Bryan Bedder/Getty Images Michelle Dorrance in March.Jacob’s Pillow, the dance festival and school in the Berkshires, will award its seventh annual Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award to Michelle Dorrance, the tap dancer and choreographer whose company, Dorrance Dance, is known for its blend of inventiveness, virtuosity and musicality.
Reviewing the premiere of Ms. Dorrance’s “SOUNDspace†in The New York Times in January, Brian Seibert wrote that “the main emotion that ‘SOUNDspace’ produced was excitement: excitement about sounds, and about the development of this talented choreographer, the most promising one in tap right now.â€
The award, which was established in 2007, includes a cash prize of $25,000, to be used to advance their work in any way they choose, as well as a glass sculpture by Tom Patti. It will be presented to Ms. Dorrance by Ella Baff, the executive and artistic director of Jacob’s Pillow, at the festival’s season-opening gala on June 15. Ms. Dorrance will perform at the gala with the singer Aaron Marcellus.
Previous recipients of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award include Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar, Merce Cunningham, Alonzo King, Bill T. Jones, Crystal Pite and Kyle Abraham.
Ms. Dorrance said in a statement that she was “humbled to be in the company of such legendary recipients,†and added that award will allow her “the freedom to collaborate with artists who inspire new directions in my work.†Her company will perform at Jacob’s Pillow with the blues musician and composer Toshi Reagon and her band, July 24 to 28.
