Country Dance and Song Society English Dance Week at Pinewoods August 28 - September 4, 1999 as of 6-9-99: there is a wait list for this program.

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English Dance Week at Pinewoods August 28 - September 4, 1999 Program Director: Gene Murrow Staff: Bob Archer Peter Barnes Daniel Beerbohm Doug Creighton Daron Douglas Jan Elliott Barbara Greenberg Fried de Metz Herman Jonathan Jensen Mary Lea Margaret Ann Martin Dorothy Olsson Tim Radford Anne Siess Tom Siess* Pat Tracey * Advisor plus: Brad Foster Bruce Hamilton Sharon Green

Program Description: [Back to Top]
The rich textures and historical sweep of English dance and music are reflected in this year's unusually varied program. Classes in historical dance before Playford, choreography, dance leadership and the vibrant ceilidh scene in England supplement the week's regular fare of country, morris, sword and clog dance. Group singing, a dance band workshop, lecture/presentations, gracious afternoon teas, evening dance parties and after-dance late-night activities round out the week's planned activities.

The schedule has been carefully designed to allow participants with a special interest to pursue that interest more intensively, while still participating fully in the community and in the week's activities. These special interest "tracks" within the program are noted with letter symbols in the schedule, and include: English country dance choreography [C], the history and evolution of the country dance [H], ritual/display dance [R], and dance leadership [L]. All classes are open to everyone (acknowledging experience levels where indicated), so anyone can create an individual program by mixing and matching to suit even the most eclectic tastes.

Staff: [Back to Top]
Music
Peter Barnes (piano, flute, whistle) of Bare Necessities and BLT, publisher of the definitive collection of English country dance tunes, staff member and performer at dance events across the US and abroad.

Daniel Beerbohm (clarinet, flute, whistle) of Hold the Mustard and Reunion, bringing his strong classical background and the color of klezmer and swing music.

Doug Creighton (flute, melodeon) of Pleasures of the Town, outstanding accompanist for clog and traditional dance and guru of The Button Box.

Daron Douglas (violin), performer of medieval and Renaissance music with the Knoxville Early Music Project and traditional fiddler at workshops around the country.

Barbara Greenberg (violin) of Hold the Mustard, A Band Named Bob, and Suzuki teacher, preparing the next wave of classical and folk musicians.

Jonathan Jensen (piano, recorder), composer of brilliant English country dance tunes and waltzes, performer with Reunion, bassist with the Baltimore Symphony.

Mary Lea (violin and viola) of Bare Necessities, BLT, and MGM, whose solo CDs of dance music reflect an extraordinary intelligence and scope.

Margaret Ann Martin (piano), teacher at New Haven's Neighborhood Music School, and member of the Playford Consort, MGM, and Jack's 80th.

Gene Murrow (recorder, concertina), president of the American Recorder Society and member of MGM and Jack's 80th.

Dance
Bob Archer is well known on the English dance scene, dancing for as long as he can remember and calling for the past 16 years. He has led dancing at many of the major English festivals including Sidmouth, Chippenham and Eastbourne and at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle, in Boston, and for the Dutch folk dance society's Christmas course.

Jan Elliott has been dancing morris and sword since 1974, at various times with Muddy River Sword, Commonwealth Longsword and currently Vineyard Swordfish. She also plays concertina for traditional dance.

Fried de Metz Herman is this country's most prolific composer of English country dances and one of our most demanding teachers. Holder of both EFDSS and RSCDS Certificates in teaching and close friend of the late Pat Shaw, she will bring her extensive experience, long perspective and uncompromisingly high standards to our program.

Gene Murrow has been a country dancer since 1965, and is a regular teacher at Country Dance*New York, Country Dancers of Westchester and dance workshops around the country.

Dorothy Olsson teaches dance at NYU and has choreographed critically acclaimed early dance productions for Mannes College of Music, Manhattan School of Music and the Amherst Early Music Festival.

Tim Radford was, for 21 years, the squire and foreman of the revived Adderbury Morris and, for 14 years, a Kirtlington Morris man. He's now foreman of the Woods Hole Village Morris and a member of the Pinewoods Morris Men.

Pat Tracey, from Essex, England, is an outstanding teacher of a wide variety of clog styles. Following her brilliant classes in 1996, she returns to Pinewoods by popular demand.

Song
Tom and Anne Siess have been mainstays of the London, Ontario, folk music scene for more than twenty years. Tom was chair of the Home County Folk Festival for 10 years and Anne was Volunteer Coordinator for many of those years. Tom is currently President of the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS), which he promises, contrary to rumor, not to rename the Canadian Dance and Song Society.

