Ryoko Kudo MFA, has worked with the Limón Dance Company since 2001 and has had the privilege to dance works by world-renowned choreographers such as Graham, Taylor, Lubovich, Kylian, Linke, Koner, McKayle, multiple works by Limón and Humphrey. Kudo is also an aerialist with Airealistic and has performed at the Beijing Olympics, Hangzhou, China, Bregenz Opera, and in the show Breaking Surface in NYC. She teaches and restages Limón works and has taught at various institutions such as Marymount Manhattan College, Canadian Children’s Dance Theater (Canada), Congresso Brasileiro de Dance Moderna (Brazil), Arte Centro (Guatemala), Bratislava Academy of Dance (Slovakia), ArtEz (Holland), Puglia Talenti (Italy), Casa de la Cultura (Mexico), and schools in the U.S. such as SUNY Purchase, Point Park College, Bryn Mawr, Mont Clair, University of the Arts, Drexel University. Kudo is also a certified Pilates instructor (read more…) since 2008. Kudo received her training from Emerson College, The Boston Conservatory, Ailey School, Graham School, Limón Institute, and Kane School of Core Integration.
Ryoko’s classes explore movement based on the principles of the Limón Technique, which incorporates the effect of gravity and use of breath as an initiation of movement. We explore coordinating breath and weight in terms of falling, recovering, and suspending. The classes also address use of space, time and energy with clear intention and musicality for greater dynamic range of movement and richer coloring of human expression.
(photo credit: Nilaya Sabni)
Angel Lau is a percussionist based in Newburgh, NY. While his foundation comes from his classical percussion studies at Purchase College, Angel’s interests in Afro-Peruvian and Brazilian music expanded into different folkloric and modern percussion styles from across the globe. Angel is one of the musicians for “Odeon” by Bessie Award Winner Ephrat Asherie and has toured the US including the Spoleto Festival, Vail Dance Festival, and Fall for Dance to name a few. He is currently a faculty accompanist at Bard College and is in a work-in-progress work by Bessie Award Winner Souleymane Badolo from Burkina Faso. Angel has performed and recorded with artists such as Kala and the Lost Tribe, Wallace Roney Jr., DreHall, Anaïs Maviel, Neil ‘Nail’ Alexander, Birdland Latin Jazz Orchestra, and Kelly Quigley.
Hannah Littman (they/them) is a movement artist originally from Los Angeles currently working in Western Massachusetts and New York City. Their research draws on their longtime fascination with American media institutions to investigate what it means to be looked at by exploring ordinary movement, surreal landscapes, and audience participation, which, in turn, has sent them questioning modes of dance archive. They have performed choreography by Angie Hauser, Gabby Carmichael, Merce Cunningham, Bill T. Jones, and Adam Weinert. Hannah’s choreographic work has been featured at Movement Research, Green Space, and BAAD!. Additionally, they have presented their scholarly research on alternative approaches to historical restagings at conferences held by the Dance Studies Association and the American College Dance Association. Beyond their independent work, Hannah is a co-founder and the lead producer of the 46 Minutes Collective—a performance collective focused on developing time-based experimental new work and offering programming to emerging artists—through which they have developed work in-residence at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park and presented at IndyFringe Theater Festival, The Tank, and Brick Aux. Hannah earned their BA in Film and English from Vassar College, and they are currently a second-year MFA candidate and Teaching Fellow in Dance at Smith College.
Dance for Boys Program Director
Musical Theatre Dance Program Director
Tom Masters holds an MS in Special Education from The City College of New York and a BS in elementary education with a concentration in dance and movement for elementary school children. As a performer he has danced with The Park Avenue Dance Company in Rochester, NY, The Alvin Ailey Student Ensemble in New York City, and with various musical theatre productions both nationally and internationally. He has taught dance and creative movement since 1990. Most recently he was on staff at the Center for Kinesthetic Movement in NYC as an educational tutor using dance to teach literacy, and using movement to increase the attention span of students with ADHD. Tom has been with Berkshire Pulse since 2009 teaching dance for boys, Humphrey-Weidman repertory, tap, and Broadway jazz.
Sayer Mansfield has spent the past decade working as a full-time company dancer with Compagnie Marie Chouinard (Montreal, QC) and Pilobolus Dance Theater (New York, NY). Sayer holds a BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She received her classical training from The Royal Academy of Dance, Boston Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet and continued her contemporary training abroad at Trinity Laban in London, UK, and The Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance in Austria. Sayer has been an adjunct faculty member and guest artist and choreographer at Jacob’s Pillow, Phillips Academy Andover and Roger Williams University. She is a 400hr RYT™ yoga teacher and has been teaching yoga, dance, and embodiment practices for over 14 years. Sayer works as a mentor and coach offering embodiment counsel and support on an individual basis. Through a lineage of incredible teachers, a lifelong devotion to studentship, and personal experience, Sayer has created a unique voice and vision in her approach to the embodiment of self-inquiry, healing, resilience, expansion, and artistic freedom. She now works independently and in collaboration as a performer, choreographer and teacher. Sayer has presented her work in New York City, Montreal, and The Berkshires.
