Country Dance and Song Society Family Week 2 at Ogontz August 5 - 12, 2006

As of August 2, this week is starting with a few spaces available.

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Program Description Staff Class Descriptions & Schedule

Family Week 2 at Ogontz August 5 - 12, 2006 Program Director: Anne Goodwin Dave Langford Staff: Peter Barnes Lui Collins Laurie Cumming Steve Hickman John Mayberry David Millstone Jeanne Morrill Nathan Morrison DeLaura Padovan Suzannah Park Michelle Simpson-Siegel Peter Siegel Gemma Smith Bettie Zakon-Anderson Steve Zakon-Anderson Advisors: Mary Alice Amidon Peter Amidon

Program Description: [Back to Top]

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

This will be a fabulous week for families. The staff is brimming with energy, talent and a huge repertory of great dances and songs for people of all ages.

We are pleased to welcome both returning and new staff to Ogontz this year. Some particular features of the program will be: swing dance with Steve and Bettie Zakon-Anderson; the uplifting songs of well-known performer Lui Collins; the cheek-tapping, thigh-slapping hambone virtuosity of Steve Hickman; a new vocal technique with Jeanne Morrill; the return of the original improvised mummers play with John Mayberry; and a special class session for teens with Suzannah Park.

The days of camp are filled with activity, most of them set to music. There are opportunities to sing and dance all day and night, and there are times you can swim, play on the field or take a nap. On a typical day, there are two class periods by age group, three other class periods, two swim times, two all-camp gatherings and three delicious meals. In the evening, younger children are led to bed with a gentle song from the pied piper and 10-12s have their own bedtime send off at the break in the evening dance. For night people, there are after-dance activities, like singing in the cozy living room of Sutherland House. You might try a whole new dance form you have never tried before, play in the family band, catch a tiny grasshopper or make the greatest paper hat you ever saw. At the end of a whole week of this, we celebrate with a costume parade around camp, stopping to watch each other demonstrate what we learned in our classes. We will look back and say "I can't believe all the great things that happened this week!" -- Anne Goodwin and Dave Langford, Program Directors

Staff: [Back to Top]

Peter Barnes, enthralled by dance music since birth, has been putting sparks under people's feet for over 30 years playing piano, flute, whistle, guitar and assorted other instruments. He has published three dance music books, toured ten countries and appeared on over 50 recordings. He plays for English country, contra, square and vintage dancing and has played for festivals and tours from Prague to Hawaii. He works with the bands Bare Necessities, The Latter Day Lizards, Yankee Ingenuity, singer Cathie Ryan and as a member of The Dactyls for the NPR radio program Sez You! (but his current passion is the oboe!).

Lui Collins has been performing, writing and recording since the 1970s, earning international recognition for her music and releasing several highly-acclaimed recordings. Children were among Lui's most avid fans even before she began giving children's concerts or teaching Music Together classes. Along with the genuineness of her presentation, the beauty and magic of her music seems to entrance people of all ages. Her recording North of Mars: A Bunch of Kids' Songs was awarded a Parents' Choice Honor for 1995.

Laurie Cumming, a founding member and former teacher of Toronto Women's Sword and an accomplished step-dancer, has taught dance at numerous camps, schools and festivals. During the school year, she delights in teaching dance, drama and visual arts to school age children. Laurie will teach a sword class at Ogontz this summer, and we hope she'll show us a little of that Canadian step-dancing, too!

Anne Goodwin has recorded two CDs with the a capella quartet Taproot, and has sung with the Balkan ensemble Laduvane, the Festival of Light and Song and many other groups in the Boston area. She has worked in children's theatre as an actress, costume designer and director and has taught art and drama for children in various community settings, at family weeks at Pinewoods and Ogontz camps and at Christmas Country Dance School in Berea, KY.

Steve Hickman is a world class fiddler and has toured internationally with groups including the Fiddle Puppet dancers and Childsplay. He is dedicated to the family homestead south of our nation's capital. Steve has been known to strap on his head lamp and weed the garden to wind down late at night after an evening of music. We expect we'll be enjoying Steve's music this week rather than his weeding abilities.

