English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

August 4 - 11, 2012

Program Director

Owen Morrison is an accomplished rhythm and lead guitarist, at home in many styles of traditional music. His playing, laced with rhythmic power and skillful finesse, has made him popular among dancers and fiddlers alike. Owen has toured the U.S. and abroad with bands such as Elixir, Airdance, Night Watch and The Morrison Brothers Band. A frequent staff member and Program Director at Pinewoods, Ashokan, Augusta, and many other camps.

http://www.myspace.com/owenmorrison

Family Week at Ogontz

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

American Dance & Music Week at Pinewoods

Staff

Karen Axelrod

Karen Axelrod is highly regarded for her creative piano playing at English, American and Scottish dance events around the country. She is in the band Foxfire, with Daron Douglas. Karen plays accordion with 3rd String Trio, a band that plays old world cafe music. She also plays accordion for Orion Longsword. When not playing music, Karen spends her time managing her dog walking business and coming in last in marathons.

Family Week at Pinewoods

English Dance Week at Pinewoods

Yaëlle Azoulay

Born in Quebec, with a Moroccan-French background, Yaëlle Azoulay is a professional dancer/choreographer specializing in Quebecois traditional dance and percussive dance. She started dancing with Pieds Légers de Laval and Reel et Macadam folk ensembles. She then joined the professional dance group ZOGMA where she’s been dancing since 2003 and travelling in Canada, the U. S., Africa and Asia. She started her own work as a choreographer in 2006, with Turque-oise, a blend of Quebecois stepdancing (jig) and Turkish folk dance. Her most recent piece, Sax Addict, is a grooving reggae stepdancing choreography that toured in Quebec. Despite her young age, she has been teaching stepdancing and calling social dances for the past 10 years all over Quebec and the U. S. She is recognized as one of the best in her field on the Quebec scene.

www.zogma.ca

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

Doug Creighton

Doug Creighton is an inspiring musician on the button accordion and flute. He has a wealth of experience as both dancer and musician for numerous display dance teams, plays in the English dance band Pleasures of the Town and joins in as a guest in numerous contra bands. Doug is internationally known as the guru of The Button Box, where he keeps the world safe for accordions and concertinas.

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

Daron Douglas

Daron Douglas is a captivating fiddler for American and English dance traditions. She plays with the dance bands Foxfire and Goldcrest. Daron also brings a rich repertoire of songs from her great-grandmother, who was one of Cecil Sharp's informants in the southern mountains. She has been on the staff at CDSS dance camps, at Ashokan and at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. She now lives and plays music in New Orleans.

http://www.allthingscottage.com/daron_douglas.html

CDSS at Timber Ridge

Eden Foreman

Eden Forman is an eclectic and vibrant young performer. As child from a musical family, Eden grew up in a house full of song and dance. A National Jr. Scottish Fiddling Champion she has shared the stage with some of today’s top folk musicians and danced for Natalie MacMaster, Alasdair Fraser and many more. Eden is currently finishing a degree at Berklee College of Music.

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

Unfortunately Kimberley Fraser cannot join us this year

Leela Grace

Leela Grace is a Missouri native, and Portland, Oregon transplant, who has performed and taught nationally for over 25 years, first with her family, and now as a solo performer and in a duo with her sister, Ellie Grace. Leela’s soaring vocals, driving old-time banjo playing, powerful percussive dance and disarming teaching style make her a favorite at venues and camps across the continent. As a teacher of music and dance, Leela has inspired literally thousands of school children, banjo students, percussive dancers and singers of all ages through the classes, school assemblies, camps and lessons that she has taught across the U.S. and Canada over the years. Leela is known as a kind, entertaining, experienced teacher who offers clear, understandable instruction to singers, musicians and dancers of all levels.

http://www.gracefamilymusic.com/leela-ellie/

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

Steve Hickman

Steve Hickman is a world class fiddler, a master hambonist, a passionate historian, and an organic homesteader, specializing in wild blueberries and Shiitake mushroom production. Since the 1970s, he has been the backbone of untold numbers of mid-Atlantic dance bands and has taught hambone to several generations of Family Week campers. He has toured internationally with groups including Childsplay.

