August 5-12, 2017
Description
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Join us for a special CDSS family week at Ogontz, where the magic of tradition, humor, friendship and community brings us back year after year. This week is filled with singing, music, dancing and fun for all ages and this year we have an incredible staff of singers, multi-instrumentalists, and dance leaders! And as always, we invite campers to bring their talents to share as well!
Along with our traditional dance offerings of contras, squares, and English country dance, we are also offering couple dancing, Irish Sets, rapper, and English clog dancing this year. Singers and musicians will have the chance to participate in harmony singing, family band, and swap songs and tunes in a relaxed environment with an after lunch song circle, and a before dinner musicians jam. Children’s classes will be taught by caring and talented staff and will include traditional singing and dancing. Your days will be full of choices in dance, song, crafts, mumming, fun games, and swimming in the crystal clear lake. Just before dinner we will meet at the green chairs for story time. Twice a day campers will get the opportunity to come together in a camp gathering to sing, dance, and enjoy entertainment by our talented staff and campers. And as always, our day will end with a dance party and late night activities as roving monitors check on little ones asleep in their cabins.
Ogontz Camp is the perfect setting for all of this joyous fun. It offers woodlands and wide-open spaces where children can play, a mountain stream for exploring and a pristine lake that hosts a family of loons - perfect for swimming and canoeing. Whether you are having supper on the outdoor dining deck or simply relaxing in the circle of Adirondack chairs under the old white pine, you will enjoy peace and contentment as you take in the beauty of this piece of heaven in the foothills of the White Mountains. Delicious home cooked meals and fresh baked breads will nurture your body and soul, fueling you through an unforgettable week.
Please come help us celebrate the joy of traditional music, dance, and story! Come to Ogontz!
~ Lily and Paul Leahy, Program Directors
Lily Leahy grew up dancing and singing at CDSS’ Family Week at Pinewoods and has been hooked ever since. She started dancing Longsword and Morris at age 10 on Hop Brook Morris, and continued on to dance with Boston-area based Orion Longsword for 14 years. She has taught longsword, morris dancing, and other traditional dances and songs to children for both Revels Education Programs and at the Wellesley Community Children’s Center After School Programs, where she worked full time up until having her first daughter 9 years ago. Lily currently resides in the Cork area of Ireland with her husband and two daughters. She is a music educator and conductor of a children's choir at a local school and enjoys singing with two choirs, one of which she has recently started and conducts. Lily has had the pleasure of teaching at Family Weeks at both Pinewoods and Ogontz and is very much looking forward to returning to Ogontz this summer!
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 a multi-instrumentalist, an accomplished singer of traditional song, and a composer of new songs. As a performer she is gifted in forging a bridge between story, music and listener. As a song leader she inspires open-hearted, full throttle participation.
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: telling stories to all age groups, leading harmony singing with adults and teaching and leading dance with children, teachers and families. Peter Amidon, a founding member of New England Dancing Masters, publishers of books, CDs and DVDs of traditional dance for children and community dancing, leads workshops on leading dance with children and communities throughout the United States, often headlining (with Mary Alice Amidon) at state and national music teacher conferences. His choral arrangements are being sung by community, church and hospice choirs throughout the U.S. and the UK. He has led dancing and singing with children and adults at CDSS Camps for thirty-five years.
Karen Axelrod is highly regarded for her creative piano playing at English, American and Scottish dance events around the country. She is in the band Foxfire, Alchemy with Eric Martin and Rachel Bell, and Peregrine Road with Rachel Bell. Karen plays accordion with 3rd String Trio, a band that plays old world cafe music. She also plays accordion for Orion Longsword. She loves the ensemble aspect of playing for dancing, as well as the close connection between what the musicians do and what the dancers do. When not playing music, Karen spends her time coming in last in marathons.
