The Country Dance and Song Society
Of special interest to Teachers:
2008 Dates Information on CDSS 2008 Summer Camp Programs
Teachers Training Courses
July 19 - 26: Community Dance Leaders Course at Pinewoods
July 26 - August 2: Teacher Training Course at Pinewoods
August 2 - 9: Teacher Training Course at Ogontz
In these Courses, teachers attend a week-long folk camp for people of all ages. You will observe and participate while master folklorists teach groups of children traditional dances, songs, crafts, stories and rituals. You will participate in these folk traditions at an adult level yourself and "collect" by audio-recording, interviewing, note taking and experiencing traditional activities. You will meet daily in a Teachers Seminar to reflect on your observations and experiences and to share newly-collected activities.
At the host Family Weeks, children are divided into classes by age for two classes daily. Course participants will join the class teachers and students to work with traditional material. There is a third class period with classes designed for multi-aged groups. This is a chance for people of all ages to work and play together or for individuals to pursue a specific topic.
Gatherings each morning and evening bring the whole community together to learn from one another while sharing in stories, music, song and dance from staff and campers alike. Live music accompanies all dancing.
Before dinner there is a Teachers Seminar. This is our daily chance to discuss what we have observed and to try some of the material ourselves.
As dusk settles, a Pied Piper leads the families with children age 9 and younger from the evening gathering to their cabins where the parents put their children to bed. Preteens stay halfway through the evening dance before their bedtime comes. Adults and teenagers can enjoy the evening dance and later activities, while roving monitors listen for wakeful children.
Although there are many scheduled activities, the choice to float lazily in a canoe, relax over a meal, practice a new tune on a porch or engage in conversation with a new friend is always available. Watching the younger children wind a maypole for the first time or learn their first contra dance brings a new appreciation for the power of these traditions and strengthens our commitment to include song and dance in our classrooms. Please join us in dance and song.
A Certificate of Teacher Training for a total of 40 hours is awarded to participants in the course.