Communicating through movement: Berkshire Hills Music Academy performance project celebrates the four seasons

Creativity and inclusion will collide on stage at the Berkshire Hills Music Academy’s Bernon Music Center this Friday.

Embrace with Mary Ann, in partnership with the Mass Cultural Council and the South Hadley Cultural Council — with venue support from Berkshire Hills Music Academy — presents “Together in Motion: A Celebration of the Seasons.” The show begins at 7 p.m. and features dances, poems and artwork inspired by the four seasons.

“My impression of my students was, ‘they’re amazing.’ They’re right in (there) with everybody else; there’s no difference,” said Mary Ann Holmes, director of dance and music at Berkshire Hills. “It was great to perform, too, but seeing everybody together (was) the catapult of taking a next step to even building community like this.”

She assembled the dancers for “Together in Motion” in large part by advertising the show, by invitation, and through word of mouth. Rehearsals began in August.

“I think everybody walking in the door is always like, ‘What’s this gonna be like?’ And within a few minutes of being on the dance floor, everybody’s just moving together, and it’s all so fast,” she said. “Movement is its own language, for sure. It’s amazing to see how it holds everybody together.”

Dancer Jen Connell joined “Together in Motion” because Holmes had been her childhood dance instructor from second grade through high school. She’d never been to Berkshire Hills before joining the show and she’d been away from dance for at least a decade, but Holmes reached out to her on social media to ask if she’d want to join. Since then, Connell said, “Everyone has been so fantastic, and it’s a great opportunity to bounce movement off each other. It’s incredible what performances have come from us all contributing little pieces and how much it’s all come together.”

The show’s theme focuses around the seasons for a structured framework, but also because the concept is applicable and accessible to everybody, according to Holmes. The participants broke into groups by their favorite seasons and chose their own songs to choreograph and dance to. One group, for example, chose the opening song “Good Things Grow” from Disney’s 2025 live-action version of “Snow White” for spring. Some participants read poems they’d written and prompted journal entries about how certain seasons feel to them; others read several quotes about a season.

“In the cold, I feel strong,” said Liz O’Brien in the journal prompt they read in the show. “I feel amazed, where there’s snow or ice in my hair or eyebrows or eyelashes, that my warmth can coexist with the cold. The cold, the dark, is a retreat.”

Holmes first got the idea to create an integrated performance when her students had the chance to perform at the renowned dance venue Jacob’s Pillow in Becket last summer. While another community group of artists was performing, her students were hanging out in the green room below the stage with other dancers. While watching a TV broadcast of the live show above them, everyone joined together to dance along to the music.

“Time to change my clothes to something bright and airy — a flowy dress to make me feel like a fairy,” said Adriana Isham, reading a poem about spring that she wrote for the show. “… I put on my fun, funky sunglasses, and I make my bright, colorful bracelets. Busy days and peaceful nights putting heavy hats away and coats away, because the warm, sunny days are here to stay.”

At the beginning of the show, Andrea Leombruno, a Berkshire Hills student, leads the audience in movements themed to the seasons, gently waving her arms downward to illustrate leaves falling and whooshing her arms around to simulate winter winds. She’s also in the summer group, which closes the show with dances and live performances to several songs, including Katrina and The Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine.”

“If people want to come to Berkshire Hills and see what we do, then come and see our show,” Leombruno said. “It will be a blast.”

As “Together in Motion” has evolved, the dancers have built more confidence and ownership of their work. At this point in the rehearsal process, “They’re ready,” Holmes said. “I can sense the pride, too.” 

Holmes hopes to make the production an annual event, with additional performers coming on board next year.

“It strikes every checkmark when it comes to community,” she said. “It really has built a beautiful community.”

Tickets to “Together in Motion: A Performance Project of Inclusion and Creativity” are $5 to $25, a suggested donation, at togetherinmotion.ludus.com or at the door with cash and Venmo.