Country Dance and Song Society Family Week at Buffalo Gap July 13 - 20, 2002

This program is completed. Please look for informationon the 2003 season in the Fall.

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Family Week at Buffalo Gap July 13 - 20, 2002 Program Directors: Betsy Blachly Chapin Henry Chapin Staff: Adam Brown David Cantieni Tina Chancey John Devine Valerie Kosednar Jody Kruskal Tully Larew Lynne Mackey Leslie Jeanne Milbourne DeLaura Padovan* Ann Percival Joseph Pimentel Karen Billings Sutherland Pete Sutherland Bill Wellington Karen Wilson * Advisor: plus Steve Hickman Steve Howe Katy Tarter

Program Description: [Back to Top]

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

Family Week at Buffalo Gap is unique for its magnificent dance pavilion, wide mountain vistas, hot days and cooler nights and a blending of northern and southern music and dance traditions, with English never out of earshot. Our staff brings their local and far away knowledge with expertise on African-American stories, Arab culture, Canadian morris lore and never-before-seen instruments from the heart of Brooklyn! Why change a good thing? John Devine will once again be our Pied Piper! And don't forget the water slide, wood-burning sauna, magic fish pond and soccer field. Singing whenever possible! There's more -- Mummers Plays, crankies, jamming and of course woodcarving with Tully Larew.

Families will be together at the two family dance gatherings, in the morning before swimming, and in the evening after supper. Twice a day, there are classes when children are together with their peers (2-3s, 4-5s, 6-7s, 8-9s and 10-12s). 13 and up join the rest of the grown-ups and choose their favorite dance activity. After lunch, there are classes which encourage family participation. Naps are highly respected.

Swimming time is twice a day, with a good long stretch in the afternoon. We'll continue the California tradition of our open-air casbah tent, so bring your throw pillows, rugs and wall hangings. Friday culminates the week with a Festival Day including a parade throughout camp, all kinds of presentations of the show and tell kind, and ends with a swim, more games and a closing bonfire.

Bring your dancing shoes, bathing suit, stuffies, toothbrush, energy and enthusiasm. New friends of this summer will be your old friends after 24 hours. There will be songs, stories, dances, instruments, friends and surprises to last until Summer, 2003!

Staff: [Back to Top]

Adam Brown, native of Canada, scion of the renown Brown family of morris dancers, will follow in the footsteps of his mother Rosie and his father Alastair and debut as a dance leader by teaching morris and rapper sword. A member of Thames Valley International Morris, known for his prowess both in morris capers and in impressing onlookers, Adam is a graduate student in biology at Laval University in Montreal. When not dancing, Adam can be found chasing butterflies to investigate their symmetry, or lack thereof.

David Cantieni is a wizard on all sorts of double reed instruments and has pioneered their use in contradance bands as a founding member of Wild Asparagus and at countless dance camps, both family and otherwise. When not looking for an opportunity to play his very loud bombard he is the proud father of family camp veteran Gus.

Tina Chancey plays as many bowed string instruments as she can, from the rebec to the pardessus de viole, and particularly old-time, cajun and Irish fiddle, and, for our purposes, English country dance violin. Tina is Co-Director of Hesperus, Washington's premier crossover early music band, playing 800 years of music from four continents. She loves to improvise and is looking forward to blending her musical talents and ideas with English country dance classes and dances as well as meeting and interacting with families.

Betsy Blachly Chapin brings to camp her unconditional love for children and her years of experience leading them in song, story and movement. Currently a masters degree candidate in Music Therapy as well as master music teacher at Bank Street School and occasional freelance timpanist, Betsy will teach the 2-3s class, and is Program Co-Director.

Henry Chapin hails almost equally from Pinewoods Camp and New York City, where he calls family dances, directs Revels productions, plays multiple musical instruments, sings, dances and encourages others to do the same. Master of Tomfoolery and quintessential Parade leader, Henry will help us culminate our end of the week festivities in fine style!

John Devine is back! Now a resident of the Mountain State of West Virginia, he is Pied Piper extraordinaire, a solid mountain of rhythm guitar in many settings, with a not-so-secret leaning toward swing songs and joy. John will provide guitar accompaniment for various classes and the evening dances.

Valerie Kosednar is a singer and teacher of young musicians. Until recently at The Little Red Schoolhouse in New York City, Valerie now happily resides in Vermont, and sings with her friends in the group Emerald Stream.

