Hudson Hall presents the world premiere of Jodi Melnick and Maya Lee-Parritz’s dance duo, ‘Água Viva’
Hudson— On Saturday, August 26th at 7 p.m. and Sunday, August 27th at 4 p.m., in association with The Hudson Eye annual arts festival RECESS series, Hudson Hall presents the world premiere of Jodi Melnick and Maya Lee-Parritz’s dance duo, “Água Viva”.
A homage to Ukrainian-born Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector’s extraordinary feminist novel, choreographer and dancer Jodi Melnick and collaborator Maya Lee-Parritz’s duo “Água Viva” expands upon Lispector’s notions of virtuosity, sexuality, and the spectacular, probing the limits of spontaneity through intricate movement.
Dance Magazine called Jodi Melnick “one of the most beautiful dancers there ever was—full of delicacy, lucidity, sensuality, mystery, and ferocity, which gives her an indelible sense of drama.” a Melnick says, “My vision is to use body language to demonstrate how dance can communicate, locate a nerve, and unhinge a narrative.”
The performances are on Saturday, August 26th at 7 p.m. and Sunday, August 27th at 4 p.m. at Hudson Hall at the historic Hudson Opera House on Warren Street in Hudson. Tickets start at $15. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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The Foundry presents Olivia Idella Martin’s ‘Kinetic Framework’
West Stockbridge— On Saturday, August 26th at 7:30 p.m., The Foundry presents Olivia Idella Martin’s “Kinetic Framework”, a dance piece that explores the framework we build our lives in and how we move within, through, and around it.
“Kinetic Framework”, choreographed by Berkshire Artist Olivia Idella Martin and danced by local dancers, is an exploration of our created framework, the framework we build our lives in, and how we move within, through and around it. The exploration of this piece began with how kinetic sculptures are solid frames affected by the elements around them causing them to move and change. We don’t always see the effects of our actions as we pass through moments. This piece takes a moment and frames it for us illuminating all of the trails to which it leads.
The performance is on Saturday, August 26th at 7:30 p.m. at the Foundry on Harris Street in West Stockbridge. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door. This is an indoor event. Visit the Foundry online for tickets and more information. Parking is limited at the venue so please utilize the three public parking lots in Town. To avoid a parking ticket, visit the Foundry online for further details.
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The Laurel Hill Association will feature noted forester Starling ‘Star’ Childs at Laurel Hill Day
Stockbridge— On Saturday, August 26th at 2 p.m., the Laurel Hill Association will feature noted forester Starling Childs at Laurel Hill Day.
For the past 170 years, local Stockbridge residents and friends have gathered in front of a rock outcropping in Laurel Hill Park. This year, the keynote address will be delivered by Starling ‘Star’ Childs. Childs has spent a lifetime managing forest lands and teaching young people about the challenges facing them.
“We are delighted to have Star speak at Laurel Hill Day” said association president Hilary Somers Deely. “He has had a distinguished career as a hands on forester and as an advisor to his alma mater’s Yale Forest School. Star’s expertise, insight, and easy, humorous manner guarantees that our program will be especially engaging this year.”
Childs has worked with state and local governments as well as many private clients to assess and administer their lands for ecologically sensitive development, forestry and wildlife management, recreation, natural resource extraction, bio-energy and land conservation strategies. Child’s specialty areas include hydrology, sediment and erosion control, land and forest restoration, mineral and aggregate resource extraction, and the emerging markets related to the science of carbon sequestration and forest offsets.
Childs has helped to finance and launch several successful enterprises in historic building renovation and adaptive reuse, biomass power generation, advanced water treatment technology, energy conservation, telecommunications, iron sand and rare earths mineral exploration, and even yogurt production and sales, the latter being the most successful with Stonyfield becoming a nationally known brand.
He has served as Chairman of the External Advisory Board of the Global Institute for Sustainable Forests at Yale Forest School and currently serves on the advisory board of the New England Forestry Foundation. Childs is a 1976 graduate of Yale College and holds a BS degree in Geology and Geophysics and a Master’s degree in Forest Science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. After graduating in 1980, he worked for Great Mountain Forest, a family owned working forest in Norfolk, Connecticut. For the past thirty years, Childs has served as a founding board member and officer of the Great Mountain Forest Corporation which is a 501(c)(3) operating foundation that oversees scholarly research and educational programs as well as the ongoing, long-term management of his family’s 6,500 acre working forest and wildlife preserve in northwestern Connecticut.
Laurel Hill Day is Saturday, August 26th at 2 p.m. in front of a rock outcropping in Laurel Hill Park located behind the Stockbridge Town Offices on Main Street in Stockbridge. More information can be found online.
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The New Marlborough Meeting House presents ‘An Afternoon with Writer/Comedian Alison Larkin’
New Marlborough— On August 26th at 4:30 p.m., the New Marlborough Meeting House presents “An Afternoon with Writer/Comedian Alison Larkin”.
