Big Win(s) at Jacob’s Pillow
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BECKET, Mass. — The Brooklyn-based co-directors of Big Dance Theater, Annie-B Parson and her husband Paul Lazar, received the first Jacob’s Pillow Award for Creativity at the dance festival’s 75th anniversary gala on Saturday.
The award, established by an anonymous donor, is a $25,000 cash gift with no strings attached and is to be awarded annually to a choreographer. The executive director of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Ella Baff, made the selection in consultation with leaders in the dance field. Big Dance Theater, which until this spring had studios in DUMBO, is known for its melding of text, video, performance, and movement. Ms. Parson told the New York Sun that the company will use the funds either for production costs for new pieces or to rent a studio.
“Maybe we’ll even be able to move back into our old space, Ms. Parson said.
From the stage of the Ted Shawn Theater, Ms. Parson said the Pillow had given the company a space to be creative. “Creativity is a word so overused, it feels stretched out of shape,” Ms. Parson said, “but I don’t think anyone has earned it more than the Pillow.”
