Shannon Nulf (she/her) is a movement artist and arts administrator whose work reflects her commitment to human connection and community building. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a BFA in Dance and minors in Movement Science and Performing Arts Management. At U-M, she worked with artists Urban Bush Women, Rosie Herrera, and Joel Valentin-Martinez, U-M Faculty Missy Beck and Charli Brissey, and MFA candidates Fabiola Torralba, Sydney Schiff, Kelly Hirina, Jen Peters, and Melissa Brading. After graduating in 2021, Shannon worked as a Community Engagement Intern for the 2021 Summer Festival at Jacob’s Pillow and then as Community Engagement Fellow until September 2022. She has performed and presented work at multiple venues in the Berkshires, including Jacob’s Pillow, The Foundry, and Chesterwood. She currently teaches Ballet, Modern, and Contemporary at Berkshire Pulse, having studied dance education and pedagogy at U-M.
Team Group: Staff
Madison Palffy
Madison Palffy is a performer, dance-maker, and multi-disciplinary artist based in western Massachusetts. She holds an MFA in Dance and Choreography with an emphasis in Somatics and Improvisation from University of Colorado, Boulder. Her work is driven by a sense of experimentation and artistic cross-pollinationand has taken the form of films, installations, and evening length performances. Her work has been shown at Studio 303 (Montreal), The Iron Factory (Philadelphia), Ponderosa (Germany), The School for Contemporary Dance and Thought (Northampton, MA), GreenSpace (NYC), AS220 (Providence, RI), The Dairy Arts Center (Boulder, CO), and throughout New England. As a collaborating artist, she has had the pleasure of performing in work by Anya Cloud, Wendy Woodson, Lailye Weidman, Katie Martin, Chris Aiken, Angie Hauser, Kathleen Hermesdorf, and Paul Matteson (among others). Other collaborations include movement direction for Sleater Kinney’s music video “High in the Grass”. As an educator, Madison has been on faculty at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts High School, Berkshire Pulse, School of Contemporary Dance & Thought, Northampton Center for the Arts, Block 1750, Ape Co Movement School, and The Spark Performing Arts Center. She was a graduate teaching assistant at University of Colorado Boulder and has been a guest teaching artist at Keene State College, Amherst College, Hampshire College, Moving Target Portland, Earthdance Workshop & Retreat Center, and the Williston Northampton School. She is currently an adjunct faculty member in the dance program at Keene State College and teaches at Berkshire Pulse and Loculus Studios.
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.
Diana Steele
Diana Steele is a lover of the arts who is passionate about making things run smoothly. Her professional background is in office logistics and workplace dynamics. Most recently she worked in the Human Resources department at The New York Times. She left that role to move to the Berkshires where she rediscovered her love of theater, especially Shakespeare. She has starred in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Cherry Orchard, Julius Caesar, and The Winter’s Tale.
Diana graduated from Wesleyan University in 2014 with a BA in Economics and East Asian Studies, where she was a member of the varsity squash team. When she is not at work, she enjoys taking long walks with her dog, playing Dungeons & Dragons, and curling up with a good book.
Teak Welch
Teak Welch (They/Them) grew up in Dallas where they attended the Dallas Ballet Center for 15 years. They studied ballet, tap, jazz, modern, hip hop, and lyrical. They were a teaching assistant while there and went on to teach Musical Theater dance in their summer workshops for the next 4 years. They attended Booker T. Washington HS for the Performing and Visual Arts, where they split their studies between theater and dance.
Teak has been involved in professional theater since a very young age and continues to love this form of expression more than twenty years later. They grew up performing with their musical parents on the road and have appeared in many productions in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area over the years. They performed on an Equity stage for the first time at the age of ten in a production of Peter Pan as Michael Darling. To this day, they refuse to ever truly grow up. Some favorite roles include Hen in Giggle Giggle Quack- Dallas Children’s Theater National Tour; Kelli in Hands on a Hardbody; Bess in The Human Comedy; Dre/Rhiannon/Evelyn/Others in Precious Little; Anna (Original readings) in Creep: The Musical; Eveline in (Original reading), The Manufactured Myth of Eveline Flynn. And the cherry on top was dancing in the prominent LGBTQIA+ fundraising event, Broadway Backwards, in 2018.