Jody Kruskal, Director of Brooklyn's own Public Works Orchestra, master anglo-concertina player, force for merriment, teaching artist for Carnegie Hall and other august New York City cultural institutions, will bring his carload of invented instruments for all to enjoy, and his driving, rhythmic playing style for Morris dancing.

Tully Larew's woodcarving class has given our camp a rite of passage coveted by those under 10 since BufGap Family Week started 12 years ago. Patient and stalwart as ever, Tully always finds time to help carvers of all abilities fine-tune and finish their projects, listen to or share a story. His carvers' porch is a quiet, industrious and well-loved haven in a busy camp.

Lynne Mackey is a real bona fide pianist, who studied at Juilliard and Eastman schools of music. Luckily for us, along the way she discovered the ecstatic pleasures of playing the English country dance repertoire, and will grace us with her playing during both classes and evening dances. If we're really good, she might even play Debussy for us!

Leslie Jeanne Milbourne is our earth educator, Native American specialist and nature goddess. She has taught in her field for over 15 years, and will help us open our senses to the Buffalo Gap valley during our week together. In her nature explorers class, she will help us discover flora and fauna.

DeLaura Padovan can't stay away from Family Camp, even though Steve will be in Europe. We are, of course, thrilled that she will grace us with her dance leadership, singing of all kinds, sign language skills, her wonderful children and connections wherever possible to her life as an organic farmer.

Ann Percival, master vocalist, vivacious personality, half of the parental team of Gus and superbly strong dance pianist, will lend her talents to many dance band settings, including swing class. We will make sure she has ample opportunities to share her vast repertoire of sweet harmony songs, standards and other surprises.

Joseph Pimentel is making his Family Week debut, and are we ever lucky! As an English caller he has learned to introduce the secrets that make English so exciting while dispersing any stuffy or boring associations. From central Ohio, Joseph teaches as an artist-in-residence in many elementary schools by day and teaches contras, squares and country dances by night. While working on his Ph.D. in Middle Eastern Studies, Joseph has taught traditional dance as far away as Egypt and Jordan, this week he turns the tables to share his knowledge of Arab culture with us!

Karen Billings Sutherland has been singing for folk and classical audiences for over 25 years. She is a multi-instrumentalist with an uncanny ability to make music on just about anything she is handed. Karen is best known for her remarkable voice, which ranges from a rich alto to a soaring soprano. Karen will co-anchor the strong female (KarenAnnKaren) singing brigade present at Family Week, and take the 6-7s on many musical journeys.

Pete Sutherland was raised on a diet of Broadway show tunes, operatic arias and British invasion melodies, before encountering both folk music and songwriting in college. In the 1970s he became one of the country's best known younger exponents of American fiddle styles. In the 1980s he toured and recorded with Metamora and became known for his compositions. From his home base in Vermont he continues to fiddle, tour and work as a performer, composer, arranger and record producer. He has several solo albums, the latest is Clayfoot's Tale. Pete will play for those campers lucky enough to be in Bill Wellington's American dance class, will lead the camper dance band class and play for all of us for much dancing.

Bill Wellington is a Virginia-based caller, musician and widely acclaimed children's performer and recording artist. He will be our American caller, leading classes during the day and dances at night. When not engaging kids and grown-ups in a story, song or shenanigan, Bill will be a father, chasing after Sophie.

Karen Wilson was born on Sugar Hill in Harlem, New York City, and has been a singer and storyteller ever since. Graduating from Music and Art High School, she went on to academic heights at the North Carolina School of the Arts, and earned her Masters degree in Music Education from Teachers College. She is currently a California girl, studying the music and history of the African diaspora at UC down by the Riverside. She has told stories in such august places as Lincoln Center, the Bronx Zoo, Lady of the Lake Family Camp and in Henry and Betsy's car stuck in New York traffic. She will lend her voice and magnificent presence to Family Week as storyteller and song leader.

Family Week at Buffalo Gap 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	Family Gathering
11:00 - 12:00 11:00 - 11:45	Swimming and/or Late morning class
12:30	Lunch
2:00 - 2:45	Early afternoon classes/Rest time
3:00 - 4:00	Afternoon classes, divided by age group
4:15 - 5:30 4:15 - 5:00	Swimming and/or Late afternoon classes
5:30	Sing For Your Supper
6:00	Dinner
7:15	Community Dance
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

Class Descriptions: [Back to Top]
Children's classes by age group - 9:00 and 3:00

Ages 2 and 3
Morning class will be with Betsy. She will bring instruments and books. The afternoon class will be with DeLaura. She will find a lot of amazing things to make. Bring favorite books and toys to share.

