Jacob’s Pillow presents Compagnue Käfig
Becket— Through August 27th, Jacob’s Pillow presents Compagnie Käfig.
Acclaimed French hip hop artist Mourad Merzouki founded the Lyon-based Compagnie Käfig at the startling crossroads of modern and contemporary dance, circus, martial arts, video, live music, and hip hop. Named for the Arabic and German term for “cage,” this high-flying company is anything but tied down, pushing the boundaries of hip hop while never losing sight of its roots.
At Jacob’s Pillow, the company will perform their signature work Pixel, a wondrous merging of virtuosic dance and technology created by Merzouki in collaboration with Adrien Mondot and Claire Bardainne. Seen by audiences in more than 30 countries around the world, the show explodes into a 3D world of captivating digital light and video projections, which accompany dancers’ movements. The piece aims to strike a subtle balance between the real and the virtual world, and between energy and poetry, resulting in a performance infused with a multitude of art forms.
The performances run through August 27th in the Ted Shawn Theater at Jacob’s Pillow on George Carter Road in Becket. Tickets start at $65. The performance is one hour and ten minutes with no intermission. Performances are preceded by a free 15-minute pre-show talk. A free post-show talk with the artists will follow the Friday matinee performance. Tickets and more information can be found by visiting Jacob’s Pillow online.
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Great Barrington Public Theater presents ‘Women in Politics, Women in Place’, a post-show discussion
Lenox— On Sunday, August 27th, immediately following the 2 p.m. performance of “Representation and How to Get It”, Great Barrington Public Theater (GBPT) presents “Women in Politics, Women in Place”, a conversation about organized activism, electoral inclusion, and their personal journeys to representation by women, for all constituents in their communities, with Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Mass. State Representative and Leigh Davis, Vice-Chair Great Barrington Select board, moderated by GBPT Associate Artistic Director, Judy Braha.
Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier currently serves as Chair of the Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity. She is also co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus and co-chair of the Sexual Violence Task Force of the Women’s Caucus. Along with vigorously advocating for economic development in Pittsfield and the Berkshires, her legislative and policy priorities include child welfare, early education, social justice, transportation, and protecting victims of sexual violence.
Leigh Davis serves as the Director of Communications and Community Engagement for the affordable housing nonprofit Construct and previously served as Director of Development of Eagle Mill Redevelopment LLC, a historic, mixed-use affordable housing development in Lee. Currently, she serves as Vice Chair of the Great Barrington Selectboard and Chair of the Great Barrington Selectboard and Planning Board Housing Subcommittee. She is also an appointed member of the Great Barrington Community Preservation Committee, Lake Mansfield Improvement Task Force, and W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Committee. She serves on the Board of Directors of 1Berkshire, Saint James Place, and the Berkshire Leadership Impact Council.
The discussion is on Sunday, August 27th, immediately following the 2 p.m. performance of “Representation and How to Get It” at the Mount on Plunkett Street in Lenox. Tickets to the performance are $30. Students are free with advance reservation and I.D. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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PS21 Performance Spaces for the 21st Century presents ‘ANIMA’, an immersive performance installation
Chatham— From August 31st to September 3rd, PS21 Performance Spaces for the 21st Century presents “ANIMA”, an immersive performance installation that examines the natural environment and offers a new perspectives on our shared future, by Noémie Goudal and Maëlle Poésy. The North American Premiere of ANIMA at PS21 Marks its only U.S. appearance, following sold-out performances at Tate Modern and the 2022 Festival d’Avignon.
An immersive, multi-media installation of live aerial performance, large-scale projected video, and electronic music, ANIMA alters our perspectives on the “sensation of time” and the pace and effects of climate change. Co-creator, Goudal says of this, “The time of the human race is but a mere minute compared to the time of the planet. During our life on Earth, we are effectively incapable of perceiving its movements . . . but actually, it’s moving all the time. Even the Alps are moving three or four centimeters per year.”
It is informed by the artist’s fascination with recent discoveries by paleoclimatologists, who find concrete evidence from the remote past that permit them to understand today’s landscapes and form hypotheses about the planet’s climate past and future. The arid expanses of the Sahara were once rich in vegetation fed by lakes and rivers, and Antarctic ice covers land where tropical rainforest once bloomed. ANIMA takes the audience on a journey through Earth’s seemingly fantastical landscapes, revealing the interconnectedness of all living organisms.
