‘From the Streets to the Stage’ at Berkshire Pulse
Housatonic — On Saturday, January 16, at 12 p.m., Berkshire Pulse will host a screening of the WTCI-TV original documentary film “From the Streets to the Stage,” written and directed by Emily Compton of WTCI-TV. The film tells the inspiring life story of professional ballet dancer, Frederick Davis, who was first introduced to dance through a summer recreation program in East Chattanooga, Tenn. Learning to dance changed his entire life, lifting him from poverty and homelessness to a professional ballet career with New York’s Joffrey Ballet and the Dance Theater of Harlem. A question-and-answer session and a ballet workshop with Davis will follow the screening.
The masterclass is designed for dancers ages 13+ with intermediate level ballet experience and is also open for observation. The event is free and open to the public, although there is a suggested donation of $10. Contact Berkshire Pulse for more information at (413) 274-6624.
–E.E.
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BCC to participate in Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
Pittsfield — Berkshire Community College’s (BCC) Diversity Committee and Service-Learning Program will partner with the Harvest Table, Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, and Pittsfield Community Connection for the National Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service on Monday, January 18. This is the third year that BCC will participate in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. Thirty BCC students and employees are expected to participate.
Volunteers will meet at the First United Methodist Church 9 a.m. and then disperse to three Pittsfield locations for the day: Habitat for Humanity’s Habitat ReStore at 399 Hubbard Ave., the Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center, and the Harvest Table at 55 Fenn St.
A limited number of slots for volunteers from outside BCC are available. Registration is required and available online. For more information, contact Brianne Morrison at bmorrison@berkshirecc.edu.
–E.E.
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Boys’ & Girls’ Club hosts Kittredge Youth Hockey Tournament
Pittsfield — The Boys & Girls Club of the Berkshires will host the 45th annual Gib Kittredge Hockey Tournament Friday, January 15 through Monday, January 18. The first puck will drop Friday night at 6 p.m. with games continuing Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m., and the finals will happen on Monday at 9 a.m. Admission is free.
The Kittredge Tournament is one of the oldest and longest running youth hockey tournaments in the Northeast. This year 14 teams from New England and New York, including three teams from the Boys’& Girls’ Club, will compete in three divisions. The tournament runs on a point basis determined by wins, losses, and ties; and each team is guaranteed three games.
For more information about the Tournament, call the Boys’ & Girls’ Club of the Berkshires at (413) 448-8258.
–E.E.
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Berkshire Museum to celebrate Kid Inventors’ Day
Pittsfield — Spark!Lab at the Berkshire Museum will celebrate kids and their inventions as part of Kid Inventors’ Day on Sunday, January 17, from noon to 5 p.m. For this day of special hands-on challenges, kids will be invited to prototype inventive solutions to local and global problems with a focus on health issues.
Visitors also will take part in the worldwide launch of the 2016 Global Spark!Lab Invent It Challenge, with participants ages 5 to 21 encouraged to identify a real world problem and come up with an invention to solve it. Young inventors can enter as individuals or as a team, and earn prizes ranging from building sets, books, invention camp scholarships, and even consultation services from an attorney for the patent process.
Developed at the Smithsonian Institution by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History, Spark!Lab is part of a nation-wide initiative to engage youngsters in the act of invention and innovation. For more information about the event, contact the Museum at (413) 443-7171.
–E.E.
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Williams College music professor awarded commission
Williamstown — Williams College music professor Ileana Perez Velazquez has been awarded a $12,000 commission from Harvard University’s Fromm Music Foundation in order to create a new work. She is one of 14 composers selected by the Fromm commission in 2015.
Velazquez will write a piece for string quartet titled “Elegia,” inspired by a poem by Miguel Hernandez. The composition will be 20 minutes in length and contain three main sections in one movement. The Amernet String Quartet of Miami, Fla., will premiere the piece, which Velazquez has three years to complete.
Velazquez, who was born and raised in Cuba, earned her B.M. at the Higher Institute of Arts in Havana before moving to the U.S. in 1993. She earned an M.A. at Dartmouth College and a D.M.A. in music composition at Indiana University. She has been at Williams since 2000, where she teaches music composition and music technology.
–E.E.
