Country Dance and Song Society Family Week at Pinewoods August 18 - 25, 2001

As of April 10, there is a long wait list at this week.

Schedule & Fees Registration Info Registration Form Scholarships Camplife

Program Description Class Descriptions Staff & Schedule Programs Homepage

Family Week at Pinewoods August 18 - 25, 2001 Program Directors: Charlie Pilzer Cecily Pilzer Staff: Peter Amidon Mary Alice Amidon Laurie Andres Alistair Brown Bob Dalsemer John Devine Brad Foster* Roberta Gasbarre Steve Hickman Dave Kaynor Leslie Jeanne Milbourne DeLaura Padovan Kathy Reid-Naiman Meg Ryan Oran Sandel * Advisor, plus: Sarah Pilzer Marney Morrison

Program Description: [Back to Top]
Pine needles brush gently against each other as the wind blows. They make a soft whispering that quietly echoes behind the louder sounds of music. The music is drifting softly, almost lazily, out the camphouse doors and into the rest of camp. It's a sweet sound, a fiddle, and now a guitar. The sharp rat-a-tat-tat of wooden clogs reverberates in a dance hall as the Northwest class learns a new figure. Bells, on the Morris dancers' legs, add their tinkling tone to the symphony. And not so far away, laughter floats on the breeze as children and parents dance together with friends. Welcome to Family Week at Pinewoods.

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

Family Week at Pinewoods provides an opportunity for parents and children to sing, dance, play and relax together in a wooded rustic environment between two ponds. Over the course of the week, new friendships within and between families will be formed and old friendships will be renewed. The community created at Family Week continues beyond the end of week and is incorporated into each participant's daily life.

The staff has been chosen for their ability to encourage and inspire dancers and singers and performers of all ages and abilities. Many staff members are multitalented; singers as well as instrumentalists, dancers as well as storytellers and all are willing to share their skills and knowledge with campers.

The daily program is built around traditional American and English dancing, singing, instrumental music, storytelling, crafts and games. Twice a day, parents and children take age appropriate classes. Each morning, there is a Family Gathering where parents and children come together for dances, games and group activities. That is followed by the ever-popular swim time and lunch. After lunch, adults, teens and kids may participate in classes together or may spend time napping or in quiet activities. In the late afternoon, there is another opportunity for swimming and a community sing and storytelling. Each evening will begin with a community dance for all, followed by a time for songs and stories. A Pied Piper will lead the younger children to their cabins and bed. Roving babysitters will check on sleeping children while teens and parents enjoy an evening dance.

Tuesday evening will provide an opportunity for a camper led evening program and dance. Friday afternoon will feature a festive parade, show-and-tell for the classes and games for all.

Class Descriptions: [Back to Top]

Ages 2 and 3
Childcare with DeLaura Padovan twice a day. Children might bring a favorite book and a toy to share with others.

Ages 4 and 5
These young campers will go wild with "Explore Your Imagination" led by Oran Sandel in the morning and enjoy Music & Movement & Other Activities with Kathy Reid-Naiman in the afternoon.

Ages 6 and 7
For this group, Songs/Dance/Stories with Mary Alice Amidon will be the morning class. The afternoon class will be Nature & Crafts with Leslie Jeanne Milbourne.

Ages 8 and 9
Charlie Pilzer will teach longsword to these campers with Kathy Reid-Naiman playing the fiddle in the morning. In the afternoon, Oran Sandel will take the group on a "Theater Quest", an exploration of stories, theater and creativity.

Ages 10 to 12
Social Dance featuring contras and squares taught by Bob Dalsemer with music by Dave Kaynor and John Devine is the morning class. The afternoon class will be cotswold Morris with Alistair Brown and Laurie Andres.

Ages 13 and up
Options for the morning class are Northwest Clog led by Meg Ryan with music by Alistair Brown or English Country Dance led by Brad Foster with music by Steve Hickman and Laurie Andres.

Harmony Singing with Peter and Mary Alice Amidon or Contra and Square Dancing with calling by Bob Dalsemer to the music of Steve Hickman, John Devine and Charlie Pilzer are the choices for the afternoon.

The Early Afternoon Classes at 1:40
Classes at 1:40 offer a variety of choices for a wide range of ages. Some activities may require a week-long commitment. You can choose among:

Free Time (or nap or quiet time)

Crafts (8 and up, younger children may attend with a parent) with Cecily Pilzer

Nature Exploration (8 and up, younger children may attend with a parent) with Leslie Jeanne Milbourne

Mummers Play (10 and up) with Roberta Gasbarre (week-long commitment required)

Dance Band (10 and up) with Laurie Andres (week-long commitment required)

Shape Note (10 and up) with Peter Amidon - This class will feature songs from The Sacred Harp and from Northern Harmony

Scandinavian Dances (13 and up) with Dave Kaynor - These are couple dances from Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Each day will concentrate on a different dance (Waltz, Hambo, Schottische, etc.)

