Country Dance and Song Society Family Week at Buffalo Gap July 17 - 24, 1999 as of 6-9-99: there is a short wait list for this program.

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Program Description Class Descriptions Staff & Schedule Programs Homepage

Family Week at Buffalo Gap July 17 - 24, 1999 Program Directors: Joe & Patty Tarter Staff: Ron Buchanan Pete Campbell Bob Dupré Sue Dupré Jan Elliott Steve Hickman Toppy Kramer* Tully Larew Leslie Jeanne Milbourne DeLaura Padovan Kristin Patton Jonathan Pickow Charlie Pilzer Ed Stivender Katy Tarter Al White Alice White * Advisor plus: Steve Howe

Program Description: [Back to Top]
Family Week at Buffalo Gap provides an unforgettable week of family fun in wild and wonderful West Virginia.

Look up our Family Programs for some general information; here is more detail about this particular program and staff.

There will be traditional and contemporary English country and American dancing, music, singing, storytelling, woodcarving, swimming, and generally a lot of merriment. The program is designed for the whole family to enjoy. Group gatherings as well as classes designed for each age group highlight the schedule. Roving babysitters check on sleeping children during scheduled evening activities so that parents and teenagers can dance in the beautiful open pavilion.

Class Descriptions: [Back to Top]

Ages 2 and 3
Kristin Patton will provide fun and creative childcare for 2 and 3 year olds during the 9:00 and 2:45 class periods. There is no class offered during nap time after lunch.

Ages 4 and 5
The morning class will explore art and nature with DeLaura and the afternoon class will feature music and stories with Alice. After lunch Leslie Jeanne's Nature Explorers class is available to 4 and 5 year olds with a parent.

Ages 6 and 7
In the morning Alice will share some of her favorite traditional and contemporary singing games, songs, and stories. In the afternoon, DeLaura will lead a maskmaking and creative drama class. After lunch there are a couple of options: Leslie Jeanne's nature study or, with an adult, the Songs and Sign Language class or the Papercrafts class.

Ages 8 and 9
Stories, mumming, songs, and singing games will start the day with team leaders Ed and Katy. The afternoon class will be longsword with Jan, accompanied by Charlie. After lunch there is a variety of classes listed below.

Ages 10, 11, and 12
Get ready for high stepping, energetic morris dancing with Jan, accompanied by Toppy, for the morning class. In the afternoon, team teachers Ed and Katy will lead mummers plays, stories, songs and games.

Ages 13 and up

Morning Classes (9:00-9:55)
Shape Note Singing - Jonathan Pickow
Contras - Ron Buchanan with Steve Hickman and Pete Campbell
Molly Dancing - Sue and Bob Dupré

Afternoon Classes (2:45-3:45)
English Country - Sue Dupré with Toppy Kramer and Al White
Energetic Squares - Ron Buchanan with Steve Hickman and Pete Campbell

Late Morning Class (11:00-11:45)
Appalachian String Instruments (10 & up) - Al White

Early Afternoon Classes (1:30-2:30)
Nature Explorers (6 & up, 4 and 5 with adult) - Leslie Jeanne Milbourne
Songs and Sign Language (8 & up, 6 and 7 with adult) - DeLaura Padovan
Paper Crafts (8 & up, 6 and 7 with adult) - Alice White
Appalachian Lap Dulcimer (10 & up) - Patty Tarter
Harmony Singing (10 & up) - Jonathan Pickow
Woodcarving (10 & up) - Tully Larew
Teens Together Drama and Games (13-19) - Katy Tarter
Beginning Recorder (12 & up) - Toppy Kramer
Storylab (13 & up) - Ed Stivender

Late Afternoon Classes (4:00-4:50)
During the swim period in the afternoon, there are some classes available to the adults and older children. Parents of younger children will need to keep their children's needs in mind as well.

Woodcarving (10 & up) - Tully Larew
Swing Dance (10 & up) - Ron Buchanan with Al White and Pete Campbell
Round Singing (10 & up) - Jonathan Pickow
New England Dance Band (12 & up) - Steve Hickman

Family Week at Buffalo Gap Daily Schedule
7:45 - 8:15	Breakfast
9:00 - 9:55	Morning classes, divided by age group
10:00	Refreshments
10:15 - 11:00	Family Gathering
11:00 - 12:00 11:00 - 11:45	Swimming and/or Late morning class
12:15	Lunch
1:30 - 2:30	Early afternoon classes/Rest time
2:45 - 3:45	Afternoon classes, divided by age group
4:00 - 5:30 4:00 - 4:50	Swimming and/or Late afternoon classes
6:00	Dinner
7:15	Community Dance
8:00 - 8:45	Evening Gathering
8:30	Pied Piper/bedtime for children 9 and younger
8:45 - 11:00	Evening Dance Party
9:45	Bedtime for 10-12 year olds

Staff: [Back to Top]

Ron Buchanan in his 27 years of teaching dance has been from Boston to LA, from Tampa to Fairbanks and at hundreds of festivals and dances in between. He is known for his original squares, high-energy patter and teaching others to call. As a swing teacher, Ron has an easy relaxed approach to social dancing. He is famous for his pretzels and dips and is founder of Swing Pittsburgh.

