BASIC Berkshires

Moving Life Stories (Pittsfield)
2024-04-23 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-04-16 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-04-09 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-04-02 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-03-26 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-03-19 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Berkshire Family YMCA, 292 North St, Pittsfield, 01201
Open to all ages; FREE
Pittsfield Series:
Tuesdays, Apr 4 – May 23
6-8pm
Location: Pittsfield YMCA
292 North St, Pittsfield, MA 01201
To express interest or get in touch, please contact berkshire.pulse@gmail.com or call 413-274-6624.
Moving Life Stories (MLS) is a creative movement class created for and geared toward the immigrant population and their allies in the Berkshires. MLS provides opportunities to share personal journeys, stories, and connections to places past and present through movement games, exercises, dancing, and community building.
In this series of workshops, we will learn various ways to tell and embody our stories through play, creative movement, and the creation of mini-dances. No prior movement experience is required, and the class is appropriate for all ages.
A Spanish-speaking interpreter will be present, childcare is provided, and transportation can be arranged.
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Historias de Vida en Movimiento es una clase de movimiento creativo creado para la comunidad inmigrante en los Berkshire. La clase brinda la oportunidad de compartir experiencias personales e historias de y conexiones con lugares de su pasado y presente a través del movimiento, ejercicios, baile y construcción de comunidad.
En esta serie de talleres aprenderemos varios métodos para contar y expresar nuestras historias a través del juego, movimiento creativo, y la creación de bailes cortos. No se requiere experiencia previa y la clase es apta para todas las edades.
Un traductor de habla hispana estará presente y se puede organizar el transporte gratuito.

Tinker Tots
2024-04-23 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-04-16 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-04-09 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-04-02 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-03-26 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-03-19 10:00 - 11:00 | Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, MA, 012201
Come tinker and explore with the library and Pittsfield’s CFCE!
Each week children ages 0-2 (siblings welcome) and their caregivers engage in child-centered play, art, music, storytime, and sensory activities to encourage social, fine and gross motor, and pre-literacy skills.
¡Venga a jugar y explorar con la biblioteca y el CFCE de Pittsfield! Cada semana, los niños y sus cuidadores participan en juegos, arte, música, lectura de cuentos y actividades sensoriales centradas en los niños.
Children under the age of 10 must be accompanied by an adult 18+ at all times.
For more information call the Children’s Library: 413-499-9480, ext. 5.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum.
Attendance at library programs constitutes consent to be photographed; photos may be used in print or electronic publicity for the Berkshire Athenaeum.

