MASS MoCA's "Dream Life of Bricks" includes interactive kids performance

12:00AM / Wednesday, June 19, 2002Print Story | Email Story

Choreographer-in-residence Martha Bowers engages children in an interactive exploration of The Dream Life of Bricks, her site-specific dance piece about MASS MoCA's past, present, and future. Children will explore North Adams' heritage through dance, theatre, music, and even storytelling in Daydreaming and Dancing on Saturday, June 15, at 10:30 A.M. The event is free with museum admission, but advance reservations are required. Children should come dressed appropriately for dancing and movement. "I was intrigued by the massive scale of the complex, the simple beauty of its architecture and by the enormity of what the Museum sought to achieve," Martha Bowers has said of the complex. "I began to think of the site as a two hundred year old person, asleep for a long time. If a building could dream, what would those dreams look like?" As part of MASS MoCA's MASS Manufacturing series, choreographer Martha Bowers and her dance company - Dance Theatre Etcetera - will showcase a work about North Adams and MASS MoCA, The Dream Life of Bricks, on Friday and Saturday, June 21 and 22. Daydreaming and Dancing on June 15 is an opportunity for kids to not only see but participate in a similar exploration of local history. Martha Bowers has worked extensively as a choreographer, performer, and teacher since 1978. Her work has been presented at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, DTW's Bessie Schonberg Theater, PS 122, St. Mark's Church, the Dia Center for the Arts, Central Park Summerstage, the Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and at Prospect Park's Picnic House and Bandshell. She is a recipient of choreographic fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1984, '88, and '96), the New Jersey State Council for the Arts, and the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Art, and has received commissions for new works from the Jerome Foundation through DTW's First Light program, the Main Festival, Mayfair, Dancing in the Streets, the 651/Kings Majestic-An Arts Center, the Brooklyn Arts Exchange and the Wagon Train Project, among others. Bowers has focused her work in recent years on the creation of large-scale, interdisciplinary performance events designed to bring community members together with professional artists as performers in site-specific works. Recently commissioned works include Safe Harbour-Cork for the Institute for Choreography and Dance in Cork, Ireland, and a new work for the Warwick, N.Y., Summer Arts Festival. Bowers' work has been commissioned by numerous professional dance companies, including the Dance Alloy, the Toronto Dance Makers, DansTheater Uppercut and Dublin's Contemporary Dance Company. Daydreaming and Dancing is sponsored by Berkshire Bank. Admission for Daydreaming and Dancing is free with museum admission. Beginning June 1, museum admission is $9 for adults, $3 for kids between six and sixteen, and free for children under six. Admission is free for members. Space is limited, so advance reservations are required (even for members and children under six). Reservations can be made through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams from 10 A.M. until 6 P.M. daily. Reservations can also be made over the phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org. MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings. MASS MoCA focuses on the work of visual and performing artists charting new territory. MASS MoCA 1040 MASS MoCA Way North Adams, Mass. 01247 www.massmoca.org 413.662.2111

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

Save & Earn with Greylock

3.30% APY 6-month certificate. Click to learn more! Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Urban Legends and Cryptids Come Alive as North Adams Prepares for Mohawk Theater Haunted House

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:27PM / Thursday, October 22, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A spooky and scary night at the Mohawk Theater is approaching fast after local officials decorated it for their annual haunted house.

For the third year in a row the police department, fire department, City Hall, Northern Berkshire EMS, nbCC, Drury High School, American Legion, and 18 Degrees spent hundreds of hours the past few weeks setting up at the former theater.

This year's theme is Urban Legends and Cryptids, with an emphasis on local lore and giving participating groups room to create their own scenes.

Business Manager for the Department of Public Safety Meghan DeLuca showed iBerkshires the setup and what they have been working on.

When you first enter you'll notice the Hoosac Tunnel welcoming you with a train lit up and smoking. The posters on the wall were made by Drury High's digital marketing and media class will give you a sneak peak of what you may encounter when you enter the tunnel.

All of the departments chose a different theme for their space; MCLA welcomes you in detention, the American Legion is putting a twist on Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs, Drury is hosting aliens and another cryptid.

"We're all in here trying to curate the whole entire space because obviously, this is an undertaking. This building is not open to the public currently. I grew up in North Adams my whole entire life until we had the opportunity three years ago to come in here, and we were trying to find a space that was going to work for the haunted house. I'd never been in here, so I think that a lot of the allure is that this is a place that you're not expecting to be able to come into," she said.

DeLuca said planning begins around April, with organizers choosing a theme, confirming which groups will participate, collecting set ideas, and determining what materials are needed. Then setup begins around mid-August, as donated materials arrive and the team builds and adjusts the layout.

View Full Story