Kiosk Celebrates 75 Years of Jacob's Pillow Dance

KEENE, N.H., 09/14/09 - “Dance on Film: An Interactive Touring Kiosk” is a traveling installation featuring video clips of dance performances over the past 75 years at Jacob’s Pillow. The kiosk will be located in the lobby of the Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College and will be free and available to the public September 10 through October 1, Monday through Friday, 12 to 5 p.m.

Jacob’s Pillow is home to a world-renowned international summer dance festival on 163 acres in the Berkshires and is the first and only dance entity in the United States to be declared a national historic landmark for the significance of its contribution to America’s culture, past and present. Founded by dance legend Ted Shawn in 1933, Jacob’s Pillow celebrates its 77th season in 2009. The video clips feature modern dance pioneering figures, including Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Denis, José Limón, and Merce Cunningham, and contemporaries such as Tero Saarinen, Black Grace, Doug Varone, Judith Jamison, and others, and are approximately one minute long accompanied by descriptive text. Choices may be made according to name, genre (ballet, modern, non-Western, etc.), or era. Viewers may also test their knowledge with a fun guessing function. There are two sets of headphones as well as speakers, so the kiosk may be used silently or enjoyed by small groups to view and listen together.

The lecture kiosk was made possible with support from the New England Foundation for the Arts, the American Masterpieces initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Redfern Arts Center. For more information, call 603-358-2162.