PS21 presents New York choreographer Kyle Marshall’s ‘Femenine,’ a celebration of life, the divine feminine, queerness, and composer Julius Eastman
Chatham, N.Y.— On July 11th and 12th at 8 p.m., PS21 presents New York choreographer Kyle Marshall’s “Femenine,” a celebration of life, the divine feminine, queerness, and composer Julius Eastman with live music by BlackBox Ensemble.
The evening-long dance piece is set to composer Julius Eastman’s jubilant work of the same title, “Femenine” is a vibrant embodiment of queer joy, celebrating Black and Brown LGBTQ+ people and artistry in times of resilience and solidarity. It is a celebration of life, the divine feminine, queerness, and the life and legacy of composer Julius Eastman.
Dressed in non-binary expressions, the company’s six dancers ebb and flow between joyfully queer geometry and dense solos of honesty creating a community driven by musicality and dramatic moments of power. Washed in an ocean of bells, vibraphone, brass, woodwinds and strings, the work carries the audience through spaces for softness and affirmation, revealing the shadows and shimmers of Eastman’s life and legacy.
The performances are on July 11th and 12th at 8 p.m. at PS21’s Pavilion Theater, located at 2980 Route 66 in Chatham, N.Y. Following the Saturday evening performance, stay for an after-hour event, at which the BlackBox Ensemble will present an immersive sonic experience featuring music by Julius Eastman and more. Tickets and more information can be found online.
On Wednesday, July 9th at 6:30 p.m., there will be a conversation with choreographer Kyle Marshall and Isaac Jean-Francois, a Julius Eastman scholar and doctoral candidate at Yale University, whose research interests include Black studies, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and queer studies. The conversation will take place on the beautiful Skydeck at The Spark of Hudson, located at 502 Union Street in Hudson. Admission is free. Light refreshments will be available. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Yiddish Book Center presents Yidstock 2025, a festival of new Yiddish music
Amherst— From Thursday, July 10th through Sunday, July 13th, Yiddish Book Center presents Yidstock 2025, a festival of new Yiddish music.
Now in its thirteenth year, Yidstock showcases both celebrated luminaries and emerging voices. This year’s four-day festival features seven concerts, four hands-on workshops, and nine in-depth talks, all celebrating the rich traditions and contemporary expressions of Yiddish music, language, and culture. The Klezmatics, Eleanor Reissa, Joanne Borts, and Michael Winograd are among the internationally acclaimed performers.
“Yidstock is a vibrant celebration of Yiddish music and culture,” said Susan Bronson, president of the Yiddish Book Center. “We’re excited to once again welcome an extraordinary lineup of performers and an enthusiastic audience for a dynamic weekend of concerts, conversations, and creative exchange.”
The festival runs from Thursday, July 10th through Sunday, July 13th at the Yiddish Book Center, located at 1021 West Street in Amherst. The full schedule of events, including instrumental and vocal concerts, dance workshops, artist conversations, talks, and film screenings, is available online. While some events are sold out, many are not, and a Livestream Concert Pass for those unable to attend in person.
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Clark Art Institute presents Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter-producer Gaby Moreno
Williamstown— On Wednesday, July 9th at 6 p.m., Clark Art Institute presents Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter-producer Gaby Moreno. The performance is the latest in a series of free outdoor concerts with thematic connections to the “Ground/work 2025” exhibition.
Moreno has released eight albums and earned four Grammy nominations for her albums. Over her career, Moreno has shared the international stage with music luminaries such as Tracy Chapman, Nickel Creek, Buena Vista Social Club, Calexico, Los Lobos, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Taj Mahal, and Jackson Browne. She co-wrote the theme song for the NBC TV series “Parks and Recreation.” She sings the theme song and voices a character on the multiple Emmy Award-winning Disney TV series “Elena of Avalor.” Her talent and breadth match well with the Ground/work 2025 architect and artist Javier Senosiain.
The concert is on Wednesday, July 9th at 6 p.m. at the Clark Art Institute, located at 225 South Street in Williamstown. Admission is free. Bring a picnic and your own seating. More information can be found online.
