Shamel Pitts | TRIBE at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

Shamel Pitts | TRIBE
August 6-August 10; Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 8pm; Friday and Sunday at 2:30pm
Doris Duke Theatre | Tickets from $85

Livestream: Thursday, August 7 at 8pm

Encore Stream: Sunday, August 10 at 8pm through Monday, August 11 at 8pm

To learn more about our select Livestreams and Encore Streams, and to register to watch for free, visit jacobspillow.org/live

Dancer, artist, and choreographer Shamel Pitts creates provocative dance works that “push against the boundaries of identity” (Dance Magazine). His company TRIBE will perform Touch of RED, inspired by the rapid-fire footwork of boxing, the African American jazz dance style Lindy Hop, Gaga movement language, and nightlife culture. Set in a stylized ring, this dance duet examines the way Black men are perceived and perceive themselves in contemporary society.

Pitts is a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, a 2024 Doris Duke Artist, and recently received a 2024 MacArthur Fellowship. He is the recipient of a 2018 Princess Grace Award in Choreography, a 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Award in Choreography, and a 2024 Knight Choreography Prize. Pitts’s “BLACK series” has toured extensively worldwide since 2016.

To complement his week-long performance run in the Doris Duke Theatre, Shamel Pitts has also been commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow to create a digital-first work for audiences to experience on their own devices from anywhere in the world. This piece, titled O.K., is created by Shamel Pitts | TRIBE and Edson Pavoni, and uses multimedia to express the intense intimacy between the performers in Touch of RED. It will be released alongside the company’s performances in the Doris Duke Theatre in early August.