Simon's Rock Dance Program to Perform Concert With Berkshire Children's Chorus

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Bard College at Simon's Rock's Dance Program will perform their fall concert this Friday, Dec. 9 and Saturday Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the McConnell Theater at the Daniel Arts Center. 
 
They will perform "A Story for the Season: The Ballerina and the Clown."
 
The concert includes choreography by students, alumni, faculty, and staff including: Anna Cha, Liam Coote, Zoe Coote, Izzy Filkins, Kati Garcia-Renart, Lydia Helmstadter, Fiona Scruggs, Roshni Sharma, and Rowan Truman.
 
Seats are first come, first served. Reservations are encouraged here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fall-2022-dance-concert-tickets-450834226307
 
Masks are required. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. 
 
The concert will start with individual sets of music presented by Berkshire Children's Chorus, Simon's Rock Chorus, and Simon's Rock Madrigal Ensemble. The second half of the program will bring Berkshire Children's Chorus together with Simon's Rock Chorus and Dance students to tell the story of "The Ballerina and the Clown" – a multi-movement work by Libby Larsen (b. 1950) that was inspired by the storytelling and paper cuttings of Hans Christian Andersen. Singers will be accompanied by harp and the performance features multi-media projections and new choreography.
 
The performance features: Ryan LaBoy, conductor, Kati Garcia-Renart, choreographer, Elizabeth Morse, harp, Manon Hutton-DeWys, piano.
 
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Simon's Rock Awarded Freedom to Read Grant

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Bard College at Simon's Rock was awarded a Freedom to Read Grant by the Newburger Schwartz Family Foundation. 
 
The grant was awarded to support the Alumni Library and Bard Queer Leadership Project in building a more robust collection of queer scholarship, starting a Queer Book Club, and hosting Drag Story Time events in partnership with Drag Story Hour of the Berkshires.
 
According to a press release:
 
In response to current educational threats with book bans affecting schools and libraries across the country and further proposed legislation against LGBTQ+ people's access to basic rights and education, Simon's Rock is actively seeking to create inclusive and equitable spaces for queer individuals. 
 
The Bard Queer Leadership Project and Alumni Library will utilize the grant funding to expand the library's current collection of queer books in order to fully enable the longevity of the Queer Book Club and the Bard Queer Leadership Project. The Queer Book Club will be an intergenerational space, open to local middle school students through rainbow seniors and will partner with local community organizations, to discuss queer books and learn about LGBTQ+ issues and experiences. Bard Queer Leadership Project students will eventually help lead this initiative as part of their leadership project training. 
 
The Queer Book Club will host their first meeting on April 6 at 3:00 p.m. at the Alumni Library, with following meetings on April 27 and May 11. This semester, the selected books are "Obie is Man Enough" and "He/She/They," both by Schuyler Bailar, inspirational speaker and first openly transgender NCAA Division swimmer, who was a guest speaker in the inaugural Queer Leaders Vision Forum in fall 2023 at Simon's Rock. Schuyler Bailar will return to campus for a book signing and pool party at the Kilpatrick Athletic Center on April 19 at 7:00 p.m. Participants in the Queer Book Club will receive a free copy of either book of their choice. 
 
The first Drag Story Time will be on Saturday, March 30 at 2:00 p.m. at the Simon's Rock Alumni Library and is open to all LGBTQ+ affirming individuals. The event is in partnership with Drag Story Hour of the Berkshires with local drag queens JV and Poppy DaBubbly. The second Drag Story Time will be Saturday, April 27 with drag queen Poppy DaBubbly and drag king Sativo Green.
 
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