Jacob’s Pillow

Jacob's Pillow International Dance Festival

With limber bare feet, a dancer keeps a rhythm to the beat of a drum and a chanted line and cicadas under the white pines. Behind him, trees on the open ridge line catch the sun.

Dancers, companies and choreographers come from around the world to the top of a mountain in Becket, where an old farm has become the campus of an international festival.

The pioneering Modern dance choreographer Ted Shawn founded Jacob’s Pillow here more than 80 years ago, as a home for his company of Men Dancers. He wanted a place close to the dance community in New York and sheltered enough for new work to grow.

His balance still holds here today. The summer festival brings more than 40,000 people in June, July and August to see performers on indoor and outdoor stages, and artists in residence develop new work year-round.