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Country Dance and Song SocietyEnglish & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
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Click here for a list of Dances taught by Scott Higgs at English & American Dance Week 2006
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Country Dance and Song SocietyEnglish & American Dance Week at Pinewoods
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Click here for a list of Dances taught by Scott Higgs at English & American Dance Week 2006
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Class Descriptions & Schedule
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English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods August 5 - 12, 2006 Program Director: Staff: * Advisor, plus: |
Program Description: [Back to Top]
Look up our Adult Programs for some general information; here is more detail about this particular program and staff.
You're invited to a richly varied week of dance, music and good times in the peerless pavilions and ponds of Pinewoods. Enjoy first-rate contra and English country dancing all week, led by an inspiring lineup of nationally-known callers. And building on last year's exceptional inter-generational week, we're pleased to include a record number of dynamic young musicians among this year's outstanding musical staff.
In addition to the English and contra program you can choose from no less than seven other dance styles plus three music classes. Deepen your swing roots by learning some "East coast" dance moves, swing harmony singing or accessible musical improvisation. Experience the joys of display dance, with Appalachian and waltz clog plus rapper sword, longsword and morris. Or end your afternoon with Irish sets, the exciting fast-paced cousins of American squares. If your feet get tired, relax on the porches, docks and wooded paths of our beautiful camp -- or, exercise your calling and playing talents in the daily open mic and the Wednesday night camper-led dance.
Each evening you're invited to a dance party with a variety of English and American dances -- and after the dance, enjoy late-night activities including parties, jam sessions, singing, special events and the famous pub night. The week will end with class presentations, an afternoon social and a final Grand Ball.
Come and enjoy the fun, the community and the special setting of Pinewoods Camp, where the love of traditional music and dance unites newcomers and old-timers in the excitement of camp life.
Scott Higgs will run English Dance Leaders Course during this week. -- Rick Mohr, Program Director
Karen Axelrod is highly regarded for her creative and rich piano accompaniment for English, American and Scottish dance. Her bands include Foxfire (with Daron Douglas) and Woodlark (with Earl Gaddis and Chris Rua), and she also plays accordion for Orion Longsword. When not playing music, Karen performs with the comedy improv troupe, The Villa Jidiots, and makes jewelry. Karen once played in Long Pond, for a sword set -- her accordion stayed dry.
Peter Davis may be most deserving of the accolade "versatile" of the scores of musicians so billed. Proficient on an astonishing variety of instruments, including clarinet, alto sax, 5-string and tenor banjo, piano, guitar, mandolin and whistle, Peter boasts an intuitive approach to all manner of traditional folk, blues, vintage pop and jazz forms. He plays with many bands including The Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Band, The Clayfoot Strutters, Reggie's Red Hot Feetwarmers and his own swing dance band Lindy Hop Heaven, which plays at premier swing dance events nationwide. personal website
Daron Douglas plays fiddle for English and contra dancing with a background of a traditional Appalachian upbringing. She thanks her mountain great-grandmother for her ballads and also for her preoccupation with gardening. She plays with many groups including the Hominy Mamas, a trio once billed as "providing an evening of song and comedy" even though they thought of their work as traditional Appalachian singing games! Daron has been on staff at many dance camps, and once played for a dance after hiking into a shelter in the Great Smoky Mountains!
Judy Erickson, foreman of the groundbreaking dance troupe Orion Longsword, choreographs sword dances combining traditional steps and figures with innovative elements including Appalachian stepping, jazz and other American styles. In the step dancing world she is an accomplished dancer, choreographer and teacher, blending elements of Scottish, Appalachian, English clog and now French-Canadian step dancing to develop her own steps and styles, both structured and improvisational. In recent years her step dance choreography has been an integral feature of Boston's Christmas Revels. Judy is also a past foreman of Muddy River Morris.
Kate Ford has been swing dancing since high school, when her mother taught her in their kitchen! Love of dance has led her to contra, English country, Scottish country, clogging, ladies Scottish step, swing, ballroom and Argentine tango. She spent five years in California studying with teacher/trainer Skippy Blair and is certified through the Golden State Dance Teachers Association. Kate has graced the national West coast swing dance circuit as champion competitor, teacher, judge and chief judge, and is also a U.S. Open Swing Dance Champion. She brings to her teaching a keen eye, musical training and an expert knowledge of the music/movement connection.
