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Berkshires Beat: Disability Innovator to Give Jacob's Pillow Performance
02:50PM / Monday, July 23, 2018
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Choreographer and disability arts innovator Alice Sheppard and the Kinetic Light collaborative will give a debut appearance at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival’s Inside/Out series on Wednesday, Aug. 1.

Wheeled away

Following a sold-out run at New York Live Arts and performances at San Francisco's Fresh Meat Festival, choreographer and disability arts innovator Alice Sheppard and the Kinetic Light collaborative will give a debut appearance at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival’s Inside/Out series on Wednesday, Aug. 1, from 6:15 to 7 p.m.

They will present a mixed program of solo and duet works celebrating wheeled movement, using wooden ramp wedges designed by Massachusetts artist and design researcher Sara Hendren. The program includes a restaged duet from "Descent," the evening-length work that celebrated a sold-out run at New York Live Arts in March 2018. Inside/Out performances are free and presented on the Pillow's beautiful outdoor stage overlooking the Berkshire Hills.

In 2004, Sheppard saw Homer Avila, a disabled dancer, perform. Avila dared her to take a dance class; she did, and she loved moving so much that she resigned her academic professorship at Pennsylvania State University in order to begin a career in dance. She studied ballet and modern dance with Kitty Lunn and made her debut with Infinity Dance Theater. After an apprenticeship, Sheppard joined AXIS Dance Company, an Oakland-based company, where she toured nationally and taught in the company’s education and outreach programs. Since becoming an independent artist, Sheppard has danced in projects with Ballet Cymru, GDance, and Marc Brew Company in the United Kingdom and Full Radius Dance, Marjani Forté, MBDance, Infinity Dance Theater, and Steve Paxton in the United States.

As an emerging, award-winning choreographer, Sheppard creates movement that challenges conventional understandings of disabled and dancing bodies. Engaging with disability arts, culture, and history, she attends to the complex intersections of disability, gender, and race by exploring the societal and cultural significance of difference. In addition to performance and choreography, Sheppard is a sought-after speaker and has lectured on topics related to disability arts, race and dance. For more information, visit her website.

 

Emerging voice

Democratic Congressional candidate Tahirah Amatul-Wadud will meet with local residents on Monday, July 23, at 6 p.m. at the Bushnell-Sage Memorial Library. Her primary opponent, Rep. Richard Neal, has also been invited to speak. The Sheffield Democratic Committee is not endorsing either candidate but wants area residents to be able to hear the views of both.

Amatul-Wadud, a 44-year-old attorney from Springfield, is a strong advocate for the rights of women and religious minorities. As an African-American Muslim woman, she is passionate about interfaith outreach to increase religious literacy and diminish divisive rhetoric, according to her website. She serves as legal counsel for religious congregations in Massachusetts and New York to protect the religious freedom rights of all citizens. And as a volunteer commissioner for the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, Amatul-Wadud advocates to the state legislature to enact laws responsive to the needs of women and girls.

She is also the mother of seven children, one of whom had lifesaving heart surgery at Boston Children's Hospital. To show her gratitude, she serves on the hospital’s family advisory council. Her law practice focuses on domestic relations and civil rights law. She is a graduate of Elms College in Chicopee and Western New England University School of Law in Springfield.

Among the issues she is raising in her run for Congress are climate change, universal public education, and affordable high-speed Internet access for every resident of the First Congressional District.

 

A new 'Book'

Patrick Demeo, a 2018 graduate of Hoosac Valley High School, has self-published a book called "The Book." Demeo created it for his anthropology class this past fall as an assignment of children's folklore. The story themem as his teacher wrote is "of self determination and overcoming." Both his senior English teacher and anthropology teacher encouraged him to self publish.
 

The book is about an author who has lost believe in himself as a writer, takes a fall and gains insight about believing in himself  where all success  begins. The book gives advice to the young and old in a poetic rhyming use of language. Appropriate for ages 7 years and up, it can be purchased at Bella Sky in Adams for $5.