Family Week at Ogontz

CDSS at Timber Ridge

Dave Langford

Fiddler and guitarist Dave Langford, a founding member of The Latter Day Lizards, also performs with Big Bandemonium, Les Z Boys and others. A veteran of 25 plus years of playing for public dances, concerts, weddings, late night sessions and anyplace there is fun to be had, Dave combines multiple styles of fiddling with fierce energy and drive. He has been a staff member for numerous music and dance weeks and weekends all across the U.S. and beyond.

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

Susan Michaels

Susan Michaels is a writer, mostly of non-fiction television. In the past 25 years I have written about 60 broadcast documentaries and over 500 hours of episodic non-fiction TV. As a TV writer and producer, she has been to 38 countries, been waist-deep in a bog in Siberia, lost in an underground tunnel in Vietnam, dancing with school children at “Land’s End” in Ushuaia, Chile, 600 feet under the Pacific in a nuclear submarine, and on the salt during Speed Week at Bonneville. Susan is also a teacher of contra and square dancing, having called and taught at local evenings, weekend workshops and week-long camps throughout the U.S. and Canada. Her “calling” in life is to teach people how to hold hands in a circle.

http://www.susanmichaels.tv/category/dance/

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

Jim Morrison

Jim Morrison's preoccupation with traditional dance and dance music customs over the past 40 years has enlivened folk events, provided a basis for the creation of morris, sword and historic dance groups, and generally kept things interesting for contra, square, ritual and historic dance enthusiasts. Long ago he worked for CDSS; now he dances with the Albemarle Morris Men and plays fiddle in the Morrison Brothers Band.

http://morrisonbrothersband.com/jim.html

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

Naomi Morse

Naomi Morse grew up surrounded by music and dance in the folk communities of New England. She is known for her energetic and driving fiddle playing for both contra and English dancing in many bands, including Night Watch, Housetop and the mega-fiddle-band Childsplay. She has toured extensively with the world music ensemble Northern Harmony and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, where she sings professionally.

http://www.myspace.com/naomimorse

Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods

Family Week at Ogontz

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

Joanna Reiner

Joanna Reiner has taught English dance, Scottish dance and longsword for over a decade. Her calling has taken her from Amherst to Ann Arbor, from NEFFA to Hey Days, including several sessions at Pinewoods Camp. Joanna led the Philadelphia-based Germantown Country Dancers English dance demonstration team for many years, is an avid dance gypsy, and in her spare time, works to support her dance habit.

English Dance Week at Pinewoods

Gillian Stewart

Most recently found behind the counter in the Pinewoods kitchen, Gillian Stewart is thrilled to be trading her kitchen whites for morris whites, and her work clogs for rapper shoes! Since somewhat accidentally taking over teaching her first morris team - Banbury Cross - at age 13, Gillian has enjoyed teaching and choreographing ritual dance throughout New England. She currently dances with Muddy River Morris, Maple Morris, and Orion Longsword.

Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods

Julie Vallimont

English & American Week at Pinewoods

Advisors

Nic Gareiss
Steve Howe
Meredith Langstaff

Carol Ormand

Carol Ormand is beloved throughout the contra community for her smooth and unflappable style, wickedly fun dances and penchant for keeping all the dancers on the floor smiling. Her delightful dance selections and concise, relaxed teaching style will keep you coming back for more. When she's not calling, you're likely to find her fiddling, singing or dancing morris, rapper sword, longsword, English country, modern Western squares or Scandinavian dances.

http://carolormand.com/

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

Anna Patton

Anna Patton plays dance tunes on the clarinet with great verve, clarity and harmonic whim. Besides English and contra dance tunes, her repertoire includes Balkan dance tunes, Brazilian choros and early jazz. Based in Brattleboro, VT she has spent much of her young life on tour around the U.S. and abroad, singing and playing for dancers, concert goers and pedestrians. She also enjoys teaching music to kids and adults and writing arrangements.

