Jacob's Pillow is a dance organisation based in Becket, Massachusetts, dedicated to preserving and advancing dance as a living art. Its work spans an international festival, a large archive, training programmes, artist residencies and year-round community and educational activity. The site is designated a National Historic Landmark, and the organisation is a recipient of the National Medal of Arts.
The flagship is the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, described as America's longest-running international dance festival. Each season it presents more than 50 national and international dance companies across hundreds of performances and related programmes, including classes, talks, tours, exhibitions and community events. Alongside the festival, The School at Jacob's Pillow provides training and career development for dancers and emerging arts professionals, while The Pillow Lab supports choreographers in developing new work through residencies and professional development.
The Jacob's Pillow Archive documents more than a century of dance through films, photographs, programmes, books, costumes and recordings, with materials also available through online archives. Digital work is a substantial part of the organisation's remit, covering archival preservation and documentation, film and photography archives, digital streaming, podcast and multimedia production, and live performance presentation. Streaming, podcasts and multimedia essays extend its reach beyond the festival season to national and international audiences.
The organisation describes itself as mission-driven and non-profit in character, focused on preservation, education and public access. It runs internships, residencies and career-development programmes for emerging artists, and offers accessible classes and year-round community programming.
