Ted Randolph grew up in Alabama, graduated high school in Texas, took several gap
years in Colorado, finished college in Vermont, and taught at a tiny K-12 school for five
years after that. He learned and enjoyed many varieties of folk dancing along the way,
but did not become aware of Scottish Country Dancing until the summer of 1988, shortly
before moving to the Berkshires.
Fortuitously, there was a Scottish Country Dance class in Great Barrington, and Ted
was able to pursue his newfound passion there. He has attended regularly since
October, 1988, eventually becoming its teacher in 2018. This class has had many
homes, and has been held happily at Berkshire Pulse since 2014.
Ted taught SCD at The Mountain Road School in New Lebanon, NY, from 1992-1998,
and in 2016 he started a children’s SCD class at Mettabee Farm and Arts in Hillsdale,
NY, continuing until 2023. He was a member of a Scottish dance demonstration team
led by the Albany SCD Class from 1989-2020, performing occasionally at the Altamont
Highland Games, NEFFA (New England Folk Festival Association), and every year at
the Saratoga Dance Flurry Festival. He has been a certified teacher of the Royal
Scottish Country Dance Society (https://rscds.org/) since 2019. Ted is also an avid contra
dancer, a dance organizer, and is working on improving his skills as a contra dance
caller.
Archives: Team Members
Team Members
Andres Ramirez
Andres Ramirez is a Berkshire resident and owner of The Funk Box dance studio. He has been dancing for 11 years and has competed and taught in many different countries. His studio has placed top 3 within the USA Breakin’ League, has grown its reputation and was voted 2018’s Berkshires Best Dance Studio. Andres is here to share and spread his knowledge on breaking and hip hop culture.
Emily Rechnitz
Emily received a B.A. in English Literature from Vassar College and a Master’s in Creative Writing from New York University.
Over the past 40 years she has taught poetry to children in grade schools and libraries in the Tri-State area and the Berkshires and published her poems in various journals and magazines including The Kansas Quarterly, Mudfish, Poet Lore, The New Yorker. She worked as an editorial assistant’s assistant at Alfred Knopf publishing, held various temp jobs in publishing (Viking, Scholastic, HarperCollins, Family Circle magazine), performed odd jobs, including reading, to a famous writer who is blind (Ved Mehta), and worked as an apprentice floral arranger at an Upper East Side flower shop. She wrote feature articles for The Berkshire Record and The Advocate, acted in plays in the Berkshires at Riggs Theater 37 (director, Kevin Coleman), and taught Creative Writing at Community Access to the Arts (CATA), where she serves on the Board of CATA since 1999, currently as Co-Vice President.
Emily met Bettina in the mid-90s when she saw her dance at the Richmond Furnace with Victory Girl. This was back when the seeds of Pulse were just stirring as The Flowering Child at Eden Hill. She’s been an ardent fan ever since.
Andrè Robles
Andrè Robles (he/him/his) is a dancer/choreographer, and educator based in Albany, NY. He has danced
for the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company, Dresden SemperOper Ballet (Germany), Metropolitan Opera
Ballet, Teatro Colon, Ulster Dance Company, and Ajkun Ballet Theatre. His training began in NYC at
Westside Dance Project and was further developed through the School of American Ballet, Joffrey Ballet
School, San Francisco Ballet School, and The Ailey School. Andre is on the faculty at Skidmore College
and many local dance schools in the Capital Region. Andre holds degrees from American University,
Empire State University, and Queensborough Community College. He hails from Brooklyn, New York.
Abigail Rollins
Abigail (Abi) Rollins is an arts executive and nonprofit leader with nearly 20 years of experience
in the nonprofit performing arts sector. Her track record as a strategic thinker, creative problem-
solver, and “Jane of all trades” administrator, has enabled her to successfully manage and grow
small, founder-led arts companies into professional mid-size organizations.
Abi is originally from Athens, Ohio, where she began her dance training at an early age. She
went on to study Dance and Psychology for her undergraduate studies at Kenyon College and
earned a Master of Arts Administration degree from Boston University in 2010.
Abi moved to the Berkshires in the fall of 2019 to join Berkshire Opera Festival as Executive
Director and was elected President of the Board of Directors in 2023. Abi has been fortunate to
have worked, interned, or volunteered with many wonderful organizations throughout her career
including, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Boston
Ballet, Trisha Brown Dance Company, and Danspace Project.
Abi was first introduced to Berkshire Pulse when she started taking community classes there in
2023 following a nearly 15-year hiatus from dancing. She was immediately struck by the warmth
and encouragement she received from her teacher and the other intergenerational students in
the class which has inspired her to resume her dance journey. She is thrilled to be joining the
team at Pulse and for the opportunity to apply her skills and experience as their first Executive
Director.
