Olga Dunn Dance Company Brings Wharton Inspired Performance to the Mount's Terraced Lawns

Sunday, August 30, 5–6pm | Lenox, MA | Free, no registration required

Dancers from the Olga Dunn Dance Company perform a site-responsive piece on the terraced lawn at The Mount on August 30, bringing Edith Wharton's world to life against the same landscape she designed herself over a century ago. The performance blends choreography, spoken word, and live cello as dancers moove about the grounds. The program includes an exclusive preview of the company's newest work and closes with two dances set to French songs, a tribute to the final chapter of Wharton's life, which she spent largely in France after leaving the Berkshires.

Olga Dunn was born in Paris to a Russian family, she trained from age five at the Richmond Academy of Ballet, the Royal Canadian School of Ballet, Emerson College, and George Washington University, then studied in New York with Erick Hawkins, Peter Gennaro, Maggie Black, Fred Benjamin, and Thelma Hill. She came to the Berkshires through a Boston University summer program at Tanglewood with the José Limón Dance Company, and what was meant to be a one-year teaching stint turned into a permanent home. The nonprofit company she built has received multiple Massachusetts Merit Aid awards, a choreography fellowship from Jacob's Pillow, and statewide recognition; Dunn has also served on Arts Lottery and Massachusetts Cultural Council panels and taught in the Berkshire Theatre Festival Internship Program.

The performing dancers—Rosa Barnaba, Kate Chester, and Hope St. Jock—all trained at the Olga Dunn School of Dance from a young age and have gone on to perform at Jacob's Pillow, the Mahaiwe, Saint James Place, the Colonial Theatre, and Shakespeare & Company's Tina Packer Stage. A reception with the artists follows the performance.

The event is free but capacity is limited, with seating first-come, first-served. Parking is in the Upper Parking Field, a quarter-mile walk from the mansion (golf carts available for those who need assistance); bring a lawn chair or picnic blanket, and note that stairs are required to reach the performance area.

The Mount, 2 Plunkett St., Lenox, MA. Free, no registration. More at edithwharton.org.