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C. Ryder Cooley performs Animalia at MCLA November 18

NORTH ADAMS, MA—Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts presents Animalia: Stories of Collapse, Calamity and Departure, a lyrical fairytale by C. Ryder Cooley with Todd Chandler, Anna Jacobs and special guests, Wednesday, November 18, at 7:30 p.m. at MCLA’s Church Street Center.
Ryder, a performance-installation artist, brings Animalia to North Adams as part of the MCLA Presents! series.

Animalia combines music on singing saw, accordion, banjo, and bass with theatrical movement. Performed within a landscape of mesmerizing video and archival film, the work invokes visions of secret bee societies and haunted circus scenes.

This feature length, multi-media performance offers metaphors of flight as departure points from environmental collapse and the hallucinatory effects of war. By appropriating the masculine power symbol of the buck rack and reinserting it onto feminine characters, the narrative blurs the divisions between masculine/feminine identity and human/animal forms. Ryder’s work can also be seen at the current exhibition in MCLA Gallery 51, Nest.  

MCLA Art Professor Melanie Mowinski, the curator of the show at MCLA Gallery 51, approached Ryder about working with students, exploring both her visual as well as her performance work.
“It seemed a natural fit to co-present her performance work as part of MCLA Presents!,” said Jonathan Secor, director of special programs at MCLA. “She literally spent a week building a ‘nest’ here at the gallery, inhabited by her work.  Now I can't wait to see the world she builds in the Church Street Center on Wednesday.”

Dedicated to presenting work in unique and site-specific settings, Ryder has participated in a wide range of public works, educational projects, and international shows.  Named Best Performance Artist by residents of New York’s Capital District in 2006 and 2007, selected works have been performed and installed at White Box and Exit Art galleries in New York City, Yerba Buena and Theater Artaud in San Francisco, and Proctors Mainstage Theater in Schenectady, NY, among other sites.

Ryder, a resident of Troy, NY, received a master’s of fine arts degree in integrated electronic arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2008 and a bachelor’s of fine arts degree in sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design in 1993.

Animalia also features Todd Chandler, who worked with Ryder on a series of musical collaborations called Fall Harbor. In 2008 they produced a CD, Songs from Fall Harbor.  Todd is an inter-disciplinary artist, musician and creator of impressionistic and introspective journey-oriented films and issue-driven documentaries.

Anna Jacobs is a Brooklyn-based circus artist and performer. She has performed with LAVA and Wise Fool Circus.

Animalia was developed as part at the Byrd-Hoffman Watermill Center with the support of NYFA, The MacDowell Colony and Yaddo.

Tickets are $12, $8 for MCLA alumni, $5 for MCLA faculty and staff and non-MCLA students, and free for MCLA students. For reservations call (413) 662-5204.

MCLA Presents! is a program of MCLA’s Berkshire Cultural Resource Center.
For more information about C. Ryder Cooley email rydercooley@yahoo.com or visit www.carolynrydercooley.com.

The Drury Drama Team Presents "Dracula" November 19-21

North Adams, MA -The Drury Drama Team will present Dracula on November 19, 20 and 21 at 7:00 PM at Drury High School. Student admission is $5 and general admission is $9. This gothic horror contain scenes of violence and is not appropriate for young children. For more information please see www.drurydrama.com

Holiday Shopping Vendor Fair November 15 at Eagles

North Adams, MA - On Sunday, November 15 at 11 am a holiday shopping vendor fair will be held at the Eagles Hall, 515 Curran Highway. This fundraiser for "Relay  for Life of Northern Berkshire" will include vendors, a basket drawing and relay information. Call 413.664.4202.

Open House & Craft Demos at Guilded Cage Gift Shop November 14

North Adams, MA - The Guilded Cage Gift Shop will hold an open house and craft demonstrations=  on Saturday, November 14, 10-2 pm. The shop is located beneath St. John's Church, 59 Summer Street. For more information please call the church office at 664.9656.

Tricks of the Trade is back!

Tricks of the Trade is a professional development seminar series
for artists, artisans and creatives.

You do not want to miss the kickoff seminar of this eighteen part series!

 PRICING : What is your work worth?

Pricing your artwork can be one of the most difficult aspects of being an artist. Medium, size, complexity, cost of production and previous sales history, all play a role in determining the final sales price. Facilitated by Rebecca DeWitt, this workshop will mix gallerists, museum directors, and art collectors to explore methods of determining your work's value in today's marketplace.

