When Ted Shawn bought a mountaintop farm named Jacob’s Pillow in 1931, it would have been impossible to predict that the scrappy artistic retreat in the Berkshires would become such a beloved center for dance in America. In the summer of 1941, beset by financial difficulties, Shawn rented the Pillow to ballet stars Anton Dolin […]

The March 1958 issue of Dance Magazine included coverage of the previous year’s Dance Magazine Awards, one of which went to Dame Alicia Markova. Markova danced the title role in the first British production of Giselle. Photo by Walter E. Owens, Courtesy DM Archives The British ballerina began her career with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and […]

Just in time to battle Nutcracker exhaustion, Jacob’s Pillow has released the sweetest holiday gift: A video of Alicia Markova performing the Sugarplum Fairy variation at the festival—in color, with music (added later in the 1970s). Alicia Markova as Sugarplum in 1941 This clip is one of the latest additions to The Pillow’s highly addictive Dance Interactive site. (Beware, you […]