Katelyn Sanchez
Katelyn A. Sanchez is an artist drawn to narrative and how it can contextualize and illustrate where we are in time and place. She explores this in archiving, dance-making, teaching, performing, reading, researching, and collaborating.
In the last year, Sanchez moved to MA to begin working as a project archivist at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, presented a solo at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, co-produced and presented work in the second installment of Show ‘n Tell, a performing arts series, crafted audio descriptions for dance concerts and taught at The Wooden Floor in Santa Ana and Dancemark Studio in Lomita, CA.
Some highlights from the last few years include working closely with John Heginbotham as a rehearsal assistant at The Wooden Floor for his pieces, Boss and Nova, graduating from San José State University with a Master’s in Library and Information Science, performing in alexx shilling’s film rendition of Nothing There There (Topography), and co-choreographing a 30-minute music film for Jane Free Music which went on to be awarded Best Short Dance Film by San Francisco Arthouse Short Festival.
In 2018, Sanchez graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a BFA in Dance and a BA in English Literature.
Olivia Sblendorio
Olivia Sblendorio spent her toddler years making up her own dances in her mom’s Broadway dressing rooms. After dancing through NYC, performing her way through Vassar College, flailing her way through Dell’Arte Int’l School of Physical Theatre’s Professional Training Program, and trapezing her way through Ringling Bros. Circus, Olivia settled into the Vaudeville life, performing one-woman shows in Fringe Festivals, streets, and hospitals across the world, teaching circus, and joining amazing physical theatre and dance ensembles across the country. Outside of the performing arts, she is certified in feminine leadership, and brings that work to her teachings of embodied intuition, somatic empowerment, as well as family and small business budgeting. Eight years into being a Berkshire resident, Olivia is thrilled to be teaching and performing more in her new home town.
Fiona Scruggs
Born in Tübingen, Germany, Fiona Scruggs is a dancer, choreographer, researcher, educator, and writer. Fiona is an American Ballet Theatre Certified Teacher (Pre-Primary-Level 5) and received her classical ballet and contemporary training at Radford University with Inessa Plekhanova, Aleksey Plekhanov, and Deborah McLaughlin, Salzburg International Ballet Academy with Ildiko Pongor and Amelia Wanderlingh, Next Generation Ballet, Louisville Ballet, and Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts with Donna Carver. She has performed lead and ensemble roles from ballets including The Nutcracker, Chopiniana, and Don Quixote, musicals including Oklahoma! and Anything Goes, and numerous contemporary and modern works.
Fiona’s choreography has been presented at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (MA), 5×5 Dance Festival (CT), The Foundry (MA), Bard College at Simon’s Rock (MA), Chesterwood (MA), Choreography on the Edge (NY), Wandering Dance Festival (MA), Salzburg International Ballet Academy Gala (Austria), and Radford University (VA). She is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer of Qualia Dance Collective,
the Director of Communications & Marketing at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, and a contributing dance writer for The Berkshire Edge. Formerly, she was a Teaching Artist Fellow through the Massachusetts Cultural Council Creative Youth Development program, the School Programs Coordinator at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and has modeled for fashion designer Samantha Pleet. Fiona received a bachelor’s degree in dance education, summa cum laude, from Radford University.
Rick Shrum
Rick Shrum has been drumming since age 3 when his dad (also a drummer) gave him his first drumsticks and began teaching him classical percussion. Rick played in school orchestras, concert stage bands, drum and bugle ensembles, percussion ensembles, and rock bands. He credits Arthur Hull, from Santa Cruz, as his primary teacher of African drumming. He began studying Afro-Cuban drumming in his 20s and has been playing and teaching this art for the last 30 years. In the 90s Rick played for Dance Kinetics (now called Yoga Dance) at Kripalu. Having been a Waldorf teacher for almost 20 years, Rick has taught drumming to all of his classes incorporating rhythm into the learning process. He has played for Afro-Caribbean dance classes at the Berkshire Pulse for the last six years. Rick has led drum circles at Mountainside drug alcohol rehab center. Having a Masters degree in neurobiology Rick has been a registered nurse from 2010 to present.
Michael Siktberg
As an arts educator, Michael has taught for the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer DARTS program at Tanglewood, The Flying Cloud Institute, The New York Kids Club, Falls Village Children’s Theatre, and the Soundry Music Studio. As an actor he has walked and talked on many stages (Sharon Playhouse, Stages St. Louis, Bucks County Playhouse, The Ogunquit Theatre, Theatre by the Sea, Cumberland County Playhouse, Yorktown Stage, as well as touring companies with Chamber Theater Productions and American Family Theatre) and is a member of Actors Equity. Originally from the Hudson Valley NY, Michael received his training at the American Music and Dramatic Academy, The Simon Studio, and has coached with director Richard Sabellico. He is also on the staff at Dewey Memorial Hall, where he frequently produces and hosts events. Michael lives in Sheffield with his wife Ruby and their three cats.