Ages 4 and 5
Valerie will lead by singing, dancing and playing instruments in the morning. In the afternoon, Leslie Jeanne will tell stories and everybody will explore Buffalo Gap's outdoors.

Ages 6 and 7
Karen S. will share her songs, stories and dances. Karen likes to make up "crankies" where kids make up a song and draw pictures on winding scroll-like paper. In the afternoon Bill will keep you listening and laughing.

Ages 8 and 9
Bill, assisted by Ann, will keep everyone hopping, dancing and singing in the morning. In the afternoon, Betsy will teach a longsword dance and make up a song or two with everyone.

Ages 10 to 12
In the morning Henry will teach a "crazy quilt" kind of class: one day Morris, one day English, one day square dances and one day mummers. The last day, you can chose. In the afternoon you can choose from the three classes that the 13 and up are offered (but you have to stay in that class.)

Ages 13 and up - MORNING CLASSES (9:00-9:55)

Rapper -- Adam Brown/David Cantieni

English Country Dance -- Joseph Pimentel/Tina Chancey, Lynne Mackey

Slow Jam -- Camper Led
An opportunity to bring whatever instrument, at whatever level, to the group and to play, exchange and grow musically.

Ages 10 and up - AFTERNOON CLASSES (3:00-4:00)

Swing Dance -- Ann Percival/David Cantieni, John Devine, Pete Sutherland
Ann knows all the moves and she will show you, too, how to swing, to the sounds of three cookin' musicians. Don't miss this great session.

Longsword: Handsworth -- Henry Chapin/Tina Chancey
Open to both beginner and experienced dancers. Henry would like to continue his investigation of the rigorous Handsworth tradition, but is open to anyone and everyone having a meaningful and satisfying longsword experience.

Singing -- Karen Wilson & Karen Sutherland
This session is guaranteed to exorcize any singing demons you might have, or increase your confidence about repertoire, harmony and adding your voice to the whole.

Late Morning Classes at 11:00

Family Band (All ages) -- Pete Sutherland
This class is for parent and child alike, and especially for parents to play alongside their children. Pete will gently and wisely lead the group through some essential aspects of the traditional canon.

Early Afternoon Classes at 2:00
These classes offers a chance for families to do something together!

Nap and Rest (99 and under)
Snore...

Nature Walk (All ages) -- Leslie Jeanne Milbourne
Where shall we go today? Too hot? We'll find the shade. Raining? Let's look for mushrooms. Found something? What is it?

Singing (All ages) -- Ann Percival & John Devine
Bring ears, voice, songs, instrument and tape recorder.

Arab Culture Conversations (8 and up) -- Joseph Pimentel
What stories and traditions do Arab grandparents tell to and share with their children? Do Arab children do play party games? Who are Arabs anyway? Joseph will be a splendid resource to answer any timely questions we may have about this part of our world.

Public Works Orchestra (8 and up) -- Jody Kruskal
Jody has created and amassed an ensemble of homemade instruments and he has extensive experience putting groups of people behind these, guiding them through his compositions and pulling out a wondrous sound. Check it out.

Contras and Squares (8 and up) -- Bill Wellington/David Cantieni, Pete & Karen Sutherland
Dance with your children, your spouse or all of them!

Woodcarving (10 and up) -- Tully Larew
Sit with the master and learn many things, woodcarving among them. Tully will provide a blade if you don't have one, plenty of wood and ideas of things to carve. If you stick with it, you can create an heirloom

Mumming (10 and up) -- Henry Chapin
Henry has an armload of scripts, much experience mumming at all seasons of the year and a passion for things dramatic. We'll prepare for the Friday festival and other unprintable activities.

Late Afternoon classes at 4:15

Advanced Morris -- Adam Brown/Jody Kruskal
Bring your bells, hankies and team kit, if you have them. (There will also be same, plus sticks, available.)

Woodcarving -- Tully Larew

Guitar Seminar -- John Devine
John is willing to show anybody their next step to coaxing more out of their guitar, plus he could be persuaded to show you a couple of his licks. Put a new set of strings on your instrument before camp and wash your hands good.

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/