Jacob’s Pillow goes back in time.
Jacob’s Pillow goes all-out in staging of landmark dance
Visitors to Jacob’s Pillow this weekend might feel like they’ve stepped back in time. To complement choreographer Adam H. Weinert’s reconstruction of Ted Shawn’s “Dance of the Ages,” from 1938, the entire campus will be returned as closely as possible to how it looked when the work premiered — down to the cars in the parking lot.
“We hope to give audiences the oncein-a-lifetime experience of the Pillow campus the way it must have felt 80 years ago, while giving them the opportunity to revisit this iconic work of American modern dance,” said Pamela Tatge, the Pillow’s director.
“Dance of the Ages” has the distinction of being the first-ever evening-length modern dance, as well as the first overtly political work by the Pillow founder—one that resonates in today’s polarized political climate, Weinert said.
“It was created during the beginnings of World War II in response to what Shawn saw as the rise of fascism and authoritarianism across the world,” the Hudson-based choreographer said in an email interview. “His company later joined the war effort, but in the beginning they wanted to give voice to their concerns through dance.”
A veteran of the Mark Morris Dance Group, Weinert has spent the last five years reconstructing Shawn’s solo works, for pieces such as “Monument,” which debuted at the Pillow in 2016 and also featured choreography by Jose Limón and Doris Humphrey. Part of what drew him to “Dance of the Ages” was the way it embodied the collaborative life and work of Shawn’s Men Dancers.
“I was interested in tackling an ensemble work because I think it gets at some of the conviviality that was so important to Shawn’s mission,” Weinert said. “He and the Men Dancers grew their own food, built their own studios and lived, worked and toured together. It’s hard to understand what that meant without tackling an ensemble piece.”
Hewing to the lecture-demonstration format that the company popularized, each of the three afternoon performances begins with a reception in the Pillow’s Tea Garden, and includes commentary and context provided by choreographer/lecturer Sydney Skybetter. The bulk of the work will be performed in the Bakalar Studio, the very same building in which it was first staged. And the original score by Jess Meeker, who worked closely with Shawn, will be performed live by pianist John Sauer— a colleague of Meeker’s who has served as an accompanist for classes at the Pillow since 1971.
The 90-minute work, for nine dancers, is broken into sections of pure dance mirroring the four elements: fire, water, earth and air. Reconstructing the choreography took 15 months, and part of the challenge lay in piecing together sequences that were never fully captured, Weinert said.
“While we have film footage, much of it is obscured, the tempi are uneven and certain transitions are missing,” he explained. “For these gaps, we rely on photographs, memoir, choreographic notes and rumor.”
He turned to the Pillow’s extensive archives to cull images, film, press clippings and costumes, which served as design inspiration for historical consultant Caroline Hamilton and costume supervisor Anna Mcdunn.
Shawn considered “Dance of the Ages” a culmination of his life’s work. In the two years between its creation and the Men Dancers’ last performance in May 1940, it became a signature piece for the company, confounding viewers’ expectations on multiple levels.
“It’s hard to imagine how shocking
this work must have been to audiences 80 years ago,” Weinert said. “Not only were men not featured in dance programs, but an entire evening of a company of men performing this exhaustive and epic work must have been startling.”
Shawn considered “Dance of the Ages” a culmination of his life’s work. In the two years between its creation and the Men Dancers’ last performance in May 1940, it became a signature piece for the company, confounding viewers’ expectations on multiple levels.