Ethan Hazzard-Watkins began dancing and playing fiddle for contra and English dances while growing up in Amherst, MA. Since graduating from Macalester College in 2001 Ethan has traveled the U.S. and Europe playing traditional music for dances, concerts and sessions--as well as on street corners and subway platforms far and wide. Like any good New England fiddler he enjoys stealing repertoire from a variety of traditions, although he is particularly fond of Irish music. Ethan is also an avid composer of fiddle tunes and currently resides in the music ghetto of Brattleboro, VT. personal website
Scott Higgs has spent 30 years calling English dances with a focus on FUN. He presents engaging programs that are accessible to novices, but rich in nuances for expert dancers. This week, Scott will also be teaching English Dance Leaders Course, an intensive program for dance leaders.
Ted Hodapp has been jumping up and down, sashaying and generally enjoying all sorts of dance for over 27 years. His first dancing loves include English country, contra, morris, sword and Scandinavian turning dances. He still does all of these, but has also added tango, clogging and a few other oddities. He continues to call and lead performance groups including a new rapper team in Washington, D.C. When not dancing (just exactly when is that?), he leads national physics education programs, flies small airplanes and tells very bad jokes. Most unusual place ever danced: A very low-to-the-ground Longborough jig danced at the highest pass in Rocky Mountain National Park (12,183').
Jonathan Jensen is an inspired pianist in a wealth of musical styles from English country and contra to ragtime and jazz. Jon is a composer of brilliant English country dance tunes and waltzes, a frequent performer at dance events and a bassist with the Baltimore Symphony. When not playing piano at camp he is often filling in on whistle, recorder, ocarina or mandolin, and at singing sessions he is becoming increasingly well known for his original songs, both silly and serious.
Tom Kruskal plays Anglo concertina and banjo for Orion Longsword and the Pinewoods Morris Men, and is leader/founder of youth teams Velocirapper, Candyrapper, Beside the Point, Great Meadows Morris and Sword and Hop Brook Morris. A frequent musician at Pinewoods since 1966, Tom's playing for display dance is strong, driving, rhythmic and attentive to the needs of the dancers and the dance.
Elvie Miller grew up in New Hampshire, surrounded by folk music and dance. Class of 2005 at Oberlin College, she has already developed a strong reputation as a lively and accomplished dance pianist and accordionist, performing and teaching across the country with Mountain Road and her father, fiddler Rodney Miller. Elvie has recently returned from a year in Ireland, the U.K. and Scandinavia studying accordion in traditional dance music as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow.
Rick Mohr has been dancing, teaching and choreographing for 20+ years in both the contra and morris dance worlds. Known for clear and well-paced teaching, good humor and fresh tradition-based choreography, Rick keeps an active schedule calling contra dances and is the founder of Boston's Commonwealth Morris Men. He is also a singer, fiddler and button accordion player.
Owen Morrison grew up in the thick of the music and dance world and began playing for contras and English dances as a teenager. He now plays guitar and mandolin for several bands at dance evenings, weekends and weeks throughout the country. In 2001, after many years of dancing Kerry sets with family and friends, Owen and his family befriended dance teacher Timmy McCarthy of Balyvourney, Ireland. Since then, Owen has expanded his repertoire of Irish sets and has taught them at Pinewoods, Berea and many a late-night party all over the country.
Naomi Morse grew up surrounded by folk music and dance. She excites contra and English dancers on both sides of the Atlantic with her energetic and driving fiddling and has played with many bands, including Mountain Road, the Greenfield Dance Band, Yankee Ingenuity, Big Bandemonium and Childsplay. She currently lives in York, England where she is studying Renaissance singing with her Oberlin College quintet, Uncloistered, as well as exploring the traditional music of the British Isles.
Gene Murrow has been an English country dancer and musician since 1965, and has taught and called at clubs, workshops, festivals and balls in the U.S., England and Europe for the last 20 years. This year he will be appearing at the Southam Gathering and Tring Ball in England, and leading a series of workshops in Japan. As a member of the dance band MGM, he has made three recordings of dances by Fried Herman and Gary Roodman. He is the producer of the Boston Centre series of English dance recordings featuring Bare Necessities, and serves on the CDSS Governing Board.