http://www.annapatton.com/

Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods

English Dance Week at Pinewoods

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

American Dance & Music Week at Pinewoods

English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods

Tentative Schedule

7:45-8:15	Hot Breakfast served cafeteria style
8:15-8:45	Cold Breakfast Coffee/Tea available
9:00-10:00	ECD: Complexity/Simplicity (Advanced): Joanna Reiner ECD: Complexity/Simplicity (Advanced): Joanna Reiner Music by: Daron Douglas, Karen Axelrod This challenging hour will take you beyond simply learning and renewing your acquaintance with English dances. We will examine complex choreographies from various eras that are not necessarily social dances, to not only learn the geography, but dance them well, perfectly phrased to the music, and in time and in sync with fellow dancers to create a harmonious whole. Dancers are expected to be familiar with all ECD figures. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	English Dance for All: Jim Morrison English Dance for All: Jim Morrison Music by: Naomi Morse, Doug Creighton, Julie Vallimont This session will present a diversity of fun English dances from the last four centuries, familiar and obscure. Included will be dances championed by former leaders like May Gadd, Genny Shimer, Phil Merrill and Ron Smedley, emphasizing the qualities these teachers brought out and the attitudes that shaped the dances. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	Appalachian Clog (Beginning): Leela Grace Appalachian Clog (Beginning): Leela Grace Music by: Dave Langford This class is for individuals with little or no percussive dance experience. Now is your chance to get "feet-on" experience in this wonderful, old time percussive dance form. Starting from "step one", everyone will learn fun, exciting steps to take to any dance floor. All steps will be broken down and taught in detail. Discover the joy of making music with your feet in a high-energy, supportive environment! No dance experience necessary. Tap shoes may be worn for this class, but non-tap dance shoes are preferred. You will need to find some good hard/smooth-soled shoes: preferably shoes that lace up (versus slip on), make a sound on a hard floor, and have a low, sturdy heel. Feel free to e-mail leela@gracefamilymusic.com if you have any questions about shoes or the class. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
10:15-11:15	Contras: Susan Michaels Contras: Susan Michaels Music by: Naomi Morse, Owen Morrison, Eden Foreman English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	ECD Callers Seminar: Joanna Reiner ECD Callers Seminar: Joanna Reiner Music by: Julie Vallimont This class is for current ECD callers of any experience level and those considering a career in ECD calling. Each day's class will focus on a different topic: writing an English dance program, working with musicians, teaching vs. calling, etc. Class will include discussion, dancing and opportunities to practice calling. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	Quebecois Step Dance (Advanced): Yaëlle Azoulay Quebecois Step Dance (Advanced): Yaëlle Azoulay Music by: Doug Creighton This class is intended for dancers who have been stepdancing for at least 2 years and that can pickup steps fairly quickly. Stepdancing shoes (with metal or fiberglass) are highly recommended. In this class, we will explore specific rhythms that are very present in Quebec's repertoire such as Waltz Clog and Brandy. We will also learn hard steps that can be performed on any good reel! Yaëlle will dig into the traditional repertoire as well as her own. All classes will start off with a warm up that Yaëlle has specifically designed to develop very agile feet. We will also end the class with a short session of improvisation. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	English Dance Band: Daron Douglas English Dance Band: Daron Douglas Find harmonies. Improvise with the melody. Make music as an ensemble. Inspire dancers. All using the rich English country dance tune repertoire. Musicians of all levels welcome. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
11:25-11:55	Gathering: Susan Michaels Gathering: Susan Michaels Join Susan Michaels, your MC, for a gathering filled with laughter, stories, music and song. Campers and staff alike will have the opportunity to perform or lead something for the whole camp. Bring songs, stories, instruments, jokes or anything else to entertain your fellow campers. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
11:55-12:30	Swimming, Bookstore staffed
12:30	Lunch
1:45-2:45	ECD: Making it Modern (For All): Joanna Reiner ECD: Making it Modern (For All): Joanna Reiner Music by: Daron Douglas, Karen Axelrod Some say the heyday of English country dancing is today. This hour, open to all, will examine different themes in modern ECD: our attraction to waltzes and other triple-time dances, borrowing of figures and music from other dance styles, and old dances that somehow seem new. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	Rapper: Gillian Stewart Rapper: Gillian Stewart Music by: Dave Langford Rapper is percussive dance from the north of England - with swords, sweeps, jumps and back flips. Ever wanted to try stepdancing while linked up to four other people, all weaving complex patterns in an area the size of a pool table? This is your chance. Come add an element of (mostly perceived) danger to your hard-shoe repertoire. