This time of year, I met a woman in a stand of laurel bushes. It turns out by the time she was my age, she’d invented a new form of free-verse.
Read articleShops and co-ops link knitters and locally grown wool
It’s a quiet movement, sliding the yarn over the needle, pulling the loop through and repeating. The the feel of wool can be warm and earthy in your hands.
Read articleSalem Art Works expands into a virtual holiday shop
Salem Art Works in Salem, N.Y., has opened a new webshop for their artists, with blown glass ornaments ceramics, cast iron and more — and their trails are open.
Read articleHubbard Hall lifts past and present voices for women’s rights
Women are talking in a public hall, debating passionately. They see the country at a turning point, shaken by an impeachment, an upsurge in violence and disputes over immigration and voting. It’s 1894 — and it’s today.
Read articleLive performances revive outdoors in the Berkshires
A woman is singing in a low, strong alto. She is calling for a time of new beginning. A group of people are gathering outside, questioning authority and looking for action rooted in love. In August, Berkshire Theatre Group opens a revival of Godspell set in 2020, in the coronavirus pandemic — and shaped by it.
Read articleRound House Bakery closes at Hubbard Hall and regroups in the pandemic
Scott and Lisa Carrino have built a local community around the Round House Bakery Café, and the pandemic has closed their restaurant at Hubbard Hall. They will keep their bakery running at Pompanuck Farm in White Creek.
Read articleContra dance is alive and growing in the Berkshires
The tradition of contra dancing stretches from coast to coast and back more than 400 years. A caller teaches a series of simple moves, and dancers join in to live music with a beat and a quick melody.
Read articleJapanese ukiyo-e prints travel the world
A thief in a tree casts the illusion of a giant serpent. A wave breaks on Miho beach, and sails fill in the wind in the distance. They show as flecks of light against the foothills of Mount Fuji.
Read articleCantilena Choir comes face to face with Joan of Arc on silent film
She is a teenager, and she is in a court room. She is tall and broad shouldered, her dark hair is cut short, and she is wearing a man’s buttoned shirt — one reason she is here, fighting for her life. She is a poorly educated farm girl from a small […]
Read articleMusic flies free at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival — BTW column
Adam Ezra calls two friends in the audience up to the stage. They are musicians from Boston, like him. Got your ax? he says, and the woman beside him tunes her fiddle. He strums the opening bars, and the musicians around him casually pick up the beat. They hand off […]
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