Berkshire Pulse Performing Arts Program Directors and Faculty Bios Director's Bios BETTINA MONTANO • Artistic Director , Modern Dance Director Bettina, Founder and Artistic Director of Berkshire Pulse, holds a BFA in Dance from Temple University. Bettina began her studies at the age of 5, dancing with her mother, Christa Montano. Bettina’s love for dance manifested itself in the form of teaching when, at the age of 17, she was asked to conduct classes for residents of a home for “at risk” youth in Rockland County, NY. Bettina has performed professionally with Philadelphia’s Sybil Dance Company and Dance Conduit, with choreographer Dawn Lane, as an independent choreographer and as a member of choreographer/film maker Laurie McLeod’s Victory Girl Productions with whom she has performed extensively throughout the Berkshires, New York, and abroad. Her passionate belief in accessible dance education inspired her to create The Flowering Child Performing Arts Program in 1995 which ran with great success and ultimately evolved into Berkshire Pulse in 2003. Her dedication has continued to deepen through her thirteen year directorship of the program, and her many years of experience teaching classes in Creative and Modern dance techniques for students of all ages. She is currently expanding her development as a choreographer, setting original work on her upper level students and adult members of her newly formed choreographic workshop. SANDY CLEARY-WADE • Managing Director, Theater Arts Director Native to the Berkshires, Sandy is an alumna of both Berkshire Country Day School and Miss Halls School. She has been working professionally in the performing arts since 1976. She began acting the age of 14 at Berkshire Theater Festival and went on to work and train in Manhattan, most notably with Anna Deavere Smith, and at the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and NYU. She returned to the area to teach theater arts in the elementary and middle schools in northern Berkshire County in 1987. In the late eighties she shifted her focus to stage and production management and held a staff position at the Los Angeles Theater Center for five years during which time she mentored under Susan Slagle, professor of stage management at Yale University. Under her mentorship she stage-managed such shows as South Pacific with Sandy Duncan and Company with Carol Burnett. Sandy went on to become production manager / stage manager and assistant director for famed cutting-edge theater director Reza Abdoh, touring for four years with his company Dar A Luz in the US and throughout Europe. RUBY AVER THUNG • Ballet Director Ruby has been the Ballet Director and instructor for Berkshire Pulse since June 2005. She has performed extensively since 1973 in North America, South America and Europe. Ruby’s first ballet instructor, Ed Parish was Bronislava Nijinkska trained. At the age of 14 Ruby was the youngest dancer ever to place in the Chicago Dance Competition, judged by renowned dance historian Ann Barzel. In 1971 Ruby was awarded a full talent scholarship to the Harkness School of Ballet in Manhattan by Master Teacher David Howard, where she went on to become an apprentice with the Harkness Ballet Company. She performed as a soloist with the Chicago Ballet Company and Ballet De Caracas of Venezuela. She was principal dancer for Het Scapino Ballet of the Netherlands, where “Firebird” was set on her by choreographer Job Sanders and where she performed annually for the Queen of Holland. During these years she taught and coached dancers in the above companies and school as well as for the Hubbard Street Dance Company of Chicago. In addition to classical ballet, Ruby has performed contemporary ballet by Hans VanMannen and Nils Christie, Jazz choreography by Matt Mattox, and dance theater pieces by company members from Pina Bausch and Wuppertaal Tanzteatre. Other highlights of her performing career were working with the National Ballet of Canada for Rudolf Nureyev in his production of “Don Quixote.” Ruby has been the Ballet Professor at Simon's Rock College of Bard since 2004. Ruby’s artful and universal approach to the whole person ensures a well-rounded and fulfilling experience.   CORE FACULTY   Lanny Mitchell - Jazz, Musical Theater Performance Workshop, Boys Hip-hop   Lanny Mitchell is a veteran of the theater world and has appeared in many on and off-Broadway shows and in numerous touring companies. Some of his credits include Judas in “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Curtis in “Dream Girls,”and Walter Lee in “Raisin, The Musical.” As a dancer he has appeared in several productions; “The Wiz,” “Sophisticated Ladies” and “Dancing” (choreographed by Bob Fosse). He was also a featured dancer on “Fame” (the TV series) for over two seasons. He has written and directed several pieces of his own. “A Tragedy in South Central” was featured as a workshop production at the Nyurican Poets Café in New York City and is currently in pre-production. Lanny has directed and choreographed many productions at the Sherman Playhouse: “West Side Story,” “The Show, A Musical Review," "Big, The Musical,” "Company,” "A Chorus Line,” “Foot Loose,” “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” and “Bugsy Malone.” Lanny has taught theatre and dance in New York City, at the Brookfield Performing Arts Center and at Tri-Arts. Lanny currently teaches theater and dance for the Falls Village Children's Theatre Company and is their artistic director for the FVCT summer camps and shows.     