Dancing the Algorithm with Katherine Helen Fisher

Acosia Red Elk, an award-winning artist of the Umatilla people of Northeastern Oregon, shares her journey with dance and healing. Her oral history is framed by Sarah Nguyễn, Director of the Jacob's Pillow Archives, exploring her dance origins and how she guides others toward healing through movement.

Pillow Scholar-in-Residence Ramón H. Rivera-Servera is joined by Ballet Hispánico's Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro, flamenco artist Nélida Tirado and choreographer Luis Salgado in a lively conversation about what it means to carry the fullness of Latinidad culture into dance. Recorded August 22, 2026.

Archie Burnett is a legendary New York house and vogue dancer, and Sally Sommer is a dance historian and critic who helped document underground club culture. They first connected as student and teacher in the early 80's at the School of Visual Arts. More than 40 years later they reflect on how they first met, their highs and lows through the decades, and what they hope to pass on to future house and club dancers around the world.

About guest host: Jennifer Harge is a choreographer, performance artist, and educator. Her creative research conjures and theorizes Black worldmaking practices through intimate collaborations with the sacred, through ancestral lineages, experimental performance, and Black feminist thought. For over a decade, she has developed her work almost exclusively in Detroit, Michigan, critically engaging the interior, geographic, and spiritual worlds of Black life. Learn more at https://www.hargedancestories.com Learn more about Bebe Miller at https://bebemillercompany.org/ Bebe Miller multi-media essay by Maura Keefe https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/themes-essays/women-in-dance/bebe-miller/ Bebe Miller Company: Landing Place 2007 video excerpt https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/bebe-miller-company/landing-place/ Bebe Miller Company: A Haven for Restless Angels of Mercy 1986 video excerpt https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/bebe-miller-company/a-haven-for-restless-angels-of-mercy/  

Learn more about host Katherine Helen Fisher View excerpt of Lamentation: Dancing the Archive on Dance Interactive  

Judith Jamison dancing in 1988 at Jacob's Pillow on Dance Interactive Linda Celeste Sims performing Cry in 2007 at Jacob's Pillow on Dance Interactive Learn more about host Christian Warner  

Multi-media essay 'Tracing a Legacy: Martha Graham's Centuryl Long Journey to Jacob's Pillow'  

Ann Hutchinson Guest's Century Plus (2022)

Dance Interaction videos and essays related to this episode include: Soles of Duende Urban Bush Women   PillowVoices podcasts related to this episode include: Remembering Blondell Cummings with Paloma McGregor

Virginia Johnson of Dance Theatre of Harlem and Misty Copeland of American Ballet Theatre discuss their own training, the universality of performing classical ballets, the responsibilities of role models before and after the emergence of social media, and how dance skills can prepare young people for careers beyond the stage. Recorded during a 2014 PillowTalk moderated by Maura Keefe.