Join comedian, award-winning audiobook narrator, and bestselling novelist Alison Larkin for a joyful sneak preview of excerpts from her new solo show “Grief… a Comedy”, accompanied by Emmy award winning composer Gary Schreiner. An earlier version of Alison’s show, called “Grief the Musical…a Comedy”, sold out the Great Barrington Public Theatre in 2022. “Grief…a Comedy” will premiere at the SohoTheatre in London on November 6th.
Called “hugely entertaining…marvelously light-footed” by The Times, London, Alison found true love for the first time in her 50’s with an Indian climate scientist who had also immigrated to the U.S. Then, he died. Then something wildly unexpected happened. When Archbishop Desmond Tutu found out about it, he insisted she write this show.
Alison is the bestselling author of “The English American”, an autobiographical novel about an adopted English woman who finds her birth parents in the United States, which sprang from her first one-woman comedy show on the subject. She has narrated over 200 audiobooks including “The Complete Novels of Jane Austen”, which is the #1 bestselling Austen audiobook in the world. She is also the founder of the award-winning Berkshire-based audiobook company Alison Larkin Presents and the narrator and host of “The Jane Austen Podcast with Alison Larkin” produced by Realm.fm.
The afternoon with Alison Larkin is on August 26th at 4:30 p.m. at the New Marlborough Meeting House on Hartsville-New Marlborough Road in New Marlborough. Tickets are $30 for general admission, $25 for members, $10 for full-time college students (with I.D.), and free for those under age 21. Tickets and more information are available online or by calling 413-229-5045.
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Bard College at Simon’s Rock welcomes best-selling author Mira Jacob to give this year’s Book One Lecture
Great Barrington— On Tuesday, August 29th from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., Bard College at Simon’s Rock welcomes best-selling author Mira Jacob to give this year’s Book One Lecture.
Jacob’s graphic memoir “Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations” was chosen as this year’s Book One, the book that all incoming college students read and discuss during their weeklong writing and thinking workshop.
In “Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations”, like many six-year-olds, Mira Jacob’s half-Jewish, half-Indian son, Z, has questions about everything. At first they are innocuous enough, but as tensions from the 2016 election spread from the media into his own family, they become much, much more complicated. Trying to answer him honestly, Mira has to think back to where she’s gotten her own answers, her most formative conversations about race, color, sexuality, and, of course, love.
Written with humor and vulnerability, this deeply relatable graphic memoir is a love letter to the art of conversation–and to the hope that hovers in our most difficult questions. It was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award, longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award, named a New York Times Notable Book, and chosen as a best book of the year by Time, Esquire, Publisher’s Weekly, The New York Public Library, and many more.
Mira Jacob is a novelist, memoirist, illustrator, and cultural critic. In addition to “Good Talk”, she is the author of “The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing”, which was a Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers pick, shortlisted for India’s Tata First Literature Award, longlisted for the Brooklyn Literary Eagles Prize, and named one of the best books of 2014 by Kirkus Review, the Boston Globe, Goodreads, Bustle, and The Millions. She is currently an assistant professor and chair of nonfiction in the MFA Creative Writing program at The New School, and is a founding faculty member of the MFA Program at Randolph College.
The lecture will take place Tuesday, August 29th at 7:00 p.m. in the McConnell Theater in the Daniel Arts Center at Bard College of Simon’s Rock on Alford Road in Great Barrington. It is free and open to the public. More information can be found online.
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The Hancock Shaker Village presents ‘Food for Thought’ with author Ilyon Woo, a dinner discussion about her newest book ‘Master Slave Husband Wife’
Pittsfield— On Thursday, August 24th from 6 p.m. to 8 :30 p.m., the Hancock Shaker Village presents bestselling “Food for Thought” with author Ilyon Woo, a dinner discussion about her newest book “Master Slave Husband Wife”.
Woo’s “Master Slave Husband Wife” is a New York Times Bestseller. It tells the remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave. With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom, “Master Slave Husband Wife” is an American love story that challenges the nation’s core precepts of life, liberty, and justice for all.
The dinner discussion is on Thursday, August 24th from 6 p.m. to 8 :30 p.m. at the Hancock Shaker Village on West Housatonic Street in Pittsfield. Tickets are $55 and $50 for members. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Summer Stage at Ski Butternut presents The Machine performing Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” album in its entirety
Great Barrington— On Saturday, August 26th at 7:30 p.m., Summer Stage at Ski Butternut presents The Machine performing Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” album in its entirety.
The Machine Live has forged a 30+ year reputation of extending the musical legacy of Pink Floyd. The New York-based quartet performs a diverse mix of The Floyd’s extensive 16-album repertoire, complete with faithful renditions of popular hits as well as obscure gems. With stellar musicianship and passionate delivery, The Machine explores collective improvisation rivaling that of an early 1970’s Pink Floyd, while their use of expanded theatrical elements, elaborate stage displays, and lighting continues The Floyd spirit of the 1980’s.
