Vincent Brewer, a native of Great Barrington, Massachusetts, trained at Berkshire Pulse and Albany Berkshire Ballet and continued his dance studies at Indiana University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Ballet with an Outside Field in Religious Studies. Vincent danced professionally with Festival Ballet Providence, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Island Moving Company, and Albany Berkshire Ballet. He has performed choreography by George Balanchine, Gerald Arpino, and August Bournonville and originated roles by Tony Williams, Mark Harootian, and Janelle Gilchrist. Vincent is a certified ABT National Training Curriculum Teacher, Levels Pre-Primary-3, and a 200-Hour Kripalu Yoga certified teacher. He has taught ballet, yoga, and outreach dance at various locations, including Berkshire Pulse, Festival Ballet Providence, and Berkshire South. Vincent earned a Master of Arts in Teaching from Mount Holyoke College in 2021 and teaches French at Taconic High School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in addition to performing and teaching dance.
Archives: Team Members
Team Members
Melissa Canavan
Melissa was born and raised in southern California and pursued dance as an undergraduate at California State University, Long Beach. She first came to the Berkshires in 2015 to intern at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket. After her internship, she decided to stay in the region, working first at the Pillow, then at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington. Currently, Melissa serves as the Executive Director of the Berkshire Immigrant Center in Pittsfield. She holds a Master of Science in Arts Administration from Boston University. In addition to her professional work, Melissa volunteers with Latinas413, a group dedicated to empowering Latina women in Berkshire County, and continues to nurture her passion for dance by performing in local choreographers works and as the founder and artistic director of her own dance company, the Melissa Martinez Project.
Teresa Perez Ceccon
Teresa Perez Ceccon (TPC) is a professional dance artist, educator and choreographer. Over 25 years ago, TPC began teaching in New York City at Dance Space, later renamed Dance New Amsterdam. Presently, TPC is on the faculty at Gibney Dance teaching Simonson Jazz. In April 2020, TPC’s online class schedule launched (www.linesofenergy.com) and to this day, she continues to serve the global dance community virtually.
Since 2000, TPC has worked closely with Lynn Simonson assisting and later conducting her own Simonson Method of Teacher Training (SMTT) courses. Nationally and internationally, TPC teaches annual Simonson pedagogy and technique workshops for numerous institutions. In addition, TPC produces and leads both group and private NYC SMTT courses throughout the year.
A native New Yorker, TPC earned a BA in Theater/Dance from Queens College. In 2020, TPC obtained her Masters of Fine Arts at Montclair State University with a thesis on Latin Jazz Dance. As an adjunct professor/invited guest choreographer, TPC has taught and made dance works in various university dance departments.
TPC has a long list of choreographic achievements with diverse dance companies and students of all ages. As a performer, TPC has danced works by a variety of highly regarded choreographers in many NYC venues. TPC continues to create, perform and stage new works as well as offer her students a performance opportunity in Take the Stage, a choreographic performance workshop for people who want the chance to dance in front of an audience.
Max Chase
Max Chase was born and raised in New Marlborough, MA. Max has most of their associate’s degree in Biology, which, if you read between the lines, means marketing was never on their ten-year plan. They have always had a passion for music and art; they participated in multiple musical theater productions in middle and high school and was a part of the Massachusetts Youth Honors Choir. They have worked on and off at Berkshire Pulse since 2021, starting as a member of the front desk staff (the front desk being a camp chair in the middle of a field at Chesterwood due to COVID) and are so excited to continue growing with this community.
Allegra Chin
Allegra was born and raised in the Berkshires and has spent the past 6 years working with cultural organizations that they loved as a child. After earning their engineering degree at the University of Hartford, they decided to take some time to explore a few alternate life paths. This brought them to their first development job with the Berkshire Museum and they’ve since spent time at Hancock Shaker Village and Barrington Stage Company. As a musician themself, they are invested in supporting the thriving arts community here in Berkshire County.
Jaimee Christiant
For over 25 years, Jaimee—a proud Litchfield County native—has worn many hats at Pulse: from dancer, front desk team member, and translator, to now our dedicated Community & School Programs Manager, she has been deeply involved in the rhythm of Berkshire Pulse since its early beginnings.