The experience is at 8 p.m. on August 31st as well as on September 2nd and 3rd at the PS21 Open-Air Pavilion Theater on New York Route 66 in Chatham. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Barrington Stage Company, in Association with Williamstown Theatre Festival, presents Tony Award-winning composer William Finn’s musical, ‘A New Brain’
Pittsfield— Through September 10th, Barrington Stage Company, in Association with Williamstown Theatre Festival, presents Tony Award-winning composer William Finn’s musical, “A New Brain”.
Gordon Schwinn, a frustrated composer for a children’s TV show, collapses during lunch and finds himself in the hospital. There he contemplates his life, relationships, and the meaning of music while facing medical uncertainty and hauntings by an imaginary frog from the show he’s composing for. “A New Brain” is a touching, unexpectedly funny, and relatable musical exploring life’s beauty when we take the time to appreciate it.
William Finn, the mastermind behind Broadway and off-Broadway hits like “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, “Falsettos”, and “Little Miss Sunshine”, continues to captivate audiences with his emotive storytelling and soul-stirring melodies. “A New Brain” is one of his most heartfelt creations. Say Entirely says that it “will remind you how wonderful life can be.”
Performances run through September 10th on Barrington Stage Company’s Boyd-Quinson Stage on Union Street in Pittsfield. The performance runs approximately 100 minutes, with no intermission. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Spencertown Academy Arts Center presents the ‘All Write, Columbia, Fiction Writers Conference’
Spencertown— Thursday, November 9th through Sunday, November 12th, Spencertown Academy Arts Center presents the “All Write, Columbia, Fiction Writers Conference”.
The “All Write, Columbia, Fiction Writers Conference” is a four-day intensive writing conference that will focus on both the craft and the business of writing fiction. It will include writing workshops, craft and creativity talks by esteemed guest authors, and a publishing/PR panel. The goal of the conference is to encourage, challenge, and foster a writers’ community that continues beyond the workshops. Participants will develop both their literary skills and creative marketing savvy in this uniquely small, focused conference.
The conference is Thursday, November 9th through Sunday, November 12th at the Spencertown Academy Arts Center on NY-203 in Spencertown. Tuition is $500 with some scholarship funds available for local writers from Columbia County. The conference is open to writers age 18 and up working at all levels from beginners who are just starting to write short stories to more advanced writers working on a novel. The deadline to apply is Friday, September 22nd. More information, including submission guidelines, can be found online.
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Stockbridge Cultural Council grant applications open September 1st
Stockbridge— Beginning on September 1st, the Stockbridge Cultural Council opens applications for its 2024 grant cycle.
Together, the Mass Cultural Council (MCC) and the Town of Stockbridge will provide approximately $15,000 to projects in the arts, sciences, and humanities that directly benefit Stockbridge residents and that enhance the cultural experience of the Stockbridge and Berkshire communities. These funds are available to support artists, teachers, musicians, poets, photographers, historians, and others in their endeavors to enhance our collective cultural experience. The funds will go to those whose projects take place in a Stockbridge venue and to projects that positively impact Stockbridge residents.
This year’s application is open from September 1st to October 17th. More information on Mass Cultural Council’s grant funding process, the Stockbridge Cultural Council’s grant approval criteria, and the application process and deadline can be found online.
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MassDOT announces 10th annual “Safe Streets Smart Trips” high school video contest
Massachusetts— The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is pleased to announce entries are now being accepted for the 10th annual statewide “Safe Streets Smart Trips” high school video contest.
The contest, which began in 2014, encourages high school students to showcase their understanding of roadway safety across all travel modes to try to decrease pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and fatalities.
This year, students are being asked to write and produce a video that focuses on the new vulnerable user laws in Massachusetts. Vulnerable road users include pedestrians, people on bikes, individuals using wheelchairs and personal mobility devices, and others using modes other than cars. Since about one in five fatalities and serious injuries in motor vehicle crashes involve a vulnerable user, these new laws will help increase roadway safety for all users across the Commonwealth.
Applications are due by 11 p.m. on September 17th. Winning videos will be shown on October 4th at MassDOT’s annual active transportation conference, Moving Together, where the creators will receive their prizes including $600 Amazon gift cards for the grand prize videos and $300 Amazon gift cards for the runner-up videos. Top videos may also be used in future safety campaigns. More information and applications can be found online or by calling 857-383-3807.