Pete Campbell plays piano, accordion and bass in various dance bands. He has served on the staffs for dance camps at Mendocino, Buffalo Gap, Ramblewood, the Stockton Folk Dance camps, Pinewoods American, Scottish, English and International Folk Dance camps, and was a musician on Farland McTravel's Dancing and English Gardens Walking Tour and Scottish Week in Hawaii. He also loves to join in on any ceilidhs or song-fests and share his wealth of silly songs.

Bob Dupré, from central New Jersey, sings and plays pipe and tabor for the group Handsome Molly and is the team's official and winsome Molly. Bob has sung with Rhubarb Fool and soloed with Princeton's Cotillion Singers and sings from both traditional and contemporary sources.

Sue Dupré has been calling English country, contra and square dances for over 18 years. She is foreman of Handsome Molly, North America's first molly-only team. She has been a featured performer and staff member at folk festivals, dance weekends and CDSS summer dance camps. Sue is known for her enthusiasm and good humor, for an extensive repertoire representing the best of the old and the new, for clear and efficient teaching, for a rhythmic calling style and for her work with dancers of all experience levels.

Jan Elliott has been performing, teaching, writing about and playing for morris and sword dancing for over 20 years. She founded Ha'penny Morris of Boston in 1978, led Banbury Cross, a children's team, in the late 80's and has maintained associations with numerous morris and sword teams from the US, Canada, and the UK over the years.

Steve Hickman has been playing fiddle on staff at CDSS and other camps and dance events around the country for the past 24 years. He is also known for his talents on chromatic harmonica and is beyond extraordinary with his hambone skills. Steve is a master entertainer.

Toppy Kramer is a multi-talented musician who has accompanied country dancing for more than 25 years. She is currently on the music faculty at Berea College teaching Appalachian music, aural harmony, recorder, clarinet and piano. Toppy plays clarinet in the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. She is also a member of the dance band The Berea Cast-Offs.

Tully Larew of Greenville, WV has been teaching woodcarving at Buffalo Gap Family Week since the camp started. He is a great craftsman and about the nicest, most encouraging teacher with a pocket knife! He will teach two classes of woodcarving.

Leslie Jeanne Milbourne is an environmental educator and has also taught Native American studies. She has worked extensively in her field for over 15 years with ages preschool through college. She loves to explore and learn about the natural world. In her Nature Explorers class she will wander the beach, field, water and woods, discovering the flora and fauna of Buffalo Gap Camp. Each session will begin with a short Native American story.

DeLaura Padovan has been a sign language interpreter since 1985, often working with children. She is active in leading family dances in King George, VA and at many CDSS family weeks. She is an organic farmer and has a special love for children and art.

Jonathan Pickow began his professional singing career at a very early age, appearing with his mother, Appalachian folksinger Jean Ritchie, at concerts and folk festivals throughout the country. As a professional singer he has been a member and solo performer in a number of professional choirs including the Robert DeCormier Singers, the Gregg Smith Singers, the Norman Luboff Choir, and the Dusing Singers. As a producer, arranger, instrumentalist and singer, Jon has contributed to folksinger Oscar Brand's latest CD, live performances and many of his radio programs.

Charlie Pilzer will provide music on button accordion for the 8-9's longsword class and play bass and piano (not at the same time!) as one of the musicians for the evening dances and parties. He has played at dances and concerts all around the country as a member of Future Geezers and Spaelimenninir. Charlie has never let his lack of knowledge about a tune slow him down.

Ed Stivender is known as an outstanding storyteller all over the country with a repertoire that serves all ages. He has participated in the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN, since 1980 and in 1996 was inducted into the National Storytelling Association Circle of Excellence. In Philadelphia he is also known for his dancing and mummery. Marching with the Comics in the Philadelphia Mummers Parade since 1982, he has won several awards, including Most Original character in 1994 for his one man Vatican-American String Band. In his Storylab session after lunch, Ed will discuss the craft, art and science of storytelling. Issues of narrative will be explored to discover what makes a good storytelling event and how the storyteller can make it happen.

Katy Tarter is an energetic dance and song enthusiast from Berea, KY. She was a member of the Berea Festival Dancers for seven years. She is particularly interested in English clog dance, traditional music and drama. Katy has attended numerous CDSS summer camps as an office assistant, staff member and participant.

Patty Tarter of Berea, KY is a local traditional music performer who enjoys sharing the singing traditions and Appalachian dulcimer style of the Ritchie family of eastern Kentucky.

Al White has been a musician since his youth and can play just about any string band instrument. He is best known for his mandolin, fiddle, guitar and banjo playing, teaching any and all of these when asked. Al plays fiddle in the Berea Cast-Offs dance band. He will be teaching Appalachian style string instruments at Berea College this spring and has been an artist-in-residence for the Kentucky Arts Council in storytelling, folk music and dance.

Alice White grew up singing and playing traditional, bluegrass and gospel music with her family in the McLain Family Band. She is an early elementary school teacher and plays bass in The Berea Cast-Offs.

Program Description Class Descriptions Staff & Schedule Top

413-268-7426 FAX: 413-268-7471

Country Dance and Song Society 132 Main St/PO Box 338 Haydenville, MA 01039-0338 Office Hours M-F 9:30am - 5:00pm EST

http://www.cdss.org/