MASS MoCA is proud to present student programming - live music, dance, storytelling, film, and theater performances which give regional schoolchildren the opportunity to see world-class performers in our state-of-the-art theater facilities.
Educating Berkshire County's youth through the arts is one of MASS MoCA's highest priorities. Through our Art Assembly Series, Saturday Morning Kids' Events, gallery tours, and the ever-popular Kidspace, MASS MoCA continues to offer top-quality children's events and develop new and creative ways of exploring the arts with children. The Art Assembly program has reached more than 20,000 students over the past eight years. We are delighted to see the growing number of students (ranging from preschoolers to eighth-graders) and their teachers taking advantage of our dynamic school-time programming every year.
We are grateful to TD Banknorth for their continued support of this series.
If you are in Massachusetts, your school may be eligible for a grant from the local Cultural Council to pay for buses.
Download page one of grant application.
Download page two of grant application.
For your convenience please download ticket order form.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Performance at 9:30 AM (Recommended for grades 1-3 ) and 12:30 PM (Recommended for Grades 4-8)
Running Time: Approximately 1 hour
Travel from North Adams to China and beyond in an engaging multimedia/dance presentation featuring traditional Chinese and modern dance performed by a troupe of talented young dancers. This program, featuring 6 dancers and 1 narrator utilizes video projections of Chinese calligraphy, historical and cultural photographs, moving images and recorded musical accompaniment. Also on the program will be Hidden Voices, a portrayal of the 1870 Sampson Shoe Factory Strike in North Adams which is being performed in conjunction with a new installation by Simon Starling in the football-field sized Builidng 5 Gallery which opens December 13. This new commission was inspired by North Adams's history and the Sampson Factory's Chinese workers.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Performance at 9:30 AM (Recommended for grades K-3 ) and 12:30 PM (Recommended for Grades 4-8)
Running Time: Approximately 1 hour
Formed in 1999, Captain Bogg & Salty is a band of six musical pirates from Portland, Oregon, whose costumed act blends original music with humor and history. Pirate jigs, mermaid lullabies, and rock & roll sea shanties are interspersed with nautical advice and humor for buccaneers of all ages. Captain Bogg & Salty’s songs are not merely fun to dance to, audiences will find themselves "accidentally educated" on topics ranging from the pirates' monetary system (Pieces of Eight) to preventative medicine (Got scurvy? Eat a lime!).
With styles ranging from calypso and pop to galloping rock - and always performed in full costume and character - audiences may be convinced that six singing pirates from the Golden Age have learned to play modern rock instruments including bass, drums, melodica, guitar, and accordion.
Watch Captain Bogg and Salty in action.
Visit their website.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Performance at 9:30 AM and 12:30 PM (Recommended for Grades K-4)
Running Time: Approximately 75 minutes.
This award-winning premier puppet theater, brings to life the popular children's book by Janell Cannon about a baby fruit bat who becomes separated from her mother and is adopted by a family of birds. This enchanting stage adaptation features puppets as the bats and birds and five actors who handle the puppets, sing, dance, and play the piano. The puppets are a blend of realism and cuddliness. The bats have realistic, drapey wings and big, Muppet-like eyes. A big, bad owl, all glowering eyes and huge wing span, is particularly impressive, swooping amongst the luminous tree limbs on several movable blocks that serve as the simple and effective set.
Baby bat Stellaluna's life is flitting along right on schedule--until an owl attacks one night, knocking the bewildered batlet out of her mother's loving grasp. The tiny bat is lucky enough to land in a nest of baby birds, but her whole world has just turned upside down. Literally. Stellaluna's adoptive bird mom accepts her into her nest, but only on the condition that Stellaluna will act like a bird, not a bat. Soon Stellaluna has learned to behave like a good bird should--she quits hanging by her feet and starts eating bugs. But when she finally has an opportunity to show her bird siblings what life as a bat is like, all of them are confounded. Anyone who has ever been asked to be someone they're not will understand the conflicts--and possibilities--Stellaluna faces.
Watch a video of Stellaluna.
Learn more about Speeltheater of the Neatherlands.
To supplement each performance, MASS MoCA provides curriculum based study guides to every educator, helping you to incorporate the performance into your curriculum. Study guide activities and material have been developed by Kidspace Director Laura Thompson to:
- Provide educators with subject information, artist biographies, and quick pre- and post- show activities.
- Prepare students for MCAS testing
- Fulfill statewide standards in Language arts, social studies and history.
- Implement national arts achievement standards
Performances do sell out so please place your order in advance to guarantee seating for your group. Call the box office at 413 MoCA111 between 11am and 5pm Wednesday through Monday. For other questions please contact Sarah Biagini at 413.664.4481 x8109 or sbiagini@massmoca.org.
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