Shakespeare & Co Center for Actor Training Weekend Intensive
2024-04-21 10:30 - 16:30, 2024-04-20 10:30 - 16:30, 2024-04-19 10:30 - 16:30 | Shakespeare & Company, 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, MA, 01240
Shakespeare & Company will host a Weekend Intensive at its Lenox, Massachusetts campus from April 19 – 21, designed for professional actors and theater students who seek an introduction to Shakespeare & Company’s training methods, as well as alumni who wish to refresh and reconnect with the work.
Designed for professional actors and theater students who seek an introduction to Shakespeare & Company’s training methods, as well as alumni who wish to refresh and reconnect, Shakespeare & Company’s Weekend Intensives integrate voice, movement, and monologue work. Rigorous attention is paid to identifying and offering skills specific to the needs of the participants throughout the weekend.
This Intensive will be led by the Center for Actor Training’s Director Sheila Bandyopadhyay, Producing Associate and Designated Linklater Voice Teacher Ariel Bock, and Training Programs Manager Kristen Moriarty. Tuition is $385, and scholarships are available for BIPOC artists. Alumni and union member discounts are also available.
For more information or to apply, visit shakespeare.org or call 413.637.1199, ext. 114.
Shakespeare & Company’s Center For Actor Training
The aesthetic of Shakespeare & Company was created within the training devised by Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer and a cadre of expert teachers. It is through these programs that the aesthetic is continually investigated, redefined, and reinvigorated, and that welcomes actors, directors, writers, and teachers from all over the world to work with the Company’s faculty. Through the Center for Actor Training, Shakespeare & Company’s performance artists, education artists, and artist managers develop a common artistic vocabulary and a coherent approach to performing Shakespeare.
Faculty Bios
Sheila Bandyopadhyay is the Director of Training for Shakespeare & Company, leading its Center for Actor Training. A director, deviser, movement specialist, Alexander Technique, and yoga teacher, Bandyopadhyay has been part of the faculty at Shakespeare & Company since 2007. Her Movement Direction credits include Macbeth (The Humanist Project); Mother Courage and her Children, The Cherry Orchard (American Academy of Dramatic Arts Company); Hamlet, Measure for Measure (NYU Gallatin), and Twelfth Night (FSU Conservatory/Asolo Rep). She has directed shows in New York at the Brick, the United Solo Festival (Theater Row), the Tank, the Women in Theater Festival (the Gural), the West End Theater, and the 72nd St Theater Lab. Bandyopadhyay’s favorite roles include Stephano in The Tempest (Stages on the Sound), Tamora in Titus Andronicus (The Humanist Project), and Bianca/Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew (Tempest Ladies). She is a proud member of the Humanist Project and a sponsored artist with Leviathan Lab.
Ariel Bock has been an actor, director and voice teacher at Shakespeare & Company for more than 20 years, she’s served as Artistic Associate and Producing Associate, and has been on the faculty as an acting or voice teacher at Dartmouth College, Smith College, and MIT, and has led many workshops both for professional and pre-professional actors and for those interested in Theater-in-Education.
Kristen Moriarty is a teaching artist, actor, mom, sentimentalist, and an infinite seeker of thinking and feeling deeply. After earning her BFA in Acting/Dance at Adelphi University, she worked as an actor and movement choreographer in Chicago for several years before going back to school to pursue an MFA in acting/teaching at the University of Montana. In 2011, while earning her MFA, she also began her actor training with Shakespeare & Company where she fell in love with Shakespeare’s language and its capacity to reveal the truth; the power of listening, honesty, and being present; and the Berkshires. Under the guidance of her teaching mentors Dennis Krausnick and Andrew Borthwick-Leslie, she began her journey as a teacher trainee with the Company in 2017, and joined the multi-hyphenate and exceptional faculty at Shakespeare & Company in 2022 where she currently teaches Text, Basics, and Weekend workshops. Passionate about contributing to brave spaces and creating a more just and welcoming theatre, and society, for all people, Kristen loves working with actors who are curious—about themselves and the world—and helping facilitate personal growth and deepening belief in self. A boundless student, Kristen is grateful to continue learning from her students, colleagues, and certainly her daughters, and hopes to become a Designated Linklater Teacher someday.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Open-caption Performance
2024-04-20 14:00 - 15:30, 2024-04-19 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-04-18 19:00 - 20:30, 2024-04-17 14:00 - 15:30 | Shakespeare & Company, 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, MA, 01240
Shakespeare & Company presents a series of open–caption performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring the Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare.
Open-captioned shows, accessible to Deaf or hard-of-hearing audience members, feature projection screens above and to the sides of the stage that display the actors’ lines via “supertitles.” These shows are family-friendly and patrons of all ages are welcome to attend.
Four performances will be staged during public school’s April Vacation Week:
– Wednesday, April 17 at 2 pm
– Thursday, April 18 at 7 pm
– Friday, April 19 at 7 pm
– Saturday, April 20 at 2 pm, including Shakespeare’s Birthday Bash
The Northeast Regional Tour of Shakespeare reaches more than 20,000 students, teachers, and audience members each year, and has been part of Shakespeare & Company’s repertoire since 1982.