The Machine has sold out theaters, premier showcase rooms, and casinos across North America, Europe and Asia, has performed at renowned music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Riverbend, and Gathering of the Vibes, and shared the stage with full symphony orchestras, including the Atlanta, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Charlotte, and San Diego Symphonies, as well as the Buffalo Philharmonic.
The concert is on Saturday, August 26th at 7:30 p.m. on the Summer Stage at Ski Butternut on State Road in Great Barrington. Tickets are $34 in advance and $38 on the day of the concert. The gates open at 4:30 p.m. There is an opening act at 5 p.m., and The Machine takes the stage at 7:30 p.m. A family friendly event, attendees are invited to bring their own chairs and blankets. No outside food or beverages allowed on sight. The concert will happen rain or shine. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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The Olana State Historic Site presents ‘Moving and Healing with Mother Earth: A Sunset Walk and Workshop’
Hudson— On Saturday, August 26th from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the Olana State Historic Site presents “Moving and Healing with Mother Earth: A Sunset Walk and Workshop”.
During this nature walk and workshop, Nkoula Badila, founder of Grow Black Hudson, will guide participants through Olana’s landscape, discussing the health benefits of regional species and the ways we can connect with nature through movement and herbal medicine. Following a walk through Olana’s late summer landscape, Nkoula, a seasoned yoga practitioner and performing artist, will lead a short yoga practice inspired by the flora onsite. This program will culminate with a hands-on activity where participants will be invited to create their own herbal tea blend or a mugwort smudge stick to take home.
Nkoula Badila is the founder of Grow Black Hudson, a local sustainable farming initiative, is deeply rooted in the histories of inequity related to the black experience with our national food system. A musician and artist, Nkoula is experienced in the performing arts and practices of healing movement. Nkoula has interned at local farms and after graduating high school, she participated in Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WOOFing), farming in Mexico, Belize, Haiti, and California.
The walk and workshop is on Saturday, August 26th from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Olana State Historic Site on State Route 9G in Hudson. Tickets are $15, $10 for members, and free for Columbia County residents. Free refreshments will be served following the program. Tickets and more information can be found online or by calling 518-751-6938.
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Shakespeare & Company hosts a two-day tag sale fundraiser
Lenox— On Friday, August 25th and Saturday, August 26th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on both days, Shakespeare & Company hosts a two-day tag sale fundraiser as the Company, its members, and supporters clear out their store rooms and attics.
This fundraising event gives patrons the opportunity to discover fun and funky treasures including theatrical props, Mid-century Modern furniture, decorative objects, fine art, books, antiques, vintage costumes, and household and garden wares. Highlights include an eight-foot Egyptian statue, a gold lion statue, a Matisse serigraph, an Adirondack twig rocking chair, and more.
The tag sale is on Friday, August 25th and Saturday, August 26th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on both days at Shakespeare & Company on Kemble Street in Lenox. Early buyers can shop starting at 8:30 a.m. on Friday with a $10 early buyer’s fee.
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The biggest Housatonic tag sale in history
Housatonic— On Saturday, August 26th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. is the biggest Housatonic tag sale in history.
The energy from the wonderfully successful Party in the Park where over 1,000 neighbors came together in Housatonic for a day of music, food, and camaraderie, has inspired another exciting day that could also become a yearly tradition, the Housatonic-wide Tag Sale Day. The goals of this event are to be a fun way to say hi and get to know neighbors, to keep items out of landfills, and to generate a donation to Berkshire organizations.
In addition, some families are using this opportunity to support causes important to their families. For example, the sale at 210 Oak Street will benefit Girl Scouts Troop 64834 summer 2024 trip to Europe, and Tatum Birnhak, a rising Sophomore at Monument Mountain Regional High School, will be donating a portion of her proceeds to the Class of 2026.
Houses participating are listed below and a map can be found online.
- 6 Depot Street
- 6 Fairview Road
- 214 Highland Street
- 27 Kirk Street
- 1019 Main Street
- 1051 Main Street, Apartment 2
- 1051 Main Street
- 203 North Street
- 210 Oak Street
- 229 Oak Street
- 204 Pleasant Street
- 214 Pleasant Street
- 218 Pleasant Street
- 212 Prospect Street
- 210 South Street
- 212 South Street
- 216 South Street
- 12 Wright Lane
- 29 Wyantenuck Street
- 30 Wyantenuck Street
- 73 Vandeusenville Road
The event is on Saturday, August 26th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. throughout Housatonic. In case of rain, the date will be moved to Sunday, August 27th. If you’d like to join in the sale, please reach out to Heather Campbell at heather.ann.campbell@gmail.com.
