Dance for the Special Child Program is Available at Berkshire Pulse

Berkshire Pulse, South County’s dynamic dance and performing arts education center located in the heart of Housatonic, has announced that its successful Dance for the Special Child program is now available as a new class offering at its Housatonic studios this fall.

For the past two years, Dance for the Special Child has been offered as an in-school offering at Undermountain Elementary (Sheffield) and Muddy Brook (Great Barrington). Led by Pulse Special Education Advisor Sara Kiesel, the program honors each child’s unique journey while helping them build skills in communication, behavioral management, and social-emotional growth. Dance for the Special Child classes explore ways in which bodies move, spatial relationships, and basic dance elements relating to time, rhythm, flow, and breath. Through dance, students also strengthen muscle tone, trunk stability, balance, breath, and impulse control.

While the school-based program has been highly successful, it also revealed a broader community need. This new studio offering expands access to students from across the region, inviting them to discover their own physicality and mind-body-emotion connection. By joining the larger dance community at Berkshire Pulse, children gain new opportunities for creative expression, integration, and social interaction. Sara Kiesel is “excited to welcome students who worked with me at our in-school programs and other children from the wider community to dance in our beautiful studio space. I witnessed real growth in language acquisition, body awareness and an increased ability to connect language with movement skills. The children were eager to join the circle each week. Each child was celebrated and encouraged by their peers. We all grew together.”

This new studio class, modeled after the successful in-school program, will run Mondays from October 6 through November 17, 2025, 4:00-4:45 pm at Pulse’s studios (420 Park Street, Housatonic, MA). Designed for students with a wide range of special needs and abilities, ages 6–9, the pilot session will be limited to eight participants and is free of charge thanks to a grant from Berkshire Life Charitable Foundation.

Interested parents and caregivers can contact the Community & In-School Programs Manager  Jaimee Christinat at jaimee@berkshirepulse.org or (413) 284-6624 for more information.