Country Dance and Song Society

Celebrating our 75th year at Pinewoods Camp

Family Week at Pinewoods
July 26 - August 2, 2008

As of March 26, this week has spaces available.

Timber Ridge	Pinewoods			Ogontz
English & American Family	Early Music Folk Music Community Dance Leaders Family Teachers	English Dance American Dance & Music Contra Dance Callers	Campers' English & American Square Dance Callers	Family Week 1 Family Week 2 Teachers

Programs Homepage

Staff

Class Descriptions & Schedule

Family Week at Pinewoods
and
Teachers Training Course
July 26 - August 2, 2008

Program Directors:
Owen Morrison
Marney Morrison

Staff:
Mary Alice Amidon *
Peter Amidon *
Alistair Brown
Betsy Blachly Chapin *
Brad Foster
Steve Hickman
Denis Liddy
Elvie Miller
Jim Morrison
Naomi Morse
Matthew Olwell
DeLaura Padovan
Susie Petrov
Eva Wilson
Nathan Wilson

* Advisors, plus:
Steve Howe

Program Description: [Back to Top]

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

Come and experience with your family the pleasure of a whole week, placed almost out of time in a beautiful wooded setting between two clear, fresh water ponds. Dancing, singing, swimming, making music, making friends, eating great food and listening to stories together will take us away from automobiles, electronics and hassles of the outside world. Pinewoods Camp stewards have maintained, rebuilt and improved community and living spaces so that they accommodate and enhance our activities magnificently. How extraordinary to improve a place over 75 years without spoiling anything.

We have brought together a talented staff of professional musicians and teachers to lead or musically accompany our fun. There will be great variety within the two daily children's classes organized by age groups, and teenagers and adults will have an array of choices including longsword and rapper sword, percussive dancing (both beginning and advanced), contras and squares, English country dance and harmony singing. There will also be a number of mixed-age classes after lunch.

Bring your instruments! You will have daily opportunities to play. In addition to a dance band class that will play periodically at the community dance and an inclusive after-supper processional, there will be daily jam sessions in different musical genres. One of these sessions will require no instrument other than your body -- a grand hambone session -- you'll be collecting rhythmic pieces for it all week. All musicians are also invited to learn the tunes for the parade on the final day of camp.

Family Week is a perfect place to focus on your immediate family as part of a dynamic and joyful intergenerational community. For over 30 years Family Week at Pinewoods has succeeded in creating new waves of tradition-bearers while supporting positive family relationships. For our family, this week gave us experiences, skills and fun together that lasted throughout the year, and for a lifetime. We still love to share time together in this way and look forward to doing so with you. Please join us!

Betsy Blachly Chapin will lead a Teachers Training Course concurrent with this week (pre-registration required).

-- Owen and Marney Morrison, Program Co-Directors

Staff: [Back to Top]

Mary Alice Amidon is a warm and engaging music educator who is passionate and dedicated to song, dance and storytelling with young children. She is an accomplished singer of traditional song, a multi-instrumentalist and a well-loved favorite at family camps!

Peter Amidon fell into the world of traditional music in 1975 and has never turned back. He is thrilled to now be able to make a living as a freelance musician/educator/publisher: teaching dance to children and teachers, leading harmony singing with adults and telling stories to everybody.

Alistair Brown, Scotsman, has been singing the old songs, and new songs written by people who like the old songs, since he was fifteen years old. He lives in Cornwall, in England's palm-studded southwest, where he sings and plays anglo concertina regularly. He has been a Pinewoods favorite for many years and, this week, will share his expertise in the field of rapper dance.

Betsy Blachly Chapin is a music educator at Bank Street School in New York City teaching both the very youngest students and the teachers in training. She is a certified music therapist working in a variety of clinical and challenging environments and a freelance timpanist.

Brad Foster has been dancing and teaching English country, contras and squares and morris and sword for over 40 years. He is well known for sharing the joy found in dance, and has taught throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. He is Executive and Artistic Director of the Country Dance and Song Society.

Steve Hickman, from King George County, VA is a master musician who has played throughout the past 30 years for over 5000 dances, 1000 busking sessions (playing on sidewalks, hopefully, for money) and 500 nights in Irish bars. This week, he will treat the camp to his versatile fiddling, hambone lessons, funny songs and a few surprises.

