Saturday, May 24, 2025

News and Ideas Worth Sharing

BITS & BITES: Ballet Hispánico at The Mahaiwe; Drag Story Hour Berkshires with Poppy DaBubbly; Kids music party at Race Brook Lodge; Zep & Co at The Colonial; Susan Tallman at The Clark; Berkshire Botanical Garden’s winter lecture; Caitlin Lally Hotaling at Bushnell Sage Library

Ballet Hispánico is one of the nation’s most renowned Latino dance organizations and one of America’s Cultural Treasures.

The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center presents Ballet Hispánico

Great Barrington— On Saturday, March 2nd at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center presents Ballet Hispánico.

Ballet Hispánico is one of the nation’s most renowned Latino dance organizations and one of America’s Cultural Treasures. For over 50 years Ballet Hispánico has been bringing communities together to celebrate and explore Latino cultures through innovative dance performances, transformative dance training, and enduring community engagement experiences.

Ballet Hispánico. Photo by Erin Baiano.

The company’s founder, National Medal of Arts recipient Tina Ramirez, sought to give voice to the Hispanic experience and break through stereotypes. Today, Ballet Hispánico is led by Eduardo Vilaro, an acclaimed choreographer and former member of the Company, whose vision of social equity, cultural identity, and quality arts education for all drives its programs.

The performances are on Saturday, March 2nd at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on Castle Street in Great Barrington. Tickets are $34 to $84, with $5 off for members and $15 tickets for those who are 20 and under. Tickets and more information can be found online. 

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Poppy DaBubbly announces the grand opening of Drag Story Hour Berkshires, a local chapter of the renowned National Drag Story Hour organization

Pittsfield— Local drag queen Poppy DaBubbly is thrilled to announce the grand opening of Drag Story Hour Berkshires, a captivating chapter of the renowned National Drag Story Hour organization.

Poppy DaBubbly, the Majesty of the Berkshires, known for her engaging kids’ music and movement class Bebop with Poppy, is leading the charge as Chapter Director, to bring the magic of drag to families in the Berkshires.

To mark this momentous occasion, the new chapter will celebrate by hosting a free launch party for the community on Saturday, March 2nd from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Berkshire Pride Office in Pittsfield. Attendees can look forward to a spellbinding event featuring local drag queen favorites captivating young minds with delightful story readings, engaging crafts that spark creativity, lively games for all to enjoy, and culminating in a family dance party. As a special gift, every child in attendance will leave with a free book, fostering a love for reading that extends beyond the magical day. 

Drag Story Hour Berkshires.

This family-friendly celebration promises an afternoon of joy, laughter, and community spirit, as Drag Story Hour Berkshires invites families to join in the festivities and embrace the transformative power of storytelling in a setting that celebrates individuality, diversity, and the pure delight of reading.

The free party is on Saturday, March 2nd from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Berkshire Pride Office at 34 Depot Street in Pittsfield. For more information, email berkshires@dragstoryhour.org.

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Race Brook Lodge presents ‘Rabbit Days and Dumplings,’ Elena Moon Park’s kids music party

Sheffield— On Sunday, March 3rd at 4 p.m., Race Brook Lodge presents ‘Rabbit Days and Dumplings,’ Elena Moon Park’s kids music party.  

Join Elena Moon Park and friends to celebrate all-ages music from around the globe, with an emphasis on East and Southeast Asia. You’re invited to sing and dance along to Cambodian dances, Japanese game songs, Taiwanese train songs, Tibetan jump rope rhymes, and much more. Together you’ll raise your voices and sing in many different languages. 

Elena Moon Park is a musician and cultural arts producer. She collaborates with all kinds of artists and performs around the globe, specializing in music for all-ages featuring reimagined folk and children’s music from East and Southeast Asia. She is also a co-director of the Brooklyn-based arts organization Found Sound Nation, which uses collaborative music creation to connect people across cultural divides, including the global music exchange program OneBeat, bringing together artists from around the globe for the co-creation of original works and the incubation of civically-engaged music and art projects. 

Artwork by Kristiana Parn.