KidNet by LitNet
2024-04-19 10:00 - 12:00 | Norman Rockwell Museum, 9 Glendale Road Route 183, Stockbridge, MA, 01262, United States
The Literacy Network will be hosting KidNet, a bilingual family event featuring an interactive drum circle, singing, guest readers, food, and a book giveaway. This event will take place at the Norman Rockwell Museum (9 Glendale Road, Stockbridge) on Friday, Apri 19 from 10 am to 12:00 pm. Registration is required (see image for QR CODE). All registered attendees will be granted free entrance to the museum! The Stockbridge Library will host a table to help attendees sign up for a library card!

Preschool Play & Learn
2024-04-18 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-04-11 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-04-04 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-03-28 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-03-21 10:00 - 11:00 | Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, MA, 012201
Join Miss Jenn from Pittsfield’s CFCE for Preschool Play & Learn Thursday mornings at 10 am. Preschool Play & Learn is a parent/child program that is centered around a theme from children’s literature and integrates preliteracy, math, and fine and gross motor skills. There are a variety of exploration stations for children 3 to 5 years old to discover.
Una variedad de oportunidades de exploración para niños de 3 a 5 años. Facilitado por el CFCE de Pittsfield.
Children under the age of 10 must be accompanied by an adult 18+ at all times.
For more information call the Children’s Library: (413) 499–9480, ext. 203 or Jenn Faulconer, CFCE Coordinator at (413) 441–0974.
The Coordinated Family and Community Engagement grant is funded through the Department of Early Education and Care.
Attendance at library programs constitutes consent to be photographed; photos may be used in print or electronic publicity for the Berkshire Athenaeum.

VIM Community Group
2024-04-11 17:30 - 19:30 | MA
If you are new to the community — or you have been here for a while and want to get to know new people, learn about the important things happening here, participate in recreational activities, and live a healthy and fulfilling life — WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN our VIM community group. We will meet at the new clinic located at 199 South St. in PITTSFIELD.

Baby & Me
2024-04-04 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-03-28 10:00 - 11:00, 2024-03-21 10:00 - 11:00 | Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, MA, 012201
Join Jenn Faulconer from Pittsfield’s CFCE and Sara Russell-Scholl, Youth Services Librarian, for a four-week baby (12 months and younger) and caregiver series. Each week we will cover a new topic such as sleep, nutrition, developmental milestones, and early literacy. We will also engage with books, songs, rhymes, and fingerplays. This series will be a great opportunity for bonding, meeting other children and caregivers, and learning about community resources.
Únase a Jenn Faulconer del CFCE de Pittsfield y a Sara Russell-Scholl, bibliotecaria de servicios juveniles, para una serie sobre bebés de cuatro semanas (12 meses y menos) y cuidadores. Cada semana cubriremos un tema nuevo, como el sueño, la nutrición, los hitos del desarrollo y la alfabetización temprana. También participaremos con libros, canciones, rimas y juegos con los dedos. Esta serie será una gran oportunidad para establecer vínculos, conocer a otros niños y cuidadores y aprender sobre los recursos comunitarios.
Children under the age of 10 must be accompanied by an adult 18+ at all times.
For more information call the Children’s Library: (413) 499–9480, ext. 203 or Jenn Faulconer, CFCE Coordinator at (413) 441–0974.
The Coordinated Family and Community Engagement grant is funded through the Department of Early Education and Care.
Attendance at library programs constitutes consent to be photographed; photos may be used in print or electronic publicity for the Berkshire Athenaeum.

Bilingual Storytime
2024-03-28 18:00 - 19:00 | Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue, Pittsfield, MA, 012201
Join library staff and community volunteers for a program of songs, rhymes, crafts, and read-aloud books. Take home a free book for each child to build your at-home library. Ideal for families with children of a variety of ages. This program is presented in English and Spanish.
Únase al personal de la biblioteca y a los voluntarios de la comunidad para un programa de canciones, rimas, manualidades y lectura de libros en voz alta. Llévate a casa un libro gratis para cada niño para construir tu biblioteca en casa. Ideal para familias con niños de diferentes edades.
