(BECKET, Mass.) – Choreographer Zoe Scofield and visual artist Juniper Shuey, co-directors of the Seattle-based company zoe | juniper, return to Jacob’s Pillow to perform the world premiere of A Crack in Everything on July 20-24. Created in part during a Creative Development Residency at Jacob’s Pillow, A Crack in Everything – whose title is presumably taken from the Leonard Cohen song “Anthem,” itself a reference to the Kabbalistic concept of Creation — combines dance with video projection to present a multimedia experience.

Choreographed for both physical and virtual environments, five dancers incorporate onstage action with movement performed on video. The work uses the Greek tragedy The Oresteia as a lens to understand the emotional spectrum of revenge and retaliation.

According to the creators, this work is an experiment in permeability and containment, aggression and catharsis. A Crack in Everything is a meditation on the moments that divide people’s lives, and how memory creates its own separate physical life. Scofield’s movements defy description, but one critic wrote, “When a couple leaves the stage after a duet, we don’t think twice about seeing her support his neck with the top of her foot as he rolls along the floor.”

Co-Directors Zoe Scofield and Juniper Shuey began their collaboration in 2004 with the work I am nothing without you, and since then their projects have spanned visual arts and dance performance. Their work has been commissioned by and presented at Jacob’s Pillow, Bumbershoot, SCUBA 2007, Bates Dance Festival, PICA’s TBA Festival, Wesleyan University, Spectrum Dance Theater, Dance Theater Workshop, ICA Museum/CRASHArt, Yerba Buena Center, Trafo Body Festival, Abrons Art Center, Frye Arts Museum, Southern Lights Dance, and The Myrna Loy Center.

Scofield and Shuey, along with company composer Morgan Henderson, co-created the Secret of Gold Festival in 2006, a multi-disciplinary arts festival in Arlington, Washington. In 2007, they choreographed for and collaborated with musician Dave Matthews for his “Eh Hee” music video.

The couple was commissioned by On the Boards in 2005-2006 for their Northwest Artist Series with there ain’t no easy way out, which was adapted for touring and presented by Jacob’s Pillow as part of the 2006 Inside/Out performance series. They were also chosen for a MacDowell Colony Residency for the summer of 2010.

A Crack in Everything was partly developed during a Creative Development Residency at the Pillow in the Fall of 2010, one of many prominent residencies that the duo has been offered all over the world. The Creative Development Residency Program is part of Jacob’s Pillow’s core mission to support artists and their development. The program serves as a signature of the Pillow’s artistic point of view and underscores its commitment to expand horizons, both of choreographers and audiences.

During Creative Development Residencies, artists are invited to spend one to three weeks at the Pillow creating or rehearsing new work, with free housing for the company, unlimited use of studio space, and access to the Archives and other Pillow resources. In the quiet off-season atmosphere of Jacob’s Pillow, the residencies are rare opportunities for artists to focus on the creative process without distraction. Each Creative Development Residency concludes with an invitation-only work-inprogress showing during which artists receive valuable creative feedback from audience members.

On Thursday, July 21 at 5pm, Scofield and Shuey will participate in a PillowTalk entitled The Choreographer as a Visual Artist along with festival artist and choreographer Lar Lubovitch.

Performance and Ticket Information

Doris Duke Theatre

Wednesday, July 20 through Saturday, July 23 at 8:15pm

Saturday, July 23 through Sunday, July 24 at 2:15pm