English Dance Week at Pinewoods Tentative Schedule:
9:00 - 10:15
English Country (Int) [L,C]	Bob Archer
English Country (Adv) [L,C]	Gene Murrow
Cotswold Morris (Adv) [R]	Tim Radford
Minuets [H]	Dorothy Olsson
10:30 - 11:45
Contemporary English [C]	Gene Murrow
English Style and Repertory [L,H]	Fried de Metz Herman
Longsword [R]	Jan Elliott
Clog (Beg/Int) [R]	Pat Tracey
2:00 - 2:25
Presentation
2:30 - 3:30
"Potter's Porch" for Choreographers [C]	Fried de Metz Herman
Survey of Ceilidh and Barn [L,H]	Bob Archer
Cotswold Morris (Int/Beg) [R]	Tim Radford
Rapper Sword [R]	Jan Elliott
Dance Band	Barbara Greenberg
3:35 - 4:10
Tea Time and Singing
Susan Murrow, Tom and Anne Siess
4:15 - 5:15
Before Playford: Renaissance Dance [H,C]	Dorothy Olsson
Morris Foremen [R,L]	Tim Radford
Archer's Targets [L,C]	Bob Archer
Clog (Adv) [R]	Pat Tracey
8:00
For Those Who Know
8:15
Evening Dance Party
11:00
After-dance Activities

Class Descriptions [Back to Top]

ENGLISH COUNTRY DANCE
Graded classes with Bob Archer (intermediate) and Gene Murrow (advanced). Participants in the advanced class should have knowledge of all the basic figures and stepping.

Gene will also offer a Survey of Contemporary English Country Dance for all, including the works of Pat Shaw, Fried de Metz Herman, Gary Roodman, Colin Hume and others.

Fried de Metz Herman's Style and Repertory class will focus on the details of style and the development of a thorough knowledge of the key patterns used in the repertory.

Bob Archer will cover recent developments in country dance in England, including dances in unusual formations and contemporary works by popular English choreographers unknown in the States, in his Archer's Targets "drop in" survey class.

HISTORICAL DANCE
One of the most valuable sources of dances popular in England just before the publication of Playford's Dancing Master of 1651 are 17th C. manuscripts from London's Inns of Court "finishing school" for young lawyers. Dorothy Olsson will teach the almans, pavans, and rounds from these manuscripts and other continental sources in Before Playford: Dances from the Inns of Court. Music will be provided by a Renaissance-style consort..

The most important couple dance done in the 18th Century, when the country dance genre flourished, was the minuet. Dorothy's Minuets class will allow dancers to move beyond the usual perfunctory introduction. Margaret Ann Martin will draw on her extensive knowledge of classical keyboard style to accompany the class.

THE BARN/CEILIDH SCENE
In England, interest in the new, lively "barn" or "ceilidh" dances is soaring, attracting many young people and newcomers to English dance. Bob Archer will provide a survey of this vital development in his class covering the Survey of Ceilidh and Barn Dance.

SEASONAL DISPLAY/RITUAL & CLOG
Tim Radford's Advanced Morris will examine dances from the little known Oxfordshire village of Duns Tew. He will also use this class to demonstrate the difference between "teaching dances" and "teaching dancing."

The Intermediate/Beginner Morris class will focus on the 13 Adderbury stick dances.

Jan Elliott's Rapper Sword class will be open to all, and will focus on stepping. Jan will teach the basics, look at what makes good stepping, and examine different teams' stylistic variations, while creating a dance sequence amalgamating representative rapper figures.

Jan's Longsword class will learn the Lingdale dance, and is also open to all.

Dancers who've been waiting for an opportunity to learn the basics of clog dancing should join Pat Tracey's Beginning Clog class.

Experienced dancers are welcome in Pat's Advanced Clog.

CHOREOGRAPHY/LEADERSHIP
Composers of new dances in English country dance style need a willing group of experienced dancers to try out their new creations, offer constructive criticism and help shape and document the dance in its final form. Fried has developed and codified this process in her famous "Potter's Porch" sessions in the greater New York City area and she will bring her techniques to the Choreographers' Workshop. Choreographers and dancers who enjoy Terpsichorean midwifery are welcome.

Present and aspiring foremen of Morris sides are encouraged to join Tim's Morris Foremen's workshop. Each session will offer discussion of the foreman's role, and opportunities to compare notes and teach with constructive feedback from Tim and others in the class.

Country dance leaders should join Bob's Archer's Targets classes which will survey unusual dance formations and new developments in England. In the final two classes, leaders will have an opportunity to teach/call dances with feedback from Bob and others in the class.

MUSIC/SONG
Each day, there will be opportunities for all to join together in song, under the enthusiastic leadership of Tom and Anne Siess. There'll be singing, following lunch on the Dining Room porch, at tea time in the Camphouse, and at various other times and places as the spirit moves us.

Dance musicians who already possess reasonable facility on their instrument are encouraged to join Barbara Greenberg for her Dance Band class. Barbara will repeat her very successful series offered last year at Mendocino which focused on meeting the mutual expectations of the musicians, the caller and the dancers.

Program Description Staff Class Descriptions & 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/