Maggie McRae began traditional dancing when she was 12 years old at Sierra Swing Dance Camp and Centrum’s Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. She was one of the organizers of the Brevard College Contra dance in 2010 and 2011. She began calling contra dancing in 2018 under the mentorship of Jon Greene. Maggie is on both the Lenox and Sheffield Contra Dance committees. Maggie has called in Poughkeepsie, NY, Lenox, MA, and Cornwall, VT among other dances. She also has a growing repertoire of family dances and has taught community dance/contra dance at Berkshire Pulse in Housatonic, MA, and at the Oldtone Roots Music Festival. Maggie also has a working knowledge of a variety of Scandinavian dances, a passion that began while she was living in Norway, which she has continued to nurture.
Bettina holds a BFA in Dance, Cum Laude, from Temple University.
In Philadelphia, she performed professionally with Philadelphia’s Sybil Dance Company, Artistic Director Eva Gholson, and Dance Conduit, Artistic Director Ann Vachon, for the reconstruction of Doris Humphrey’s “Dawn in New York.”
In the Berkshires, Bettina performed with choreographer Dawn Lane, Artistic Director Community Access to the Arts, as an independent choreographer and as a member of choreographer/film maker Laurie McLeod’s Victory Girl Productions with whom she performed extensively throughout the Berkshires, New York, and abroad.
Bettina’s dance training began with her mother Christa Montano, a student of renowned dancers Mary Wigman, Herald Kreuzberg, Martha Graham, José Limón and Louis Horst. Her early training continued under the direction of Truda Kashman, Martha Graham technique with Debra Zall, with various teaching artists at the Murray Louis and Alwin Nicolais Dance Lab and later with Educators/Choreographers Eva Gholson, Ann Vachon, Hellmut Gottschild and Marilyn Middleton Sylla. Bettina’s passionate belief in accessible dance education led her to teaching and inspired the creation of The Flowering Child Performing Arts Program in 1995 — which ultimately evolved into Berkshire Pulse in 2005. Bettina has been teaching classes in modern dance for students of all ages and levels throughout her 27-year directorship of the organization.
Originally from Washington, D.C., Tara grew up studying ballet and theater. She earned her B.A. in theater and religious studies at Yale University, where she also began studying African dance. At this time Tara began exploring her heritage through African studies at Yale, and was awarded a fellowship to study traditional dance and drumming at the University of Legon in Ghana, West Africa. For the past 25 years, she has studied with many African and Afro-Caribbean artists in Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston. Her primary mentors have been Issa Coulibaly and Joh Camara of Mali; Youssouf Koumbassa of Guinea; Fatou N’Diaye and Astou Sagna of Senegal; and Jean Appolon of Haiti. Tara has taught at numerous studios, colleges and schools throughout MA, including Jacob’s Pillow, Smith College, Cape Cod Community College and many more. In addition to African dance, Tara has also practiced yoga and meditation since she was a child. Tara recognizes the practice of African dance and drumming as a tremendous force for healing, meditation, empowerment and community. It is her greatest honor to share the inspiration of these ancient traditions.
Erin has been an avid dancer since she could walk. Throughout her youth, she studied ballet, modern, and jazz as well as hip-hop and Afro-Caribbean, being one of the first graduates of the Flower Child Performing Arts Program that became Berkshire Pulse. She has been teaching dance and gymnastics since she was a young adult as well as being a preschool teacher for the past 15 years here in the Berkshires. In her spare time she enjoys playing paintball and kayaking with her partner and snuggling her 3 cats.
Eric Otto was born and raised in Westchester, New York. He began dancing at
the age of seven with the School of American Ballet in New York City. He
has danced professionally with the New York City Ballet, American Ballet
Theatre, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet and
BalletX.
He was an original cast member of Twyla Tharp’s Come Fly Away,
performing the leading role of Sid. Mr. Otto was invited to join the cast of
Tharp’s Movin’ Out where he starred in the Broadway and First National Tour
companies as James. He has appeared on Broadway in The Phantom of the
Opera and toured with Twyla Tharp for her 50th Anniversary.
Mr. Otto has performed an extensive repertoire, including ballets by
Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, John Cranko, Jiri Kylian, Kenneth
MacMillan, and Jerome Robbins. He has danced roles created for him by
Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Lynne Taylor-Corbette and Matthew Neenan.
Eric’s academic credentials include serving as Artist in Residence in Classical
Ballet at Skidmore College from 2018 to 2021, where he choreographed
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons recomposed by Max Richter and staged Paquita. He
has also been the Artistic Director of the Peoria Ballet in Illinois, Rehearsal
Director for BalletX in Philadelphia and taught on faculty at Ballet Academy
East and Peridance in NYC. He is on guest faculty with The Rock School for
Dance Education and the Joffrey Academy of Dance in Chicago. Eric Otto is
an ABT Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher
Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 6/7 and Partnering of the
ABT National Training Curriculum.
As a choreographer, Eric has received commissions by Peoria Ballet
Company, Albany Berkshire Ballet, Saratoga Arts Fest, The Bruce Museum,
Bucknell University, Skidmore College and the Toledo Ballet.
In 2022, Eric accepted the Artistic Director and Head of Curriculum position
with Toledo Ballet.