Dave Langford is an experienced and versatile fiddler and guitarist and fiddle teacher from the Boston area. A veteran of over 20 years of playing for all manner of dance events, Dave combines multiple styles of fiddling with fierce energy and drive. Dave is featured on recordings of the "mega-fiddle-band" Childsplay and currently plays in several musical configurations including The Latter Day Lizards with Bill Tomczak and Peter Barnes.

John Mayberry went to his first dance at two weeks old, carried in a basket. His love of dance, music, performance and craft has led to a career including carpentry, performance, writing, teaching, directing and almost everything else. He is the "Fool" of the Toronto Morris Men, an accomplished traditional singer with many years of experience in street theater and mumming and a professor of theatre production in the Department of Theatre, York University, Toronto.

David Millstone started dancing in the early 1970s and has been calling dances for more than 25 years. He is known for his clear and supportive teaching, for the breadth of his repertoire, for his sense of humor, for the historical background he is able to share and for his ability to pick dances with just the right level of challenge for each audience. His home dance for 24 years has been with the band, Northern Spy, in Norwich, VT, a monthly event that attracts both young and old dancers.

Jeanne Morrill received musical training from Boston University, School for the Arts, New England Conservatory and in Scotland studying both Gaelic language and song. She has received enthusiastic acclaim in concerts, festivals and Scottish and Irish events and performs frequently with Peter Barnes. She has performed with other artists such as Seamus Connolly, Alistair Fraser, Aine Minogue, Kim Robertson and Jacqueline Schwab and has two solo recordings. She teaches voice and piano and gives frequent workshops to adults and children.

Nathan Morrison

DeLaura Padovan is as vibrant as a song and as sturdy as the goats on her Virginia farm. She is a family dance leader, singer and organic farmer as well as one of the pioneers of living life the best way possible, which includes singing, calling, signing and creating one thing out of another.

Suzannah Park comes from a family of four generations of ballad singers and storytellers and has been performing Appalachian folk music most of her life. Her interest in the performance and study of traditional music of all kinds has taken her from music-filled kitchens to concert halls across the U.S. and Europe. She recently graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in furniture design. Suzannah is known for her powerful voice and striking harmonies and her ability to inspire others with her love of music.

Michelle Simpson-Siegel's approach to arts and crafts is one of discovery, experimentation and fun. After finishing her Master's project on Art and Spirit in Contemporary Education at Antioch Graduate School, she accepted a job as Humanities teacher in order to support her work as a poet and artist, while allowing her passions for self-expression to infuse her classroom. Her formal art training, from the Guild Art School and the River Gallery School, is in mixed media, printmaking and ceramics. Michelle has shared her love of the arts outside of the classroom working for the Audubon's summer programs and at various educational conferences.

Peter Siegel, originally from the Hudson Valley in NY, Peter has spent many of his formative years singing with Clearwater's Hudson River Sloop Singers. It was in Albany, NY that he made his first move as a dance musician, forming the Beverwyck String Band twelve years ago. Over the last ten years he has been a mainstay of the traditional music scene of the Pioneer Valley of MA and Southern VT. Peter has frequented many a dance camp and currently teaches music and leads chorus in the public schools in Winchester, NH and Halifax, VT. Last year's grand prize winner of WRSI's (the River in Western MA) singer-songwriter competition, he has been heard solo and with his various bands at many festivals and coffeehouses.

Gemma Smith

Bettie Zakon-Anderson, with her husband, Steve, has taught swing and other couple dancing at camps and weekends throughout the U.S., as well as locally at the Moving Company Dance Studio in Keene, NH. They emphasize good partnering skills and break down the leading and following roles with humor and clarity.

Steve Zakon-Anderson has been calling contras and teaching dance workshops for over 20 years. He has performed at dance camps and festivals in 35 states, including Pinewoods, Buffalo Gap, Lady of the Lake, Augusta and Brasstown. Steve's clear teaching and energetic calling and sense of humor have made him a favorite of dancers of all ages and abilities. He'll be our American dance caller, contra workshop leader and will co-lead the swing class with his wife, Bettie.