Fiddler Denis Liddy, from County Clare, Ireland comes from a family of traditional musicians. He has been teaching music in Clare for many years, and his students have won myriad prestigious All-Ireland titles in traditional music. Denis has performed all over the world, including for diplomatic audiences in Bulgaria and China as well as the U.S.

Elvie Miller grew up going to contra dances in New England. She recently spent a year as a Watson Fellow tracing the origins of contra dance music across northern Europe. Elvie is a professional pianist, accordionist and weaver and resides in Boston and Ireland. Personal Webpage

Over the last 40 years Jim Morrison's preoccupation with traditional dance and dance music customs has enlivened folk events, provided a basis for the creation of morris, sword and historic dance groups, and generally kept things interesting for contra, square, ritual and historic dance enthusiasts. He dances with the Albemarle Morris Men and plays fiddle in the Morrison Brothers Band.

Marney Morrison has been part of the conversation that envisioned, fashioned and changed CDSS family weeks starting with the brave, blindfolded beginning in 1975. She introduced morning snack, the afternoon parade and with her husband Jim and a crew of pioneers, settled the first of the sister and brother family camps that are now growing up in other beautiful settings. She is thrilled to be returning and sharing the leadership of this week with her son Owen who first came to Family Week at Pinewoods five months before he was born.

Owen Morrison is a multi-instrumentalist who plays fulltime for dances around the country as a member of six bands: Airdance, Night Watch, Elixir, House Red, The Figments and the Morrison Brothers Band. While this is his first time as Program Director, Owen has been to 25 CDSS Family Weeks, filling other very important roles: musician, teacher, dishwasher, dancer, explorer and kid who just wanted to have fun. Personal Webpage

Naomi Morse grew up surrounded by music and dance in the folk communities of New England. She is known for her energetic and driving fiddle playing for both contra and English dancing in many bands, including Night Watch, Housetop and the "mega-fiddle-band" Childsplay. She has toured extensively with the world-music ensemble, Northern Harmony, and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, where she sings professionally.

Matthew Olwell has been dancing and playing music for nearly 20 years. He has studied with some of the finest teachers in traditional dance, including Donny Golden, Eileen Carson, Benoit Bourque, The Fiddle Puppets Dancers and Liam Harney. He danced for nine years with the Maryland-based Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, with whom he taught and performed nationally and internationally. Matthew now lives in Virginia, and is continuing life as a freelance dancer and percussionist. He performs with James Leva, John Skelton, Danny Knicely and many others. In 2006 Matthew and partner Emily Oleson founded Smiling Mountain Dance Intensive, a youth summer program near Charlottesville, VA. Although Matthew has taught at CDSS Family weeks before, this will be the first time he has his own family to bring! Emily and baby, Lydia Jade, will join him.

DeLaura Padovan loves working to create a vibrant community. She is a family dance leader, singer and teacher. At home in Virginia, DeLaura spends time working with her family on their organic farm, calling dances for people of all ages and teaching and organizing for her local home-schooling community.

Susie Petrov spends her weekdays teaching young people to sing, dance and play games and perform together. Weekends, evenings and vacations find her playing Scottish music in the USA and in Scotland. This past year she coached and accompanied Calum Pasqua, the first American to be invited to play in the Glenfiddich Fiddle Championship at Blair Castle in Scotland. Calum won first place!

Eva Wilson, a native of Prague, Czech Republic, has performed Czech, Moravian and Slovak folk dances throughout Europe and the U.S. with the folk ensemble Beseda and Dvorana. She now lives in Lexington, KY, where she performs with the Lexington Vintage Dance Society.

Nathan Wilson teaches and plays any stringed instrument you put in his hands. He also plays piano and recorders but is best known for his double bass playing and singing. Nathan has performed with Airdance, Schrodinger's Cats, Tim Lake, Ken Holbrook, Mitch Barrett, Brittany Bay (OH), Monogram (Czech Republic) and the Wildwood Valley Boys (IN). He joyfully shares his love of dance music with people of all ages.

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, Bookstore staffed

12:15 Lunch

1:35 - 2:30 Early afternoon classes / Rest time

2:45 - 3:40 Afternoon classes, divided by age group

3:50 - 5:00 Swimming, Bookstore staffed and/or Daily Jam

4:45 - 5:15 Stories on the Porch

6:00 Dinner

7:15 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

Class Descriptions: [Back to Top]
Children's classes by age group -- 9:00 and 2:45

Ages 2 and 3
The 2 and 3 year olds will get to play, sing and make artwork with Eva in both the morning and afternoon periods.

