April 2009

Dear BACDS English Dance and Music Week Camper,

Welcome aboard! We’ve got a wonderful week of music and dancing planned for you. Here’s a description of the classes being offered. Please look it over, mark your probable choices on the questionnaire, and either mail the hard-copy questionnaire to Jim Oakden or submit this form by June 1, 2009.

Name (required):

Email (enter your email address to have a copy of your form input emailed back to you):

Please indicate the classes you are most likely to attend. You can change your mind later; this is to help us make initial decisions about where classes will be held. Within each class period (Class 1, Class 2, etc.), check one First Choice box and one Second Choice box.

If a class conflict is particularly painful for you, please rank your choices. Remember, we can’t promise a conflict-free schedule. In fact, it’s our job to make the class options as appealing and exciting as possible, and it’s your job to make hard choices and to pace yourself.

*Go over your choices carefully before you push the Submit button. Once you push the Submit button the form may be cleared, depending on your web browser.*

Class 1

Waltz – Matthew. A workshop in waltz from the basics. Explore a variety of waltz patterns and techniques including honkey-tonk waltz and cross-step waltz, with particular emphasis on partnering skills, good leading and following. All levels welcome. Leather or suede soles helpful.
First Choice     Second Choice

Ensemble Playing – Dave. In this class we’ll discuss ways to turn a collection of individual musicians into a dance ensemble. We’ll discuss starting and stopping, tune substitutions, how to use harmonic/chordal variations and dynamics, and other tricks to add variety and life to dance music.
First Choice     Second Choice

Callers’ Forum – Brad. Each day we will focus on a different aspect of the art of calling, including a review of basic principles, nonverbal communication, appropriate terminology and delivery, writing your own dance notes, and dealing with problems. Each day will also include opportunities for practice calling and constructive critiques.
First Choice     Second Choice

Class 2

ECD Dancing with Style – Philippe. Forget about the patterns, the geometry, the dances and let’s look at English country dancing from a dancing point of view. Be ready to try things in a way you may never have before and, encouraged by the Greek muse of the dance, delight in its beauty. This class that will build from day to day and will focus on the stylistic and technical elements of dancing.
First Choice     Second Choice

Playing Harmony – Daron. Learn what to play when someone else takes the melody line, how to get to the "insides" of a tune, and how to join the melody and the backup rhythm.
First Choice     Second Choice

Border Morris – Julie. Explore an exciting, vigorous dance form that mainly requires stamina, plus a degree of bravery in order to comfortably dance across the set from another person wielding a very large stick. With little in the way of written history, border is free to experiment and interpret within the framework of tradition, and many extraordinary dances have been written in the past few decades. We’ll begin with some of the old traditional dances, then move on to some of the best of the modern dances.
First Choice     Second Choice

Class 3

Survey of 20th Century ECD – Brad. From Cecil Sharp, through the era of Pat Shaw, to modern composers like Gary Roodman, Colin Hume, Fried Herman and more, this class will cover the dance repertoire from the earliest days of the 20th century revival up to the present, including some historical and modern set dances, plus historical background of the people who created the dances.
First Choice     Second Choice

Camper Band – Larry. Wednesday night the camper band will provide the music for the evening dance. In this class we will go over the tunes to be played for the evening dance, and integrate all of the things learned in the other music classes in coming up with arrangements to perform at the dance. This will be a fun and low-pressure way to step into performing if you’re a beginner, and a practical hands-on tutorial for more advanced players.
First Choice     Second Choice

Cotswold Morris – Matthew. Morris dances are folk dances from the British Isles considered “ritual” dances with connection to early ceremonies. To most modern morris dancers, the dances are a fun way to bring exercise, and community together with music. This class will focus on Bledington stick dances from the Cotswold region of England. We will focus on making a set feel like a team through connecting and awareness but most of all having a good time! All levels welcome! