Team Group: Teaching Artists

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!

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.

Matthew Cumbie (he/him/his) is a collaborative dancemaker, writer, and artist educator. His artistic research cultivates processes and experiences that are participatory and intergenerational, moving through known and unknown, and bring a poetic lens to a specifically queer experience. His choreography and dancemaking- considered “a blend of risk-taking with reliability, [and] a combination of uncertainty and wisdom,”- weaves together a physical vocabulary of momentum and clarity, revelatory moments, and a belief in a body’s capacity to meet each moment.

He has danced in the companies of Christian von Howard, Keith Thompson, Jill Sigman, Paloma McGregor, and Dance Exchange- an intergenerational dance organization founded by Liz Lerman- where he became an Associate Artistic Director and the Director of Programs and Communications. With Dance Exchange, he collaborated on and performed in works ranging in topic from the human genome to prayer and protest, on the highest point of the Great Smoky Mountains during a total solar eclipse, and with community organizers and activists after years of research and work in response to structures of racism and erasure in Dallas, Texas. In partnership with Dance Exchange, Matthew advanced his body of work Growing Our Own Gardens- an iterative intergenerational performance project rooted in queer world-making that partners with local LGBTQ+ and arts organizations, like the Rainbow History Project, the DC Center, and Dance Place, to catalyze intergenerational LGBTQ+ convenings and reflection. 

As an artist educator, Matthew helped develop and brand Cassie Meador’s Moving Field Guide: a program created in partnership with the US Forest Service that connects artists with scientists, naturalists, and environmental educators to help people learn about environmental issues. He has been an artist-educator with Jacob’s Pillow, including their Curriculum in Motion program, and continues integrating artistic approaches and facilitation strategies in classrooms and with teachers in PG County (Maryland) and Waterville, ME. He has been on faculty at Texas Woman’s University, Queensborough Community College, American University, and the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University, and has been an invited speaker at the New York City Roundtable Arts in Education conference, the Advancing the Human Condition Symposium at Virginia Tech, and the LGBT Health and Art Making conference, in partnership with the Human Rights Commission and the GWU Health and Well-being graduate program. He was also selected to be a part of the inaugural APAP Artist Leadership Fellowship cohort.

Currently, he is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Colby College. He continues creating work independently and in collaboration with Betsy Miller, Tom Truss, and Annie Kloppenberg, and as a company member with Christopher K. Morgan & Artists. He supports the development of artists’ work as a professional fundraiser, specializing in online fundraising campaigns and grant writing, and is a certified practitioner of Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process. His work has been commissioned and supported by places like Dance Place, the Kennedy Center, Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, and Harvard University, and by the National Endowment for the Arts, the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities, HumanitiesDC, the Arcus Foundation, the New England Foundation for the Arts, and the Somerville Arts Council. Originally from Houston, Matthew holds undergraduate degrees from Texas Lutheran University and Texas State University and an MFA in dance from Texas Woman’s University.

Joanne is a graduate of the University of Colorado – Boulder, College of Music. She holds a Bachelor’s of Music with high honors, with concentration in Voice Performance and Theater Arts.  She has participated in numerous camps, workshops, and classes with master teachers from Zimbabwe, Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal, Cuba, and Haiti studying song, drumming, and dance. In addition, Joanne attended the Blue Tribe School of Music and Dance in Albuquerque, NM from 2001-04. There she studied West African and Zimbabwean dance, drumming, and song. Ultimately she became the lead singer for the Blue Tribe, and a drummer for the dance classes and performances, while also working as a percussion accompanist for African and Modern dance classes at the University of New Mexico. Her performance experience is extensive. Joanne has crisscrossed the United States as a percussionist and a singer/songwriter playing venues ranging from 20 seat coffee shops to folk festivals attended by thousands. She was the lead accompanist for Kim Waterman as well as a drum teacher at The Berkshire Pulse from 2006 – 2015,  and she’s thrilled to be back for this series of classes.

Madeline teaches Shake Your Soul®—a soulful, somatic dance practice that helps people connect with their bodies, awaken joy, and experience greater freedom of expression and self-awareness through movement.

She is a certified Registered Somatic Movement Therapist and Educator (RSMT/E) who combines her expertise in trauma-informed care with a deep passion for supporting others in healing through the mind-body connection. Madeline is registered with ISMETA (the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association) and is currently completing the required hours toward Master-level certification as a Somatic Movement Therapist (MSMT). She is also pursuing her M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a trauma concentration at Antioch University New England. Her approach draws from Polyvagal Theory, Body-Centered Gestalt Psychotherapy, and expressive arts modalities.

Between her undergraduate and graduate studies, Madeline spent four years in Shanghai, China, teaching children English, dance, and drama performance. During that time, she also had the opportunity to share Shake Your Soul® at local studios. This international experience broadened her perspective on movement and performance, deepening her calling to somatic healing work.

In her practice, Madeline uses tools such as body scanning, mindful movement, journaling, and nervous system education to help clients and students reconnect with their body’s wisdom and create new pathways for healing. Whether in group classes or individual sessions, she strives to create a safe, welcoming space where people can explore their authentic selves through embodiment.

Madeline teaches Shake Your Soul® on Thursdays at Berkshire Pulse and offers remote somatic therapy sessions. She has served as an assistant for LIFE Movement’s SomaSoul® Clinical Training program for two years and will assist with the Shake Your Soul® Level 1 Teacher Training for the second time this summer, sharing her experience with the next generation of somatic practitioners. 

View Madeline’s ISMETA Profile

LUANA DIAS DAVID – PROFESSIONAL DANCER AND CHOREOGRAPHER
“It is immensely rewarding to help others achieve a happy and healthy lifestyle.”
Luana began her professional career at the age of 14 in Brazil. She has done dance performances/choreographer throughout Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, U.S.A., Mexico, Israel, Russia, Turkey, South Korea, China, Kazakhstan, Romanian, Armenia, Georgia. Recently back from her first South America tour with Zumba events including Colombia, Peru, Chile and Brazil!
A native of Sao Paulo-Brazil, Luana was exposed to a mixed culture of Break dance, Samba, Capoeira and classic Ballet which have inspired her dance philosophy and style. 

Tarcísio is a Brazilian artist living in the Berkshires. His interdisciplinary approach to the arts gives him the ability to navigate through different art forms. He is a member of the brazilian percussion group Berkshire Bateria, and the bossa nova band Bossa Triba. He performs often with both groups. He has published two books, a poetry book called “Point of Departure”, and a children’s book titled “Quinho, a Kid Out The World”. Tarcisio has worked in Upstate New York at the Art Omi teaching theater. Presently he works for ONG, also in Upstate NY providing individuals with autism with artistic and practical avenues to live life and to self-express. Out of all art forms that he practices, he has practiced capoeira the longest. Capoeira was part of his upbringing in Brazil and he started it at the age of 10. He is excited to share it with the Berkshires.

Melissa Elstein founded Good Energy Movement & Wellness to bring the joy of movement to students of all ages and levels in her dance and yoga classes.  As a young dancer, she trained at Balanchine’s School of American Ballet and performed with NYCB, Berlin Opera Ballet, and Royal Danish Ballet. Her teachers at SAB included Stanley Williams, Madame Danilova, and Suki Schurer.  During Summer breaks, Melissa studied at Ballet West, and in NYC with Melissa Hayden, Willie Burmann, Madame Darvash, and David Howard (where she became a scholarship student).  She was accepted into the Pennsylvania Ballet Company her last year of high school. Melissa performed with that company for several years until an injury sidelined her professional ballet career. 

Shifting to academics, Melissa graduated from Barnard College and Columbia Law School. She completed Federal clerkships, before joining NYPD’s legal bureau. Her life took another turn when she trained in yoga, qigong, Pilates, Reiki, and other healing modalities. Returning to her first passion (ballet), Melissa graduated from Finis Jhung’s teacher training, performed in three of his instructional DVDs, and taught adult ballet for him at Alvin Ailey’s Extension Program. She completed children’s teacher trainings with Yogi Beans and American Ballet Theater and has taught children’s and teen ballet at the School at Steps on Broadway and as a guest teacher in the Berkshires. 

Her website:  www.Melissa-Mati.com.