The Late Afternoon Class at 3:50

Rapper (13 and up) with Alistair Brown and music by Steve Hickman (week-long commitment required)

Family Week at Pinewoods Daily Schedule click for tentative Detailed Daily Schedule
7:45 - 8:15	Breakfast
9:00 - 9:55	Morning classes, divided by age group
10:00	Refreshments
10:15 - 11:00	Morning Gathering
11:00 - 12:00	Swimming
12:15	Lunch
1:40 - 2:35	Early afternoon classes, mixed ages/Rest time
2:50 - 3:45	Afternoon classes, divided by age group
3:50 - 4:45	Swimming/Rapper
4:45 - 5:15	Community Singing and Stories
6:00	Dinner
7:00	Community Dance
7:50 - 8:45	Evening Gathering
8:30	Pied Piper/bedtime for children 9 and younger
8:45 - 10:45	Evening Dance Party
9:30	Bedtime for 10-12 year olds
11:00	Optional after-dance activities

Staff: [Back to Top]

Peter and Mary Alice Amidon have dedicated themselves to community song and dance. Most of their year is spent leading traditional dance, singing and storytelling at schools, libraries, folk camps, teacher conferences, and music/dance festivals. Peter and Mary Alice are inspiring leaders of group harmony singing. Their published choral arrangements of American folksongs and hymns, and their collections of traditional dances and singing games for children, are used by dance and singing leaders throughout the United States.

Laurie Andres makes magical music on the piano and piano accordion for contra, square, English country and morris dancing. Laurie plays with wit, color, emotion and compelling rhythm. He has been on the staff at Pinewoods, Buffalo Gap and many other music and dance festivals and has directed Dance Musicians Courses for CDSS.

Alistair Brown has been active in many aspects of folk song and dance in North America for over 30 years, as a dancer, singer, recording artist, radio broadcaster, columnist, program director and instructor at Pinewoods and Mendocino dance camps. In moments of quiet reflection, he dances with Thames Valley Morris and the Toronto Morris Men. Alistair is the proud possessor of a wonderful collection of songs, stories and jokes.

Bob Dalsemer coordinates music and dance programs for the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. His easygoing manner, and exceptional teaching skills, has made Bob a favorite everywhere he goes and he has called in more than 30 states, Canada, England, Denmark, Russia and the Czech Republic. Bob has collected traditional dances from a variety of communities in the South, and is a master at singing squares. Bob has published a number of books and articles about traditional square dancing and produced several cassettes of music for square, folk and clog dancing. He is a past president of CDSS (1990-1996).

John Devine is a wonderful guitar player and a delightful singer of swing and old-timey songs. A familiar presence at Buffalo Gap, makes his first trip to Pinewoods Family Week. John is well known for his backup guitar work for all styles of country dancing from English to New England to Southern.

Brad Foster is the Executive and Artistic Director of CDSS. Brad has taught for over 25 years at numerous weekends, festivals and camps across the U.S., Canada and Europe. His love of dancing is something he shares joyfully with people of all ages.

Roberta Gasbarre is the Artistic Director of the Washington Revels, as well as the Director of Discovery Theater, the Smithsonian Institution's theatre for children. She is known for researching and presenting works drawn not only from the European mummers' repertoire, but also from commedia dell'arte, Japanese kabuki, Caribbean mumming and carnival, and urban street theatre. But her greatest passion is for theatre as community, with each person playing equally to create something together.

Steve Hickman is a dance fiddler of great renown. Familiar to many family campers as Dr. Hambone, he has more ways to make music with his body than you can possibly imagine. And he can show you how you can make body music too. At home, Steve is in charge of milking the goats.

Dave Kaynor is known for his sense of inclusiveness and for promoting community dance and music making. A fiddler for almost 30 years, he began calling contra dances in 1980, taking over a little dance at the Guiding Star Grange Hall in Greenfield, MA. Since then, Dave has become involved in the larger regional and, eventually, national contra dance scenes. He has made many trips to Sweden to study Swedish fiddle and dance styles. He continues to call and play at large festivals, camps, weekends, workshops and numerous small, out-of-the-way dances all over the country and still runs the dance at the Guiding Star Grange.

Leslie Jeanne Milbourne, an earth educator, teaches garden based science and environmental education in Abington, PA. Students at the school have created a 7,000 foot square garden full of treasures for the kids and wildlife. She is also spending a great amount of time in West Virginia to develop a mini agriculture center. She has explored the natural areas of Buffalo Gap with many campers, and looks forward to the same at Pinewoods.

DeLaura Padovan enjoys calling family dances, teaching crafts and playing with kids. She and her husband, Steve Hickman, enjoy the pioneer lifestyle in Virginia's historic Northern Neck and are the program directors of Family Week at Buffalo Gap Camp. She is an organic farmer and makes cheese from the goat milk Steve collects.

Cecily and Charlie Pilzer were instrumental in the founding of the CDSS programs at Buffalo Gap and were the CDSS administrators at Buffalo Gap for a number of years. Cecily, a children's librarian in Washington, DC, is a member of Rock Creek Morris Women and a former member of Shepherdstown Northwest Morris. Charlie plays piano, bass, button accordion, (and occasionally tuba) in dance and Morris bands. He tours with Spaelimenninir, a Scandinavian band. Cecily, Charlie and their daughter Sarah are active onstage and behind the scenes with Washington Revels.

Kathy Reid-Naiman is a wonderful children's performer. She teaches music and movement in many libraries in Ontario. Her award-winning recordings have become very popular with families with toddlers and young children. Her folk song repertoire comes from many sources from traditional to contemporary English and American. Kathy is the fiddler for The Toronto Women's Sword Team and is one half of 'Ragged but Right' (the right half), an old-time duo. She plays guitar, fiddle, Appalachian dulcimer, banjo uke, banjo, bowed psaltery and autoharp.

Meg Ryan is a wonderful teacher of Northwest clog and a founding member of Guiding Star Clog Morris.

Oran Sandel is the Artistic Director of Living Stage Theater Company, an outreach program of Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Working from the fundamental belief that everyone is an artist with the need to create, Oran conducts workshops in regularly scheduled sessions with children, teens and adults. Through the Living Stage Residency program, he has led master workshops in the creative process for artists and community.

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/