W.E.B. DuBois traveled the world in his lifetime. He helped to shape ideals of independence in Africa and freedom and democracy in America. And I have begun to get to know him in the Berkshires, where he was born.
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Camp closures affect local businesses in the pandemic
In a normal summer, I would be a counselor at URJ Crane Lake Camp, and right about now, my friends and I would be walking into West Stockbridge on our hour-off for a muffin and iced-tea from No. Six Depot Roastery and Café or a grilled sandwich from the Public […]
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Zaccho Dance Theatre honors W.E.B. DuBois
Joanna Haigood’s Zaccho Dance Theatre performs her immersive work Between Me and the Other World, rooted in DuBois’ book, Souls of Black Folk, drawing on it in the 21st century.
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Movement and light come to the Berkshires midway between winter and spring (By the Way column)
Sunday is midwinter, halfway between the first day of winter and the first day of spring, and in the Berkshires energy is stirring in performances like Vuyani Dance Company’s Cion, on college campuses and in the woods.
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Nationally awardwinning architects and designers set to create cultural center
Nationally recognized architects and designers Mario Gooden, Mabel Wilson and Walter Hood are working to re-imagine the Clinton Church in Great Barrington as a cultural center celebrating African American history.
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Young choreographers at Berkshire Pulse earn national attention
Five young women in the Young Choreographers Initiative at Berkshire Pulse have created their own work on the theme of sexual assault. And they have caught national attention.
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Pilobolus dance company finds movement and connection in organic forms
They swing like saplings — roll and lift and orbit. Six dancers blend into three creatures, four-armed like dancing Shivas. They are wearing spare clothing the colors of their skin and moving in sunlight, to the sound of quiet strings and calling birds. Pilobolus has performed around the world for […]
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Going Gnome in Great Barrington sculpts friendly figures in wool
It started with a bead store, a fiber festival on a fall weekend, and an amiable, improvisational pair … of gnomes. Across 10 year, a hobby and a gift has evolved into a home-grown business, a nesting dragon, a forest of talking trees and a way of life. On a […]
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Melville and Hawthorne meet on Monument Mountain — BTW column
Arrowhead, Herman Melville’s historic house in Pittsfield, leads a marathon reading of Moby-Dick in early August and an annual hike up Monument Mountain in Great Barrington to commemorate Herman Melville’s meeting with Nathaniel Hawthorne. I have walked the loop on the mountain on a late summer afternoon and thought of […]
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Crescendo ensemble sets Norman Rockwell paintings in Song
Blues and Middle Eastern scales blend into children’s voices holding a line as simple as a Shaker tune, with low notes below. A man and a woman stand by their sleeping son and daughter, holding a newspaper with a headline from the blitz. American music of all kinds embraces well-known […]
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