Jacob’s Pillow, Becket, MA
July 16 – 20, 2025
by Janice Webb
On nearly any given day at Jacob’s Pillow, audiences can experience the talents of professionals, students, and soloists along with lectures, video programs, and youth activities. Stay for one event, or the entire day.
Ted Shawn Theatre with the largest stage on campus hosted Sarasota Ballet for five days. Expectations of a typical ballet program were immediately set aside as soon as the curtain opened. Because nothing at the Pillow is typical. Expect the unexpected thrills and learning experiences.
In full-color, folk-fashioned grandeur of the Russian Imperial style, “Birthday Offering” accentuated the beauty and precision of classic ballet; envision ballerinas on toes, lyrical pas de deux. All were strong, talented, graceful dancers; men and women alike. The seven couples showcased each other, while also contributing just as much in their own right.
It looked as if Evil won; yet how could that be? Or maybe Good dared to face Evil straight on? Dance, like other creative works, can be interpreted in numerous ways. In the last moments, Good turned toward Evil. Did Evil win? Or did Good dare to look straight in the face of Evil, like other creative works.
“Dante Sonata,” a ballet with a more contemporary feel, even though premiered during WWII, is still relevant today. To music composed by Franz Liszt, the audience pictured the struggle between Good, represented in shining White attire and Evil in black strapped attire. It's up to the audience to interpret the victor. Dance, like other creative works, can be interpreted in numerous ways. In the last moments of this piece, Good turned toward Evil. Did Evil win? Or did Good dare to look straight in the face of Evil?
Choreographer Jessica Lang was seated in the audience to celebrate her World Premiere of “The Lorenz Butterfly,” the final work in the Sarasota Ballet program. The Pillow’s director introduced Lang, advising the audience that Lang had launched into painting during Covid. Certainly, this was a creative outlet for a choreographer isolated from dancers.
Later, as the world opened up to gatherings of people, Lang chose to combine the two artistic genres – her talent as a choreographer with her own paintings, which eventually served as the backdrop of the ballet, shifting colors as dancers in variations of those same colors graced the stage. Nearly every pastel was on canvas replicated the colors worn by the dancers.