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Berkshire County Historical Society presents an evening of sea shanties with popular, old-world folklorist Alex Harvey and Shinbone Alley at Arrowhead
Pittsfield— On Thursday, July 10th at 7 p.m., Berkshire County Historical Society presents an evening of sea shanties with popular, old-world folklorist Alex Harvey and Shinbone Alley at Arrowhead.
Alex Harvey performs street ballads and songs of the sea in a project he calls Shinbone Alley. At his performances, listeners learn to celebrate the haunting intercultural exchange of 18th and 19th century maritime music – whose ingredients travelled from the furthest corners of the globe to be remade and stitched anew by sailors of every shade and shape in port and at sea. By teaching the audience to join in on most of the tunes in his concerts, Harvey and his Shinbone Alley builds bridges through communal singing. From Sea Shanties to Lovesick Dirges to Whaling Serenades, this music was meant as the earliest form of group therapy.
The event is on Thursday, July 10th at 7 p.m. at the historic barn at Arrowhead, located at 780 Holmes Road in Pittsfield. Guests are invited to arrive early to picnic on the grounds. Hard ciders from Berkshire Cider Project will be for sale during the event. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art presents Ryan Hollander and Allan Bezame as part of their ‘Sunset Thursdays’ family-friendly summer performance series
Amherst— On Thursday, July 10th from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art presents Ryan Hollander and Allan Bezame as part of their “Sunset Thursdays” family-friendly summer performance series.
Unwind on breezy Thursday evenings while you picnic in our beautiful grounds and take in the music of Ryan Hollander with guitarist Allan Bezame in the courtyard. Vocalist Ryan Hollander has a unique style, which blends classic sophistication and contemporary relevance. With deep roots in the jazz tradition, his mature and historically-informed sound carries with it an uncompromising sense of freshness and individuality, integrating elements of pop, R&B, and rock.
The concert is on Thursday, July 10th from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, located at 125 West Bay Road in Amherst. Bring a picnic and your own seating. Drinks will be available for sale. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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MASS MoCA presents ‘The Dark Delight of Being Strange’ with author James B. Haile
North Adams— On Thursday, July 10th at 5 p.m., MASS MoCA presents ‘The Dark Delight of Being Strange’ with author James B. Haile,
Offering new ways to grasp the meanings and implications of Black freedom, James B. Haile III invites us to reimagine history and memory, time and space, our identities and ourselves. An ambitious genre-crossing exploration of Black speculative imagination, “The Dark Delight of Being Strange” combines fiction, historical accounts, and philosophical prose to unveil the extraordinary and the surreal in everyday Black life.
Haile traces how Black speculative fiction responds to enslavement, racism, colonialism, and capitalism to reveal a life beyond social and political alienation. He reenvisions Black technologies of freedom through Henry Box Brown’s famed escape from slavery in a wooden crate, fashions an anticolonial “hollow earth theory” from the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, and considers the octopus and its ability to camouflage itself as a model for Black survival strategies.
Haile transports readers to alternative worlds and spaces while remaining squarely rooted in present-day struggles. In so doing, he rethinks historical and contemporary Black experiences as well as figures such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Henry Dumas, and Toni Morrison.
James B. Haile, III is an Afrosurrealist and Afrofuturist writer who is an associate professor of philosophy with a joint appointment in English at the University of Rhode Island. He is the author of “The Buck, the Black, and the Existential Hero: Refiguring the Black Male Literary Canon, 1850 to Present” (2020).
The event is on Thursday, July 10th at 5 p.m. at the R&D Store at MASS MoCA, located at 1040 MASS MoCA Way in North Adams. Tickets and more information can be found online.
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Chesterwood presents a poetry reading by Patrick Donnelly and Lisken Van Pelt Dus
Stockbridge— On Wednesday, July 9th from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., Chesterwood, as part of its “WordsAlive!” Series, presents a poetry reading by Patrick Donnelly and Lisken Van Pelt Dus.
Patrick Donnelly will read from his fifth collection of poems, the recently published “Willow Hammer,” and Lisken Van Pelt Dus will read from her second collection of poems, “How Many Hands to Home.”
The reading is on Wednesday, July 9th from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Chesterwood, located at 4 Williamsville Road in Stockbridge. More information can be found online.
