Adams Theater Hosts a Dance Residency with NVA and Guests

Print Story | Email Story

ADAMS, Mass. —Nicole von Arx and six dancers will be at The Adams Theater for a residency from September 7-14, ahead of their NYC premiere of "Cry Wolf," a dance-theater production that interlaces the urgency of climate change awareness with the classic narrative of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf."

NVA & Guests will present a showing of "Cry Wolf" at the Adams Theater on September 13 at 7:30 p.m. Von Arx said she'll be using the space to explore how dance theater can capture the urgency of the changing environment, blending dynamic choreography, humor, and theatricality to create an emotional landscape that invites audiences into a deeply human experience. 

Through physical storytelling and virtuosic choreography, "Cry Wolf" delves into the complexities of perception, truth, and the consequences of our actions. 

Von Arx, who has been creating under the name NVA and Guests since 2014, has performed and toured with The Norwegian National Company for Contemporary Dance, the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera House and worked with companies like Stanford Live and Wolf Trap Opera, alongside guest teaching gigs at universities like NYU's Tisch School of Dance and the Boston Conservatory of Dance at Berkeley.

"My research process for "Cry Wolf" began in early 2024, but the ideas behind it have been evolving for much longer," von Arx said. "This is a piece I've felt compelled to explore in greater depth over time, as the way I approach its themes continues to shift in response to the world around us. The inspiration also stems from conversations with Melissa Gomis, a mentor, former senior officer at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and childhood friend, who often shares that the greatest challenge in addressing environmental issues is not science, but fear."

Von Arx is a 2020 recipient of The Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at Jacob's Pillow and the 2024-2025 CUNY Dance Initiative Artist in Residence at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College. She has received numerous accolades, including the 2025 Danse Mirage Foundation grant, 2024 Brooklyn Arts Council grant, 2025 and 2023 NYSCA grants.

Reserve tickets and see our full season lineup at www.adamstheater.org/events

The Adams Theater is proud to participate in Mass Cultural Council's Card to Culture program, in collaboration with the Department of Transitional Assistance, the Women, Infants & Children Nutrition Program, and the Mass Health Connector.

EBT, WIC, and ConnectorCare cardholders receive free admission to our shows and events by presenting their cards at our Box Office. See the complete list of participating organizations offering EBTWIC, and ConnectorCare discounts.

 

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

Letter: Progress Means Moving on Paper Mill Cleanup

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

Our town is facing a clear choice: move a long-abandoned industrial site toward cleanup and productive use or allow it to remain a deteriorating symbol of inaction.

The Community Development team has applied for a $4 million EPA grant to remediate the former Curtis Mill property, a site that has sat idle for more than two decades. The purpose of this funding is straightforward: address environmental concerns and prepare the property for safe commercial redevelopment that can contribute to our tax base and economic vitality.

Yet opposition has emerged based on arguments that miss the point of what this project is designed to do. We are hearing that basement vats should be preserved, that demolition might create dust, and that the plan is somehow "unimaginative" because it prioritizes cleanup and feasibility over wishful reuse of a contaminated, aging structure.

These objections ignore both the environmental realities of the site and the strict federal requirements tied to this grant funding. Given the condition of most of the site's existing buildings, our engineering firm determined it was not cost-effective to renovate. Without cleanup, no private interest will risk investment in this site now or in the future.

This is not a blank check renovation project. It is an environmental remediation effort governed by safety standards, engineering assessments, and financial constraints. Adding speculative preservation ideas or delaying action risks derailing the very funding that makes cleanup possible in the first place. Without this grant, the likely outcome is not a charming restoration, it is continued vacancy, ongoing deterioration, and zero economic benefit.

For more than 20 years, the property has remained unused. Now, when real funding is within reach to finally address the problem, we should be rallying behind a practical path forward not creating obstacles based on narrow or unrealistic preferences.

I encourage residents to review the proposal materials and understand what is truly at stake. The Adams Board of Selectmen and Community Development staff have done the hard work to put our town in position for this opportunity. That effort deserves support.

Progress sometimes requires letting go of what a building used to be so that the community can gain what it needs to become.

View Full Story

More Adams Stories