Anna Patton plays dance tunes on the clarinet with great verve, clarity and harmonic whim. Besides English and contra dance tunes her repertoire includes Balkan dance tunes, Brazilian choros and early jazz. Based in Vermont, she has spent much of her young life on tour around the U.S. and abroad, singing and playing for dancers, concert goers and pedestrians. A third-generation singer/arranger of vocal swing, she jumped at the chance to teach some of her favorite songs at Pinewoods this year.
| English & American Dance Week at Pinewoods Tentative Schedule: |
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| 7:45 - 8:15 Breakfast | |
| 9:00 - 9:55 Class Period 1 | |
| Advanced English | Gene Murrow |
| English for All | Scott Higgs |
| Rapper | Ted Hodapp |
| Improvisation Inspiration | Peter Davis |
| 10:10 - 11:05 Class Period 2 | |
| Longsword: North Shirley Volunteers | Judy Erickson |
| Best Contras, Squares and Epiphanies | Rick Mohr |
| Swing Harmony Singing | Anna Patton |
| 11:20 - 11:50 | |
| Camp Gathering | Karen Axelrod |
| 11:50 - 12:30 Swimming, Bookstore staffed | |
| 12:30 Lunch | |
| 1:45 - 2:40 Class Period 3 | |
| Swing Dancing | Kate Ford |
| English for All | Gene Murrow |
| Cotswold Morris: Lichfield | Ted Hodapp |
| 2:55 - 3:50 Class Period 4 | |
| Contras | Ted Hodapp |
| Open Mic | Rick Mohr, Naomi Morse |
| Int/Adv Appalachian Stepping | Judy Erickson |
| 3:50 - 4:20 | |
| Tea | |
| 4:20 - 5:15 Class Period 5 | |
| Irish Sets | Owen Morrison |
| Open Waltz Clog | Judy Erickson |
| English Country Dance Music | Gene Murrow |
| 5:15 - 6:15 Swimming, Bookstore staffed | |
| 6:30 Dinner | |
| 8:00 Evening Dance Party | |
| 11:00 Optional After-dance Activities | |
Class Descriptions: [Back to Top]
Social Dance Classes
Advanced English: The Look of Beautiful Music -- Gene Murrow / Daron Douglas, Anna Patton, Jonathan Jensen
Dances made extraordinary by the exceptional quality, variety and uniqueness of English country dance tunes written by historical and modern composers, including the pianist for our session, Jonathan. Lots of dancing, with some brief explication of the wonder of the music.
English for All -- Scott Higgs / Naomi Morse, Elvie Miller
A relaxed session of delightful favorites -- you don't need to strain your brain to enjoy beautiful dancing. Scott's clarity and humor make this a fine session for those who already love English dancing, and a great introduction for those who soon will.
English for All: From Royal Court to Mosh Pit -- Gene Murrow / Daron Douglas, Karen Axelrod
A sampling of the wide variety of English country dance styles: elegant, courtly, silly, flirty, haughty, flowing, angular, calm, vigorous, musty, innovative, eccentric, mainstream, Playford, barn, ceilidh, good, bad, ugly, old and new. At least one of each!
Best Contras, Squares and Epiphanies -- Rick Mohr / Naomi Morse, Elvie Miller, Owen Morrison
Enjoy the best of Rick's 20-year collection of dance gems. We'll promote fun via dancing and epiphany via exploring how to become everyone's favorite dance partner. Catch the musical excitement as Naomi, Elvie and Owen reunite their band Mountain Road, fresh from adventures in Europe.
Contras -- Ted Hodapp / Ethan Hazzard-Watkins, Anna Patton, Peter Davis
Smooth and interesting, a few twisted moves and plenty of bad jokes. Join us for a great afternoon with wonderful partners, delightful dances and periodic tips on pulling the most out of every swing and interaction on the floor.
Swing Dancing -- Kate Ford / Peter Davis, Owen Morrison, Jonathan Jensen
Swing is America's own dance -- vibrant and energetic, smooth and creative. Both new and experienced dancers are welcome to this class in the "East coast " style; come increase your repertoire while learning the connection essential to making swing dance fun and satisfying. Kate will present concepts, tips and theory to make swing dancing (and all of your other dancing) more successful and fun!