Family Week 2 at Ogontz Daily Schedule click for tentative Detailed Daily Schedule
7:45 - 8:30	Breakfast
9:00 - 9:55	Morning classes, divided by age group
10:00	Refreshments
10:15 - 11:00	Morning Gathering
11:00 - 12:15 11:00 - 11:45	Swimming, Bookstore staffed and/or Late morning classes
12:15	Lunch
12:45 - 1:15	Bookstore staffed
1:30 - 2:25	Early afternoon classes/Rest time
2:35 - 3:30	Afternoon classes, divided by age group
3:30	Refreshments
3:40 - 5:30 3:40 - 4:40	Swimming and/or Late afternoon classes
4:55 - 5:30	Social Hour and Games at the Green Chairs
5:50	Dinner
7:15	Community Dance
7:45 - 8:30	Evening Gathering
8:15	Pied Piper / Bedtime for children 9 and younger
8:30 - 10:45	Evening Dance Party
9:30	Bedtime for 10-12 year olds
11:00	Optional after-dance activities

Class Descriptions: [Back to Top]
Children's classes by age group -- 9:00 and 2:35

Ages 3 and younger
Childcare is provided by Nathan Morrison

Ages 4 and 5
Lui Collins leads Jim Along Josie: songs, dancing and lots of instrument play in the morning and DeLaura Padovan leads arts and crafts in the afternoon.

Ages 6 and 7
Jeanne Morrill leads stories, drama and music in the morning and Lui Collins explores music with voice, drums and dancing in the afternoon.

Ages 8 and 9
Laurie Cumming teaches sword dancing in the morning to the music of Gemma Smith and David Millstone teaches American dance with music by Steve Hickman in the afternoon.

Ages 10 to 12
DeLaura Padovan combines singing and signing in the morning, and John Mayberry pulls out bells and sticks for jumping around in the afternoon.

Ages 13 and up Morning classes (9:00 - 9:55)

English Country Dancing -- David Millstone / Peter Barnes, Dave Langford
A mixture of old and new dances taught in David's knowledgeable, relaxed and clear style, with two creative musicians who love to play together.

Swing -- Bettie and Steve Zakon-Anderson / Steve Hickman, Peter Siegel
Learn to lead and follow great swing dancing moves to hot live music with Peter S.and Steve.

Ages 13 and up Afternoon classes (2:35 - 3:30)

American Dance -- Steve Zakon-Anderson / Peter Barnes, Dave Langford
Steve will put together a great program of New England style dances old and new and help you with the fine points, while Dave and Peter B. will keep your feet flying.

Papa Stour Longsword -- Laurie Cumming / Peter Siegel
Learn the challenging Papa Stour with one of the best longsword teachers we know.

Late Morning Classes (11:00 - 11:45)

Play Your Voice (13 and up) -- Jeanne Morrill
Learn to use your vocal instrument without strain with Jeanne's light hearted and gentle approach.

One Shot Surprises
Just the pleasant kind of surprise, we promise. Campers are invited to bring ideas to lead a class.

Early Afternoon Classes (1:30 - 2:25)

Napping and reading are highly respected.
Also, family walks and hikes around camp are great.

Circling in Song (7 and under with parent) -- Lui Collins
A gentle song session for younger children and their parents under the magical influence of Lui Collins.

Books, Collages and Prints (8 and up) -- Michelle Simpson-Siegel
Spend the week making a handmade book with prints and collages in it or just come for a day and make a single work of art.

Family Band (8 and up) -- Steve Hickman
Learn great tunes by ear with one of the most versatile and entertaining musicians around.

Your Time! (Teen class) -- Suzannah Park
Music, dance, art, theater -- we'll weave it all together to create a show. It'll be a collaborative adventure.

Late Afternoon Classes (3:40 - 4:40)

Mumming (all ages) -- John Mayberry
Create this year's original improvised play in the mumming tradition with leader extraordinaire, John Mayberry.

Harmony Singing (a13 and up) -- Suzannah Park
We'll sing in two, three and four part harmony, drawing from Appalachian harmony singing, gospel songs and Bulgarian village music. No sight-reading skills are required -- just a love of singing.

Social Hour and Games at the Green Chairs (4:55 - 5:30)
Bring your beverage of choice and relax or join in board games, new games and just silly games for all ages.

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/