Another inspiring week at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival! This week, my Pillow video team and I filmed Che Malambo, a company celebrating the gaucho dances of South America, and Bereishit Dance Company, a contemporary dance ensemble from Seoul.
See some performance excerpts and learn more about them by listening to their Post-Show Talks!
Che Malambo’s artistic director Gilles Brinas and producer Matthew Bledsoe in conversation with Jacob’s Pillow Scholar-in-Residence Jennifer Edwards.
“This is all they do, constantly. As soon as we get into the van and go back to the hotel, Malambo music is on. They landed after an 18 hour flight and I gave them their guitars to tune, and all of a sudden I hear them rocking out in the room next door for hours. It’s their life. It’s not necessarily a dance – it’s the art of life for them.”
Bereishit Dance Company’s artistic director/choreographer Soon-ho Park in conversation with Jacob’s Pillow Scholar-in-Residence Maura Keefe, assisted by translator Sun Ho Kim.
“The dancers used the tool for training [of Korean archery] not only the physical skill but also the mind… If you look at the way people you shoot the bow, the moment when you pull the string, it’s very sort of slow, a sort of tranquility, a contemplation … and when you let it go, it’s very fast… so there is an interesting philosophical idea underneath.”
Nel Shelby is Owner & Filmmaker for Nel Shelby Productions, her New York City-based company dedicated to dance videography and editing. Nel shares her mission to preserve and promote the art of dance with her husband, Christopher Duggan, a dance and wedding photographer. They collaborate on projects with dance companies of worldwide renown, up-and-coming choreographers, dance educators, dance schools and more. Nel is Video Producer at Jacob’s Pillow and Vail Dance Festival and is also the proud Director and Producer of PS DANCE! — a New York Emmy-nominated documentary about dance education in NYC’s public schools.