At the Jacob's Pillow Festival in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, the barnlike theatres and studios are made from the pine of the dense surrounding forests. The Pillow grounds blend in with their bucolic setting. But the performances - running from June to September - may be anything but peaceful. They may be anything at all.
The man who happened on this once-dilapidated farm and way station on the Underground Railroad in 1930 was Ted Shawn. With his glamorous wife Ruth St Denis, Papa Shawn - as he was affectionately known for presiding over the festival for four decades - stands at the root of American modern dance. Denishawn, the school the couple founded, initiated Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey into the mysteries of modern dance, and these choreographers in turn tutored Merce Cunningham, José Limon and Paul Taylor. Yet the festival has long had a deliberately eclectic bent, never limiting itself to a single lineage.