Demeo said he chose the characters he did because "kids like animals, and kids need a good moral to learn from. It is not always easy to believe in yourself and sometimes the best ideas are inside of us and we don't even know it." Demeo hopes kids will learn something valuable from it. He also said, "I chose to write in a rhyming pattern when I wrote the text because of Dr. Suess," he said. "He (Suess) knew how say a lot through his rhymes. Suess thought outside the box,and had his own creative style and that is what I wanted to do with this book."

 

Festival of Books

The Berkshires' second annual Jewish Festival of Books will take place at Hevreh of Southern
Berkshire in Great Barrington from Thursday, July 26, through Sunday, July 29. Co-presented by Hevreh and Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, in partnership with the Jewish Book Council, the festival will feature free and fee-based lectures, teachings and readings by internationally acclaimed authors in genres ranging from adult fiction to children’s literature to cookbooks.

The opening night author on Thursday, July 26, at 7 p.m. is Jewish and Feminist icon Francine Klagsbrun who, among the more than a dozen books she has authored, also edited "The First Ms. Reader" and "Free to Be ... You and Me." Klagsbrun will be discussing her latest book, "Lioness," the definitive biography of Golda Meir. The book won the top prize at this year’s National Jewish Book Awards when it was recognized as the Everett Family Foundation Book of the Year.
 

The festival ends with another literary lioness and National Jewish Book Award Winner on its closing day, on Sunday, July 29, at 10 a.m., when Rachel Kadish reads from and discusses her latest novel, the National Jewish Book Award Winning "The Weight of Ink." The book interweaves the story of two remarkable women and scholars - a 17th century Jewish scribe in London, and the 21st century researcher who discovers her. Kadish will be interviewed by Judith Rosenbaum, executive director of the Jewish Women's Archive.

For the complete schedule, call Hevreh at 413-528-6378, or visit the website. Hevreh will have books available for advance purchase in the lobby, which the authors will be happy to sign at the festival.

 

Grief groups

Hospice of Western & Central Massachusetts will hold grief support groups on Thuesdays from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. from July 26 through Aug. 30 at 55 Church St in Pittsfield.

The group, facilitated by Chaplain Dennis Castella, will help participants learn about the grief process, talk about your own experiences, understand how to cope with your losses, find the way to move forward, discover where help, strength and resources are available, and establish personal goals.

 

BArT openings

Berkshire Arts & Technology Charter Public School is accepting applications for the 2018-19 school year for students entering grades six through 10. The college preparatory school currently has openings in grades six, seven, nine and 10 but is anticipating waitlists across all entry grades to begin shortly. Applications are available at the school or can be found on the school's website. An enrollment counselor can be reached at 413-743-7311, ext. 732, or by email.

The next two deadlines for students to enroll into BArT in grades six through 10 during the upcoming 2018-19 school year will be Thursday, July 26, and Thursday, Aug. 16. The deadline to transfer into grade 10 for the upcoming 2018-2019 school year will be Friday, Sept. 28.  All interested families are strongly encouraged to submit an application as soon as possible. Waitlists should not discourage you from applying. More information on the school’s enrollment and lottery process can be found online.

 

Age-friendly Lanesborough

Age Friendly Berkshires has received an Age-Friendly Municipal Resolution submitted by the town of Lanesborough, dated July 9, 2018. Adopting an age-friendly community strategy in Lanesborough initially came as a result of the Council on Aging's wish to create an intergenerational park that’s welcoming for seniors, as well as younger children and families.  Ideas for the park include walking paths, planting trees for shaded areas for exercise, with nearby benches for rest, but also open play spaces for kids and gathering spots for family picnics and community groups too.

Lanesborough's resolution goes further, identifying several other areas where age-friendly improvements might be made for improving public health and wellness, providing for safer streets, creating affordable and accessible housing and community buildings and providing for a vibrant workforce.

