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Saturday, May 8, 2004
  Articles on this page: • Berkshire Programs Train and Educate Area Youths in all Aspects of Fine Arts
Berkshire Programs Train and Educate Area Youths in all Aspects of Fine Arts Berkshire County youth have many opportunities to study several areas of the arts, thanks to local organizations. Students can learn to act, direct, paint, dance and gain technical skills with area professionals. Here is a sampling of some programs offered: (Please call each organization for more program details.) Barrington Stage Company Berkshire School Road Sheffield 528-8888/528-8806 * The Playwright Mentoring Project: A six-month after school theatre program in which youth tell stories and create a play. * Youth Theatre: a professional performance opportunity for middle and high school students to produce and act in a play. The performances are in the summer. * KidsAct! Is a dramatic training program for children ages 8 – 17. Students learn all aspects of theatre concluding with a final performance. The 2004 KidsAct! offers two sessions. * Summer Internships: offers interested youth the opportunity to learn many aspects of theatre production while working with professionals.
Berkshire Theatre Festival East Main Street Stockbridge 298-5536 ext. 19 or 29 The Berkshire Theatre Festival Education Program – BTF PLAYS! – serves area students from kindergarten to eighth grade and is divided into four separate components * BTF PLAYS! IN-SCHOOL RESIDENCY: The in-school program is a 14-week residency, where the Artist-in-Residence company members work with fourth, fifth and sixth grade students. As a final project, each student creates his or her very own story and turns it into a play. * BTF PLAYS! AFTERSCHOOL: In the after school program students play theater games that help them to discover creativity through their bodies and voices and learn the basics of acting. The class also allows them to rehearse an original adaptation of a classic myth or fairytale and perform it for their classmates and/or family members. * BTF PLAYS! ON VACATION: The vacation camps, like the after school programming, focuses on the basics of acting and performance. BTF PLAYS! SUMMERTIME dates – July 5-16 and August 2-13 * BTF PLAYS! THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES: Beginning in October, and running throughout the school year, the Artists-in-Residence company performs their annual play at dozens of venues throughout the region. Upcoming productions from BTF PLAYS! THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES – Robin Hood - showing at the Berkshire Museum starting June 30 and playing through July 17, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 11am. Mystery Sideshow 2: Strange Waves – Showing at the Berkshire South Regional Community Center starting August 4 and playing through August 21, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 11am.
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 358 George Carter Road Becket 243-0745 * Jacob's Pillow’s Curriculum in Motion®: offers a two-week residency held annually at Becket-Washington School, Becket; Conte Community School, Pittsfield; and twice a year at Monument Mountain Regional High School. The program draws upon K-12 academic subjects as source material and choreographic works are developed by students through a co-teaching process between classroom teachers and the Pillow’s roster of prominent artist-educators. the miniature theatre of chester Town Hall, 15 Middlefield Street Chester 354-7770 * Youth in Theatre Program: is a summer program providing theatre training and summer employment for Western Massachusetts high school students (Apprentices) and college students (Interns). Apprentices and Interns train in every aspect of pre-production operations. During productions, they work with sound, sets, props, lights and costumes. Students benefit from hands-on-training under the guidance of professional directors, designers, actors and technical personnel. The Norman Rockwell Museum 9 Glendale Road Stockbridge 298-4100 * Art Comes Alive!: Special programs designed for families, held monthly throughout the year, which combine activities such as performance in storytelling, drama or music with a gallery tour and a hands-on class in art or a related topic. Free with Museum admission. * Art Your Way: Exhibition-related art classes taught by area artists, weekdays during school holidays in February, April and December. In December, free with Museum admission, February and April $6, $5 members. * Festival Days: August 14, 2004, Housatonic River Festival with activities for all ages including demonstrations, hands-on art making, and performance. Free with Museum admission. * Drawing Together: Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays in July and August: Children and their parents/guardians will enjoy this intergenerational program exploring the art of picture making. $6, $5 members. * Summer Sketch Club: Tuesdays in July and August. A location drawing and painting class that will encourage children to explore basic art concepts in the out-of-doors. $6, $5 members.
Shakespeare & Company 70 Kemble Street Lenox 637-1199 *Shakespeare in Action: This extensive program for high school students includes the Fall Festival of Shakespeare in western Massachusetts and the Spring Festival of Shakespeare in eastern Massachusetts. Shakespeare & Company directors lead students through a nine-week, language-based exploration of a Shakespeare play culminating in a full-scale production. * Elementary and Middle Schools Residency Program: Company artists lead 4th-8th grade students through an active, imaginative exploration of Shakespeare's language, themes, and characters. The students approach the plays as actors, and share their work in a final performance for the public. *Shakespeare & Young Company: led by master teachers and Shakespeare & Company's Education Program faculty, this training program for actors aged 16-20 includes classes in voice, movement, acting, text analysis, dance, stage combat, and clown. Participants take classes, participate in rehearsals, work behind the scenes, and prepare their own Shakespeare performance for the general public. This program has recently expanded to include a spring session. * The Spring Tour of Shakespeare: A team of seven Shakespeare & Company actor/teachers travels to 80-100 schools throughout the northeast, performing a 90-minute production of a Shakespeare play with emphasis on the language, the energy of the actors, and their relationship with the audience. The tour also offers a variety of performance and participatory workshops for students in grades 7-12. * Riotous Youth: This summer program gives actors aged 7-15 the opportunity to explore Shakespeare's plays through acting. Each session explores one of Shakespeare's plays in the summer performance season and culminates in a student performance. *The Shakespeare Project: Adjudicated youth work with Shakespeare & Company artists, exploring Shakespeare's text and preparing their own performance piece as part of the terms of their probation. Supported by a YouthReach grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, this collaboration with Berkshire Juvenile Court was created in 2001. Tanglewood (Summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra) 297 West Street, Route 183 Lenox 637-5165 *Days in the Arts (DARTS): is the main educational activity in the Berkshires. DARTS is a week-long arts immersion program for students in grades 4-6, in which each student chooses an arts discipline as an area of focus (instrumental music, chorus, visual arts, dance, or theatre). There are 8 weeks in the program, with 50 students who come each week. *Berkshire School Partnerships: During the school year, the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) sends artists and ensembles from the BSO to work with area music teachers and their students. During 2003-2004 the Berkshire schools included Reid Middle School, Pittsfield, Mt. Greylock Regional, Williamstown, Richmond Consolidated School, Richmond, and Hoosac Valley High School in Adams/Cheshire.  RETURN TO TOP |
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