PILLOW PRESENTS INTERNATIONAL DANCE.

BECKET, Massachusetts--Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival boasts a lineup this year that reads like a world geography map with companies coming from as far away as Africa and Brazil and as close as Manhattan. "From one week to the next, you will see a contrasting of different styles of dance," says executive director Ella Barf. "We try to show things that will enlarge the public's view of dance."

Of the eighteen scheduled companies, only two, Mark Morris Dance Group and Paul Taylor Dance Company, are return guests from last year. Sean Curran Company will make its debut and perform the same week as the debut of Nina Ananiashvili and Principals of the Bolshoi Ballet. Jane Comfort and Company shares a week with Michael Moschen, while Grupo Corpo Brazilian Dance Theater will open the festival. The children's dance troupe Batoto Yetu will perform the same week as Yin Mei's Empty Tradition/City of Peonies. Teatro Hugo & Ines's Short Stories, in which different body parts are used as puppets, runs for two weeks in August. Puerto Rico-based Pepatian shares week two with Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Trisha Brown Company splits week three with Ronald K. Brown/Evidence. During week four The Parsons Dance Company will perform, as will Doug Varone and Dancers. Mark Morris Dance Group will perform during week seven. Martha Clarke and 33 Fainting Spells will perform in the festival's fifth week. [See Performance Calendar, page 4.]

The highly revered summer festival, founded by choreographers Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis, has a long history of nurturing up-and-coming choreographers while also supporting established companies. The setting, in the lush Berkshire hills, makes for a tranquil atmosphere for dance performances. This year's festival will also feature exhibits, workshops, videos, films, and lectures as part of the information and education program Inside/Out. "We try to present the largest view of dance from around the world," says Barf.