Claire Jacob-Zysman - Jazz Claire graduated summa cum laude from the University at Buffalo with a BFA in Dance, where she was a dancer and choreographer for the Zodiaque Dance Company. Additionally she has trained with the José Limon Dance Company, Doug Varone and Dancers, and Ballet Hispanico. She has also studied at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and at the Bates Dance Festival. Claire has performed with the Burnidge Clark Dance Company and with Melanie Aceto Contemporary Dance. She has also performed her own choreography at the Rochester Contemporary Dance Collective. . Claire currently dances professionally with the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company in residence at The Egg in Albany. Renni Greenberg-Gallagher - Ballet & Creative Dance (Also In-Reach Program Faculty) Renni has taught and performed various forms of dance (modern, ballet, tap, flamenco) from New York City (Merce Cunningham Studio) to universities in the USA (Oberlin College, NYU, Bard), and abroad. She currently maintains a private practice in "Transdisciplinary Therapeutic Education."   Heather Fisch – Theater Arts Heather has done the bulk of her training as a performance artist at the Teatro Estudi Victor Hernando in Barcelona, Spain as well as at Simon’s Rock College and in private workshops. Her training is greatly influenced by the teachings of Jacques Lecoq, Marcel Marceau, and Avner Eisinberg. She has been performing in traditional and experimental theatre performances continually over the past eight years. Her work as a performance artist has brought her from the cobble stone streets of Prague to the local artist community here in the Berkshires. Her current performance work includes a dynamic clown performance called “Un-ortho” which she co-created and performs with a collaborator here in the Berkshires. Her current artistic interests also include developing her career as a performing musician. Aimee Gelinas - World Music (Also In-School Program Faculty) Aimee has been the Berkshire Pulse World Music Program coordinator and a teacher since 1997. A musician and naturalist, she holds a B.S. in Natural Sciences from U.Mass, Amherst, and has been performing, teaching, and studying percussion/drumming and voice for over ten years. Having traveled extensively throughout Africa, Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and the northeast learning World Music with the masters, she now resides in the Berkshires where she teaches and performs. Aimee is co-founder of the All Women Percussion World Music ensemble, “Gaia Roots,” with which she has performed extensively throughout the Berkshire region and beyond. Currently, she works as an Environmental Education Coordinator and teaches drumming classes at Valley Head in Lenox, and other schools throughout western Massachusetts. Joanne DelCarpine - World Music Joanne DelCarpine is a 1998 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. In addition, Joanne attended the Blue Tribe School of Music and Dance in Albuquerque , NM from 2001-03. There she studied West African and Zimbabwean dance, drumming, and song. Ultimately she became the lead singer for the troupe, and a drummer for the dance classes and performances. She has participated in numerous camps, workshops, and classes with master teachers from Zimbabwe , Congo , Ghana , Guinea , Senegal , Cuba , & Haiti studying song, drumming and dance.Her performance experience is extensive. Joanne has crisscrossed the United States playing venues ranging from 20 seat coffee shops to folk festivals attended by thousands. She is also a self-taught guitarist with extensive experience as a working singer/songwriter, a percussionist who accompanied university level African, Afro-Haitian and Modern dance classes professionally for 8 years, and an educator who has provided private voice lessons, group song & drum classes, beginner piano, guitar, & violin lessons, and general music classes for both children and adults. In the past 20 years Joanne has worked in a wide range of diverse genres; from church soloist to lead singer of an Afro-pop marimba band; from 3-part-harmony acoustic music to backing vocals in both a Middle Eastern band and a funk band. She has performed in over a dozen languages. Joanne DelCarpine is living proof that once a singer has a solid foundation of good technique and strong musicality they can perform any style of music successfully.   