Irish Sets -- Owen Morrison / Elvie Miller, Ethan Hazzard-Watkins
Come dance the exhilarating four-couple set dances from counties Kerry and Cork. We'll learn some of the less-common dances from the Sliabh Luchra region of Ireland, plus some current favorites. All are invited and encouraged to join in.
Morris, Sword and Step-Dancing Classes
Rapper -- Ted Hodapp / Ethan Hazzard-Watkins
What better way to start your day than running madly about with a blunt instrument? Join Ted and Ethan for a rapper class open to everyone. Bring hard soled shoes and a bit of daring as we work on stepping patterns, distinctive figures, flips and ways to make it jell in your team.
Longsword: North Shirley Volunteers -- Judy Erickson / Tom Kruskal
An inspiring traditionally-styled English longsword dance, composed for Orion Longsword. Includes a simple stepped break plus the following figures: singles, doubles, rolls and pousettes, over your neighbor's sword and lock. We'll emphasize quality of movement as much as geography, attending to style rather than rushing to get through a whole dance. Everyone is welcome, and please be prepared to attend all classes as midweek changes are hard on your fellow set members.
Cotswold Morris: Lichfield -- Ted Hodapp / Tom Kruskal
The Lichfield morris tradition provides interesting, visually compelling figures, capers and steps in the best Cotswold style. Come join us in learning both traditional and newly-composed dances from this Staffordshire village tradition. Bring your tennis shoes and come prepared for aerobic dancing. Everyone welcome!
Open Waltz Clog -- Judy Erickson / Tom Kruskal
Judy and Tom invite everyone to the enjoyable world of waltz clog, combining traditional English elements with steps from music-hall, Appalachian, French Canadian and Scottish Hardshoe styles. A graded series of steps from traditional and simple to polyrhythmic and complex, in the "three steps with time-step plus break" format. Bring clogs or hard-soled shoes.
Intermediate/Advanced Appalachian Stepping -- Judy Erickson / Daron Douglas
Experience the thrill of becoming a moving percussive embodiment of a hot fiddle tune. Old-style stepping based on flat-footing technique (Tennessee walking step/backup step), with an emphasis on using a small number of steps to create a structured improvisational dance. Hard-soled shoes that slide on the floor are necessary; low heels are desirable. Please avoid character shoes and taps!
Music, Singing and Calling Classes
Improvisation Inspiration -- Peter Davis
Dance music thrives on improvisation, including music for contras, English and swing. Improvisation is not only about technique but also about getting good musical ideas. This workshop is about how to find these creative ideas and how to transfer them from your brain to your instrument or voice. Everyone is welcome.
English Country Dance Music -- Gene Murrow
Open to musicians interested in playing for English country dancing who have reasonable facility on one or more instruments. The result of several years of development and presentation in England and the United States, the workshop offers: accommodation for both those who read music and those who play by ear, essential techniques for adding the "lift" necessary to inspire the dancers, basic understanding of the wide variety and history of English country dance music, useful tips on playing in tune and techniques for adding variety.
Swing Harmony Singing -- Anna Patton
Come and get caught up in catchy melodies and close harmonies of the swing era. Anna Patton will teach popular American songs from the 30s and 40s as well as contemporary songs in the same spirit. We'll sing these numbers a capella, based on arrangements recorded by groups like the Boswell Sisters and the Ink Spots. All parts will be taught by ear and singers of all backgrounds are welcome. Feel free to bring your kazoo.
Open Mic for Callers and Musicians -- Rick Mohr / Naomi Morse
Come to call, dance, play music or do it all! Rick will coordinate calling and caller feedback (if desired) while Naomi leads musicians in great dance music. We'll dance contras, squares, English ... it's up to you! Musicians, please bring a copy of Barnes if you have one.
And Finally...
Camp Gathering -- Karen Axelrod
Join Karen, your MC, in a daily extravaganza of camper and staff talent, singing, stories and high jinks. A great way to wind down before lunch and hang out with the whole camp!
Staff
Class Descriptions & Schedule
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Country Dance and Song Society 132 Main St/PO Box 338 Haydenville, MA 01039-0338 Office Hours M-F 9:30am - 5:00pm EST |
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