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	Clogging/Percussive Dance (Intermediate/Advanced): Leela Grace Clogging/Percussive Dance (Intermediate/Advanced): Leela Grace Music by: Steve Hickman This class is for dancers who already know clogging basics or who are somewhat experienced in another percussive dance form. We will get in the groove by reviewing the basic clogging steps and quickly build from there. You will work on getting your footwork "up to speed" and learn exciting steps as you learn to respond rhythmically to the music. We will focus on choreographed clogging as well as freestyle flatfooting. All steps will be broken down and taught and a lot of fun will be had by all! In addition to steps from the Appalachian clogging tradition, steps from other percussive dance traditions (such as Irish step dance, rhythm tap, body percussion, and more) may be introduced. You will need to find some good tap shoes or hard/smooth-soled shoes: preferably shoes that lace up (versus slip on), make a sound on a hard floor, and have a low, sturdy heel. Feel free to e-mail leela@gracefamilymusic.com if you have any questions about shoes or the class. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	Harmony Singing Traditions: Naomi Morse Harmony Singing Traditions: Naomi Morse Come explore harmony singing traditions from around the world. We will sing raucous and lyrical songs from the shape note tradition, the Caucasus Republic of Georgia and the Balkans, to name a few. All parts will be taught by ear, although sheet music will be provided for most songs. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
3:00-4:00	Contras and Squares: Susan Michaels Contras and Squares: Susan Michaels Music by: Steve Hickman, Owen Morrison, Julie Vallimont English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	Morris: Jim Morrison Morris: Jim Morrison Music by: Karen Axelrod The best and only morris class of the week will focus on building the underlying skills that make good morris dancing possible. We will learn dances from Adderbury, Oxfordshire, as our material where singing was a regular part of the dances. Balance, clear timing, and accurate sticking will be our end products. We are likely to skip along the way. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	Quebecois Step Dance (Intermediate): Yaëlle Azoulay Quebecois Step Dance (Intermediate): Yaëlle Azoulay Music by: Doug Creighton This class reaches out to dancers who have previously learned the basics of stepdancing. A good notion of rhythm and good shoes are required. In this class, we will use the basic steps and put them together in constructed sequences, some very traditional and some from Yaëlle's own choreographies. The class will explore two main rhythms that are part of the traditional Quebecois repertoire: the jig (6/8) and the reel (2/4). The class will also delve into notions of improvisation, a technique often used to highlight a stepdancer's skills. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	Cape Breton Band: Eden Foreman Cape Breton Band: Eden Foreman We will learn some common tunes from the Cape Breton repertoire. This will be an especially great class for anyone interested in Cape Breton style fiddle or piano, but all instruments are welcome. Along with learning the tunes we'll talk through chord choices and appropriate rhythms for accompaniment instruments to suit the fiddle style. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
4:00-4:20	Tea
4:30-5:30	Squares Around the World Squares Around the World With Jim Morrison, Yaëlle Azoulay, Owen Morrison Music by: Dave Langford, Jim Morrison, Yaëlle Azoulay, Owen Morrison This class is a celebration of four couple set dances from the U.S., Canada and the British Isles. Each day will feature a square dance from a different region. Jim Morrison will teach West Virginia squares, English square-eights and a day of 19th Century quadrilles, Yaëlle Azoulay will lead French-Canadian social dances, and Owen Morrison will spend a day on Kerry sets. Dancers are welcome to come all week or just the days they wish--each style will be announced in advance. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	Cape Breton Step Dance: Eden Foreman Cape Breton Step Dance: Eden Foreman Music by: Steve Hickman This class is geared toward intermediate dancers who have experience in percussive dance. We will learn both strathspey and reel steps, the tune types for solo dancing. We will also learn some set dancing forms commonly done in Cape Breton. English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
	By-Ear Harmony Singing: Leela Grace By-Ear Harmony Singing: Leela Grace With a patient, light-hearted approach, Leela will help you discover the power of voices raised in harmony. Through large and small group singing, we will practice the fundamentals of two-, three-, and four-part harmony using by-ear techniques. This class is all about singing . . . singing together, finding your voice, experiencing the power of voices raised in song together, listening, laughing and generally having lots of fun. We will learn to understand harmonies and how they work by SINGING many different kinds of songs, from Appalachian old time to contemporary folk to old country. All abilities and experience levels are welcome. Come explore the possibilities! Since this is a by-ear class, a battery-operated recording device of some sort is strongly recommended. Feel free to e-mail leela@gracefamilymusic.com if you have any questions! English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
5:30-6:15	Swimming, Bookstore staffed
6:30	Dinner
7:45	Couple Dances
8:00-11:00	Evening Dance Party
11:00	After-dance Activities