Lanesborough is only the sixth community in the county to take the affirmative step of signing a Municipal Resolution. The cities of Pittsfield and North Adams and the towns of Adams, Cheshire and Sheffield have also joined the Age Friendly movement, with projects under way. For information on the Age Friendly Berkshire Action Plan, or to download a Municipal Resolution Template and community self-assessment checklists, visit the website.

 


Left to right: Dr. Scott Rogge, physician at SVMC Cardiology, medical director of Cardiology and chair of the Cardiology Department at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center; Jennifer Thuermer, cardiac care nurse practitioner at SVMC Cardiology; Arlene Law; Alison Malmborg, cardiac care nurse practitioner at SVMC Cardiology; Dr. Bina Ahmed, assistant professor at the Geisel School of Medicine and an interventional cardiologist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center; and Dr. Thomas A. Dee, president and CEO of SVHC.

Heart talk

A talk about women's heart health by Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Dr. Bina Ahmed, an interventional cardiologist, drew 120 people to the Taconic Hotel on July 11. During the talk, Dr. Ahmed revealed differences in heart disease in men and women, including the ways it is commonly treated. She revealed three heart diagnoses that occur mostly or only in women.

The talk was sponsored by Southwestern Vermont Medical Center’s Department of Cardiology and is part of an ongoing series called Medicine Today. The next Medicine Today lecture is about sleep and health and is scheduled for October. It will be presented by Dartmouth-Hitchcock sleep medicine expert Dr. Brooke Judd.

Southwestern Vermont Health Care is a comprehensive, preeminent, health care system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC includes Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices.

 

Harvesting history

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, in collaboration with the North Adams Public Library and the North Adams Historical Society, has received a $15,000 grant from Mass Humanities in support of
"Historic North Adams," a long-term, digital public humanities asset for the community, and funding for an inaugural "History Harvest" event to celebrate the history of work in North Adams.

Managed by the History Department at MCLA, the project will design and launch "Historic North Adams," a cloud-based website and mobile application that will allow for the long-term sharing and dissemination of local history.

Dr. Ely Janis, associate professor of history at MCLA, will oversee the entire project. He will work with scholars and volunteers on the content and organization of the Historic North Adams website and mobile app. He also will oversee the first History Harvest event in North Adams, which is planned for November. At this event, previously unknown or under-appreciated artifacts and stories related to North Adams will be collected from local residents for preservation and sharing online.

Together, these two projects will document North Adams' rich history and its connection to broader themes in American society. This local history includes the cotton mills that sprang up alongside the Hoosic River in the 1840s; the Hoosac Tunnel, which linked North Adams with major commercial centers 1874 at the cost of 193 lives; 100 Chinese workers who were brought to North Adams to break a shoemakers' strike in 1870; Sprague Electric's contributions to World War II and the nation's defense until the 1980s; and the artistic revival of North Adams that has continued since the opening of Mass MoCA.

 

Green with envy

Lenox, Stockbridge and Egremont are three of the 80 municipalities set to receive this year's round of Green Communities Competitive Grants through the Department of Energy Resources. The proposed projects from each Southern Berkshire town to be funded by this year's grants include LED lighting and refrigeration enhancements at Morris Elementary and Lenox Middle and High School, and LED upgrades to town buildings in Lenox; central fire station HVAC and lighting improvements in Stockbridge; and Town Hall and Library heat and refrigeration replacements in Egremont. In all, $248,794 will go to Lenox; $54,829 to Stockbridge; and $7,635 to Egremont.

Green Communities Competitive Grants, created under the Green Communities Act, are awarded to provide monetary support for each community’s designated clean energy goals. This is the DOER's seventh annual round of grant announcements designated to existing Green Communities to support energy efficiency and renewable energy projects within each individual municipality. This year's grant total comes to $14,798,596. The town of Lenox received funding through the same grant in June 2017, as well.

 

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