot, Dot & Al Zollar\u201d (through July 5). The 42-year-old company brings a different kind of heat to our country\u2019s history.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Local bestsellers for the week ended June 28<\/a><\/p>\n

The work is a dance-driven musical that melds song, dance, storytelling, and an original jazz score performed by a live band and two vocalists. Set in a fictional jazz club, it portrays the love story of two people making their way out of the Jim Crow south during the Great Migration. Co-choreographer and director Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, the founder of Urban Bush Women (who Pillow director Pamela Tatge calls one of most important choreographers of our time) conceived the work based on the experiences of her parents. But Zollar says it is also a collective story that recalls a time and a journey in which dreams grappled with reality in America during the \u201840s and \u201850s. Collaborators include co-choreographer Vincent Thomas and the talented company\u2019s dancers, with original music composed by Craig Harris. \u201cBy the end of the piece, it just lifts the roof off,\u201d says Tatge. The work also will be livestreamed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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While Urban Bush Women rock the festival\u2019s Ted Shawn Theatre, Boston-based choreographer Ilya Vidrin makes his Pillow debut in the Doris Duke Theatre with the world premiere of his \u201cProxies\u201d (July 3-5). Developed over eight years, partly during residencies at the Pillow Lab, the work draws on research into the intersection of technology and human relationships, questioning what happens when our emotional lives and personal connections are increasingly invaded by our devices and algorhythmic data. The dancers will wear custom-designed sensors on their hands and feet to trigger live music and create a \u201ccontinuous loop of responsiveness.\u201d Tatge calls it \u201cunlike anything I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d Jacob\u2019s Pillow Dance Festival, Becket. <\/i>www.jacobspillow.org<\/i> \u2014 Karen Campbell <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Read more The best movies, TV shows, specials, and more to watch this July Fourth weekend<\/a><\/p>\n

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