She holds a Master’s degree in Hispanic Languages and Literature and has spent her adult life engaged in grassroots organizing and arts advocacy within the local Hispanic community. Passionate about cultural connection and community empowerment, she is thrilled to bring her experiences back to Pulse and looks forward to engaging with the rich and diverse Berkshire County population. In her spare time at home, Jaimee takes on more gardening projects than she could ever possibly finish.
Laura Coe
Laura Coe (Chickasaw) is a dancer and choreographer based in Chatham, New York repping Harvard Breakers Crew and Double Yolk Collective. She has performed work by Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Bill T. Jones, Jill Johnson, Sidra Bell, LROD, Isadora Wolfe, and Corpi di donne, and received commissions from New England Conservatory, Analog By Choice, and the Massachusetts Council for the Arts. She was recently an Art OMI 2024 Resident, and began collaboration for a project with Alli Ross and John Bechtold at Mass MoCA. She currently teaches dance for the Opheum Dance Program, the Funk Box Studio, and Berkshire Pulse.
Joan Coombs
Joan has over 40 years of nonprofit leadership experience in executive positions
at metropolitan nonprofits, development positions at local and national levels,
and volunteer chairs of national and community level boards, committees, and
initiatives. Joan capped a 27-year career at Planned Parenthood affiliates in
NYC, Boston, and Philadelphia, where she served as President/CEO, by serving
as senior vice president at Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Prior to
Planned Parenthood, Joan served as a professional in higher education
administration at Syracuse, Boston, and Brandeis Universities.
As principal of Noble Work Consulting from 2007-2025 Joan has helped
nonprofits build capacity in governance, strategic planning, development, and
organizational effectiveness. She assisted women’s health, cultural, human
service, advocacy, and educational institutions in Berkshire County, New York
State, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
In her fourth career, Joan is a professional actor and trained at Shakespeare &
Co and the Michael Chekhov School. She has appeared on stage in Berkshire
County, New York State and Vermont.
Joan has been dancing with Berkshire Pulse for over 10 years, primarily in
modern dance, but she has also sampled numerous other modes, especially
classes that focus on building strength and balance and highly recommends
them. Her connection to Pulse is deep, health-enhancing, and spiritual. She was
delighted that stepping away from consulting and being asked to join the Pulse
board and serve as board president coincided.
Benjamin Court
Benjamin Court is dancer, musician, writer, and educator in Western Massachusetts.
I grew up in Western New York, where I played in several punk and experimental music groups. From 2010-2020, I lived in Los Angeles, where I studied Musicology and received my Ph.D. (UCLA, 2017). My graduate research explored the politics of musical “amateurism” – music by individuals who claimed not to know how to play music, but nevertheless became musicians. Among other topics, I have published articles about the semiotics of punk in the UK, racial formation in rap and punk in New York City during the 1970s, and the Scratch Orchestra’s politics of music education. I have also taught several courses in music, critical theory, and broadcast media for UCLA and Woodbury University. While In Los Angeles, I recorded music with the Unthem collective and began learning to dance Chicago Footwork. In 2021, I joined the Chicago Footwork crew Creation Global and began releasing self-produced Footwork music. My current projects focus on bringing together Chicago Footwork dancers and producers around the globe, as well as creating new educational opportunities for artists from Chicago to share their craft. In 2021, I joined the staff at Berkshire Pulse, where I love to take classes in music, hip hop, modern, and contemporary!
Kathy and David Crowe
Tai Chi
Berkshire Tai Chi is a traditional, lineage school. Sifu David Crowe and Sifu Kathy Crowe, with 18 years experience, are certified lineage tai chi and qi gong instructors under the Kuoshu Federation of the Republic of China. They trained under Master Eric Sbarge, a member of the United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame, at The Hall of the Peaceful Dragon In Charlotte, NC. Outside of teaching tai chi, Sifus David and Kathy lead busy and creative lives. Sifu David is a composer and teaching artist, whose works have been performed across the country. Read more and hear samples of his music at www.DavidCroweMusic.com. Sifu Kathy is a web and graphic designer, including the design of websites, logos, brochures, etc. You can see samples of her work at www.KathyCrowe.com.