August 4 - 11, 2012

Is there still room?
For up-to-date info about availability and wait lists,
see our main Dance & Music Camps page.

Program Description

English & American Dance Week offers the perfect variety of dance and music activities for those who wish to participate in traditions from both sides of the Atlantic. Surrounded by the beauty of Pinewoods Camp, each of the four open-air dance pavilions will be filled all day with live music and dancers learning new steps, smiling at old favorites, and making new friends. During the course of the day, one may be able to dance contras, squares, English Country, Canadian step dance, Appalachian clogging, morris, rapper sword, and more. There will also be opportunities to rest one’s feet with sessions in singing, instrumental music and calling.

This year’s theme is percussive dance, with amazing young dancers offering classes in different step dance and clogging traditions. Lifelong clogger Leela Grace will present Appalachian clogging to both beginners and advanced dancers. French-Canadian step dancer Yaëlle Azoulay will make her first appearance at Pinewoods, teaching two levels of Quebecois step dance. Also new to Pinewoods is Kimberley Fraser, a multi-instrumentalist and dancer from Cape Breton. To round out the percussive theme, Gillian Stewart will teach a class in rapper sword dance, a traditional dance form from the north of England. There will also be a sprinkling of body percussion for all as fiddler Steve Hickman shares his infectious love of hambone.

While percussive dance forms will be a major focus of the week, those not inclined to make noise with their feet will also have plenty of options. The staple classes that have been the hallmark of English & American Week will all be well represented. There will be three daily classes in English Country Dance led by Joanna Reiner and Jim Morrison, as well as an English dance leaders course led by Joanna. Susan Michaels will lead dancers through exciting contras and squares, and seasoned singers Naomi Morse and Leela Grace will each lead a class in harmony singing. Jim Morrison will lead an exuberant session on Morris dancing, Daron Douglas will impart her wisdom to aspiring English dance musicians, and Kimberley Fraser will teach all about the music from her native Cape Breton. The day is punctuated by a gathering for all right before lunch. Susan will MC as staff and campers share songs, music, stories and jokes. And, of course, each evening the whole camp comes together once more for the nightly dance party.

The staff members at English & American week have been hand-picked for three things: their skill as teachers, musicians and dancers, their contagious enthusiasm for music and dance, and their friendliness and approachability. They are all masters at what they do, but this is also a really fun group! The staff is very much integrated in daily life at Pinewoods, and they will be as available and ready to participate as the campers.

Although the building blocks of a great week are already in place, the campers themselves are what make a week at Pinewoods truly exceptional. We hope you will come join us for a week of music, dance, and camaraderie in the magical Pinewoods setting.

-- Owen Morrison, Program Director