Ages 4 and 5
In the mornings, the 4 and 5 year olds will meet with Betsy to jump, skip, march, hop and leap to many songs old and new. They will also sing a lot of songs and play instruments at the same time. Wow! In the afternoon, DeLaura will treat this group to crafts and more singing and dancing. They will get to make all kinds of things with pipecleaners and beads and make friends with song and dance.

Ages 6 and 7
DeLaura will lead the 6 and 7 year olds in singing games, happy dances and hand-clapping games for a morning filled with movement. DeLaura also has some silly songs to teach the class, and Jim will bring his fiddle along to make the dances even more fun. Later with Mary Alice, picture books and music, storytelling and songs will brighten up the afternoon class each day, with a bit of movement for everbody's fun. Come and enjoy!

Ages 8 and 9
Mornings for the 8 and 9 year olds will be packed with a kaleidoscope of clogging, body rhythms, and percussive social dances with Matthew, Steve and Owen. Susie�s longsword class will learn figures from the Ampleforth tradition in the afternoon. The class will take breaks from the sword dance to play singing games. Come prepared to have fun!

Ages 10 to 12
Susie will lead the 10-12 year olds on a musical trip around the world and back through time. They should expect to sing, dance, clash sticks, try some theater, play games and take advantage of performance opportunities -- waiting for dinner, before going to bed, as well as during the more traditional gathering times. In the afternoon, Peter will lead the group in contra and English dancing with the help of Steve and Nathan. Each of his classes will start with storytelling.

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

English -- Brad Foster / Naomi Morse, Elvie Miller, Nathan Wilson
Brad will present old favorites and emerging classics of the English country dance repertoire in a way that welcomes beginners and is fun for everybody. The dancing will be enhanced by the beautiful music of Naomi Morse, Elvie Miller and Nathan Wilson.

Rapper -- Alistair Brown / Denis Liddy
Danced in small tight sets with flexible, two-handled swords, rapper is a fast-paced display dance that incorporates intricate patterns with percussive footwork. Newcomers and experienced rapper dancers alike are welcome to join Alistair in the morning class.

Ages 13 and up Afternoon classes (2:45 - 3:40)

Contras and Squares -- Jim Morrison / Naomi Morse, Owen Morrison
Jim will call a mix of New England classics and "hit parade" dances of the last four decades. Group and individual dance skill acquisition will be cleverly slipped in, too.

Beginning Percussive Dance -- Matthew Olwell / Elvie Miller
This is an introductory class to percussive dance to which all are welcome.

The Early Afternoon Classes (1:35 - 2:30)

Songs, Stories and Music (under 8 / parent) -- Betsy Blachly Chapin with the Teachers Training Course
All are welcome to come meet the participants of the Teachers Training Course, and join with them in a session of music, songs and stories. Children under 8 please bring a parent.

Family Band (Experience with instrument) -- Nathan Wilson
This class is open to musicians of all ages who want to learn some new tunes and get a chance to actually play for dances. Nathan will provide tips on playing together in a group to create great dance music. The family band will have the opportunity to play for several dances at the evening Community Dance throughout the week.

Craft, Weaving (8 and up, 6-7 with parent) -- Elvie Miller, Eva Wilson
A relaxing time to entwine our minds and fingers in natural fibers of all kinds and explore various weaving techniques to make bags, belts and wall hangings.

Harmony Singing (12 and up, younger with choral experience) -- Peter and Mary Alice Amidon
The class will be singing arrangements of folk songs, spirituals and songs written by folks steeped in traditional music. Participants will be working from written music as well as learning songs and harmonies by ear.

Longsword: Papa Stour (13 and up) -- Jim Morrison / Steve Hickman
A rare opportunity to learn this ancient and fascinating linked sword dance from one of the most remote islands (Papa Stour) in one of the most remote archipelagos in the world (Shetland.) It has been documented by, among others, Sir Walter Scott (1814), Pat Shaw (1947-52) and our instructor Jim Morrison (1976.)

Advanced Percussive Dance (Experience) -- Matthew Olwell / Naomi Morse
For dancers who already have experience in some form of percussive dance, the interests of the participants will shape the classes.

Stories on the Porch -- Peter Amidon (4:45 - 5:15)
Peter will combine short, punchy folktales with epic folktales told episodically over two or three days.