A ticket to the show comes with a free copy of an original album featuring beautiful artwork by artist Kristiana Parn.

The party is on Sunday, March 3rd at 4 p.m. at Race Brook Lodge on South Undermountain Road in Sheffield. Tickets are $30, $20 in advance, and $10 for children.Tickets and more information can be found online. 

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Berkshire Theatre Group presents ‘Zep & Co: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin & Bad Company’ at The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield

Pittsfield— On Saturday, March 2nd at 7:30 p.m., Berkshire Theatre Group presents ‘Zep & Co: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin & Bad Company’ at The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield.

Get ready to be swept away in a rock spectacle like no other as Zep & Co. fuses the best of Bad Company and Led Zeppelin in an epic, powerhouse performance. Brace yourself for an electrifying showcase of monumental hits and cherished deep cuts that shaped the era of these iconic arena rock legends. As Zep & Co. takes the stage, you’ll be immersed in an unforgettable journey through the roaring anthems and hidden gems of two of rock’s most influential bands. This is more than a tribute; it’s a passionate celebration that keeps the flame alive for the timeless classics of these rock titans.

‘Zep & Co: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin & Bad Company.’

The concert is on Saturday, March 2nd at 7:30 p.m. at The Colonial Theatre on South Street in Pittsfield. Tickets are $30. Tickets and more information can be found online.

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The Clark Art Institute presents a free lecture by art critic Susan Tallman titled on the importance of prints in visual art

Williamstown— On Saturday, March 2nd at 2 p.m., the Clark Art Institute hosts a free lecture by art critic Susan Tallman titled “Without Prints You Don’t Understand the Culture of the World.”

Looked at narrowly, prints may be a niche topic in art history, but for more than 500 years they have also been the lifeblood of the circulatory system of visual art. The title of Tallman’s lecture comes from the late art historian Leo Steinberg’s observations about a seventeenth-century Mughal painting based on an Italian engraving. Tallman offers a primer on what is distinctive about prints as material objects and investigates how those material qualities lead to distinctive ways of looking at and thinking about pictures.

Max Klinger, Intermezzi, Opus IV, Bl. 12: Amor, Tod und Jenseits (love, death and beyond), 1881, etching and aquatint on paper. The Clark, 1986.36.

The lecture is on Saturday, March 2nd at 2 p.m. in the auditorium of the Clark’s Manton Research Center on South Street in Williamstown. Admission is free. More information can be found online. 

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Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 27th annual winter lecture

Stockbridge— On Saturday, March 2nd from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Berkshire Botanical Garden presents its 27th annual winter lecture, “Biodiversity at Great Dixter: How a Flower Garden Can Support Some of the UK’s Most Threatened Species” with Fergus Garrett, the CEO and head gardener at Great Dixter House and Gardens in East Sussex, England.

Great Dixter, the family home of gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd, is one of Great Britain’s most revered house and gardens, a place of pilgrimage for horticulturists from across the world.  Famous for merging the natural and the cultivated world, Great Dixter’s long grass, scattered ponds, old walls, and changing flower borders provide a rich environment for all manner of fauna and flora. Fergus Garrett joined Christopher Lloyd as his head gardener in 1993.

Fergus Garrett. Image courtesy of Berkshire Botanical Garden.

The lecture is on Saturday, March 2nd from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Duffin Theatre at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School on East Street in Lenox. Tickets are $55 and $40 for members. Tickets and more information can be found online or by calling 413-320-4794.

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Bushnell Sage Library presents an exhibit of work by Caitlin Lally Hotaling

Sheffield— From March 2nd through March 31st, the Bushnell Sage Library presents an exhibit of work by Caitlin Lally Hotaling. 

Lally Hotaling’s artistic background is extensive and multifaceted. Her creative flare involves multimedia, and she has a unique and lighthearted approach to her work and life.

Artwork by Caitlin Lally Hotaling.

The exhibit runs from March 2nd through March 31st at the Bushnell Sage Library on Main Street in Sheffield. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, March 7th from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. More information can be found online. 

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