All workshops are free, but do require pre-registration.  For more information, and/or to register, call Jess Conzo, Program Coordinator for MCLA's Berkshire Cultural Resource Center, at (413) 663-5253

 • Tuesday, November 10th, 6:30 p.m.
   MCLA Gallery 51
   51 Main Street, North Adams, MA
   Joe Thompson, Director of MASS MoCA and Jo Ellen Harrison,  
   Owner of Harrison Gallery

 • Wednesday, November 11th, 6:30 p.m.
   Lichtenstein Center for Arts
   28 Renne Avenue, Pittsfield, MA
   Stuart Chase, Director of Berkshire Museum and Kurt Kolok,
   Owner of Kolok Gallery

 • Thursday, November 12th, 6:30 p.m.
    IS183 Art School
    13 Willard Hill Road, Stockbridge, MA
    Nancy Fitzpatrick, art collector and Geoffrey Young, Owner of   
    Geoffrey Young Gallery

Tricks of the Trade is program of MCLA's Berkshire Cultural Resource Center, in collaboration
with Berkshire Creative, IS183 Art School and Pittsfield Office of Cultural Development

Comedy Open Mic November 5 at The Alley

North Adams, MA - Get downtown and have a laugh! Come see the only open mic comedy night in the Berkshires at the Alley,

23 Eagle Street

on Thursday, November 5 at 8:30 pm. No cover charge. Call 413-662.2223 for information.

 

Dramatic Reading of "...Sleepy Hollow" October 24 at Heritage Park

North Adams, MA - On Saturday, October 24 at 2 pm in the Shipper's Office at Western Gateway Heritage State Park, Director Robert Campanile will present a dramatic reading of the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Free and open to the public. Call 413.663.6312.

Main Street Stage Presents "Marcus Is Walking" November 12-21

North Adams, MA - Main Street Stage announces today their fall production Marcus is Walking, written by Joan Ackerman.  The play will preview Thursday November 12th and open Friday November 13th.  It will run Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays until November 21.

Tickets are $15 general admission and $10 for students. Thursday November 12th is communtiy pay what you can night.  To make a reservation please call the box office at 413-663-3240 or go to mainstreetstage.org and click on reservations.

Directed by Kathy O’mara, the play consists of eleven vignettes and examines the emotional landscape we roam as we travel in our cars.  Control, navigation, love and escape, are some of the themes explored. 

Some of the scenes explored are a protective father who guides his son through the neighborhood on Halloween; an actor on his way to perform Hamlet is in a rear-end collision and confrontation with a Czech cab driver; a devastated businessman strikes up an unlikely friendship with a homeless woman who sleeps in his car.

The cast includes Main Street Stage company members Michael Trainor, Wendy Walraven, Lisa Remillard, April Castanguay, Jack Sleigh, Sarah Rae Brown, Jeremy Kerr, Cassidy Matthew, Eric K. Auld, Julia Les, Todd Hamilton and newcomers Andrew Bigelow, Breana Gladu, and Abbigail Kelly.

Dates for Marcus is Walking

Thursday November 12, Preview, pay what you can

Friday November 13, Opening, $15/$10

Saturday November 14, $15/$10

Thursday November 19, $15/$10

Friday November 20, $15/$10

Saturday November 21, Closing, $15/$10

MCLA Stages Comedic Drama "Two on an Island"

NORTH ADAMS, MA - The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Fine and Performing Arts Department presents Elmer Rice's comedic drama Two on an Island Wednesday, October 21, through Saturday, October 24, in the College's Venable Theatre. Performances begin at 8 p.m. each night.

Two on an Island tells the tale of two actors trying to survive in New York City during the Great Depression. The starry-eyed newcomers, John and Mary, cross paths as they seek their big break on Broadway. They are played by MCLA students Meghan Zaremba and Conor Moroney. Along the way assorted characters played by fellow students help the aspiring stars grow into hardened New Yorkers. Rice's work also examines how John and Mary influence each other as they follow their ambitions in the hope of finding happiness and success in the world of the theatre.

The production crew includes Director Bonnie Bishoff, Technical Director Andrew Hoar, Costume Designer Dawn Shamburger, Assistant Technical Director Glenda Matos, Stage Manager Jenna Hoag, and Assistant Stage Manager Kate Heemsoth.

Tickets for Two on an Island are $2 and can be reserved by calling (413) 662-5123.

RBIT Performs at Main Street Stage October 17

North Adams, MA - The Royal Berkshire Improv Troupe, RBIT, will perform at 57 Main Street at the Main Street Stage on Saturday, October 17 at 8 pm. RBIT is a comedy improv group that  has been delighting audiences with its own brand of non-scripted comedic mayhem since June of 2001. Tickets are $10 at the door. Call 413.663.3240.