Fynn Crooks used to have a fear of hurdles, but she got over it. Oh, that’s terrible! As a storyteller, humorist, and teacher Fynn has been sharing bad jokes, tough riddles, and a healthy enthusiasm for life with her students, young and old, for a decade. She loves leading group games to encourage communication, cooperation and just plain goofiness. You might find Fynn launching a rubber chicken across camp, leading a silly circus, lifeguarding, telling a folktale, teaching the art of marshmallow catapults, or just dancing with wild abandon. Whatever she does, you’ll sure want to join in the fun - her energy is infectious, but don’t worry, she washes her hands often!
Owen Morrison is an accomplished rhythm and lead guitarist, at home in many styles of traditional music. His playing, laced with rhythmic power and skillful finesse, has made him popular among dancers and fiddlers alike. Owen has toured the U.S. and abroad with bands such as Elixir, Airdance, Night Watch and The Morrison Brothers Band. A frequent staff member and Program Director at Pinewoods, Ashokan, Augusta, and many other camps.
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.
Keith Murphy has been immersed in music and dance since his childhood days in Newfoundland. His distinctive rhythmic sound on guitar, mandolin, piano and foot percussion has helped drive several great contra dance bands including Nightingale, Wild Asparagus and Assembly. Having performed at many dance events throughout the U.S. and Canada as well as overseas, he brings a wealth of experience and sophistication to his playing.
Joanna Reiner has taught English dance, Scottish dance and longsword for over a decade. Her calling has taken her from Amherst to Ann Arbor, from NEFFA to Hey Days, including several sessions at Pinewoods Camp. Joanna led the Philadelphia-based Germantown Country Dancers English dance demonstration team for many years, is an avid dance gypsy, and in her spare time, works to support her dance habit.
Erika Roderick has been dancing her whole life. A graduate from Tom Kruskal’s “Rapper Academy”, Great Meadows Morris and Sword, where she was a founding member of Candyrapper, she now helps teach rapper and morris every week! She lives in Cambridge, MA and currently dances with Muddy River Morris, Orion Longsword, Candyrapper VSOP and Maple Morris. When she isn’t busy dancing, she is a Fifth Grade teacher in Boston. She is looking forward to being back at Ogontz this summer!
Natty Smith was raised in the New England folk dance community. He began Morris dancing on Tom Kruskal's children's team Hop Brook and then Great Meadows Morris and Sword in Sudbury, MA. He currently dances and plays for Candyrapper VSOP, Pinewoods Morris Men, Maple Morris, and Thames Valley International. Natty’s distinctive fiddle style, influenced by New England contra dance traditions traditional English styles, can be heard all over New England, Canada, and often England in the spring and summer. Since fiddling for morris and sword can’t pay the bills, Natty also teaches High School English in Salem, MA.
Patrick Swanson began his career in London as an actor at the Arts Theatre. In 1969, he toured Europe with La MaMa Plexus and subsequently got his world theater education from Ellen Stewart at La MaMa E.T.C. in New York. His numerous directing projects include opera, ensemble, music theater and circus. He was a founding stage director of Circus Flora and is currently Artistic Director of Revels. Patrick taught acting and improvisation at the London Academy of Dramatic Art, the London Drama Centre, and New York University. Directing credits include the Spoleto USA festival; Houston's Alley Theatre and Boston's Charles Playhouse. His Actor's Shakespeare Project production of King Lear with Alvin Epstein was nominated for three 2006 Elliot Norton awards. His most recent acting performance was for Gloucester Stage in their 20th anniversary production of Fighting over Beverley. For Revels, Patrick has directed a contemporary version of the medieval mystery plays. He writes and directs all Cambridge Revels scripts and with music director George Emlen, serves as consultant to the other nine Revels production companies.
Becky Tracy grew up dancing to her father's calling and scratchy 78s of Don Messer's fiddle playing. She has fiddled with the bands Nightingale and Wild Asparagus for the last 15 years and has played in many, many lovely places including Hawaii and France. Becky has a distinctive clarity of tone, a rhythmic attack owing much to French-Canadian playing and the melodic quality of Irish music. Her unmistakable sound has made her a defining presence among dance musicians.