Lydia Silva - Intro/Beginner Ballet Lydia Silva began her formal ballet training at Boston Ballet School at the age of 12 and was honored to perform on the Wang Center stage in "The Nutcracker." She also trained with Ballet Theatre of Boston under artistic director Jose Mateo until moving out to western MA to attend Umass, Amherst. College opened up a new world of dance, including modern, african, ballroom, and swing, and Lydia decided to study modern dance and joined the Lisa Leizman dance company in Northampton, and later, the Fusionworks dance company in Providence. Lydia has been teaching Ballet, Swing, Salsa, and Ballroom dance for 10 years, including summer dance programs at Buck's Rock Performing and Visual Arts Camp in New Milford , CT , where she also choreographed dances and was the Stage Manager for dance productions. Lydia holds a Master's Degree in Education, and currently teaches at Berkshire Botanical Garden. Kim Waterman Spitzer – Dances of Africa (Also In-School Program faculty member) Kim has studied a variety of dance styles and has come to love the traditional dances of Africa. She has been studying, teaching, performing and sharing these dances with children and adults for over fifteen years. Kim holds a Masters Degree in Education and her extensive classroom teaching experience make her dance classes accessible to students of all levels. She currently teaches throughout the Berkshire public school system in grand funded programs, (schools include Richmond Consolidated School, South Egremont Public School, and Farmington River Elementary School) as well as teaching weekly classes at Berkshire Pulse. The highlight of Kim's summer this year was performing and teaching at Tanglewood in their Watch and Play program!     Kristine Waterman – Creative Dance (Also In-School Program faculty member) Kristine is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy as well as a Theater/Dance major at the City University of New York at Queens College. She has been teaching dance and various types of creative arts programs for children for over 12 years in a variety of settings. In the Catskills she taught Physical Education to pre K - 12th grade. The program consisted of dance/creative movement, yoga and fitness. She also created a lower school drama program as well as leading an after school dance group. She has designed and taught a creative arts program, in NYC, for kindergarten and preschoolers, which combines creative movement, music and drama. Kristine has also performed both nationally and in regional theater. She has taught adults, and directed her own dance troupe "Gettin' Down," consisting of performers with developmental disabilities. ADJUNCT FACULTY   Christa Montano - Introduction to Modern Dance Christa began her dance studies in Germany with Suzanne Kabitz, former assistant of Rudolf Von Laban. She continued her studies in Germany with Modern Dance innovators Mary Wigman and Herald Kreuzberg, and in the USA with Martha Graham at the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance in New York City, as well as with other renowned choreographers/educators such as José Limón, Alwin Nicolais, Murray Louis, and Louis Horst.In 1962, Christa established a Modern Dance Department in a private high school in Windsor, CT. For many years, she taught Modern dance for students of the now Oxford Kingswood High School, as well as Creative dance for children and adults throughout Hartford, CT, and NY. Christa is a founding faculty member of Berkshire Pulse since 1999, teaching six and seven year olds.   Maxine Lyle - Urban Step (Artistic Director of Soul Steps) Maxine Lyle began stepping at the age of seven in her hometown of Newark, NJ. She now performs, choreographs, and offers step instruction to youth and adults throughout the Northeast. She has extensively researched the local and international history of stepping. In 1996 she co-founded Sankofa, the Williams College step team, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2006 and is now under the official auspices of the Williams College Dance Program. She has been a creative advisor to college and youth step teams and taught at arts institutions, including the Youth Alive Step Team (Pittsfield, MA), the Manhattan College Step Team, the Westfield State University Step Team, the Vermont Arts Exchange, Berkshire Pulse, Eden Hill, and Simon's Rock. Her choreography has been featured at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA). She is a Master of Fine Arts candidate in Theatrical Management and Producing at Columbia University's School of the Arts.   Jonathan Pinero (aka St. Ise) - Hip Hop Workshop (read his powerfully moving story here) Born in the South Bronx ghetto, home of Hip hop, Jonathan started dancing on empty basketball courts at night to blow off steam as a young teen struggling with intense family issues. Dancing became his language for life, a tool for facing the many difficulties of growing up in a poor and dangerous community. Jonathan has performed with many artists and won numerous dance competitions such as the "Move for Madonna" competition on MTV. He is the founder and Director of GPR Entertainment; an artist’s collaborative based in NYC. Deeply committed to sharing his skills and experience with others Jonathan teaches children and youth the art Hip-hop as an empowering tool and vital medium for self-expression.   Lisa Kapchinske (aka Ivory) Hip-hop Workshop Lisa Kapchinske (a.k.a. “Ivory”) – Having been classically trained in Southern California and the Berkshires as a competitive dancer in disciplines such as, Ballet, Lyrical, Character Jazz, Acro-Jazz and Fosse, Lisa later moved to NYC and there transformed herself through a passion for Hip-hop into the raw, energetic, diverse performer she is today. She returns to the Berkshires with her dance partner "St. Ise" to share with young students her experience of Hip Hop as a way of expressing personal, cultural, and political issues and as a method of storytelling through movement.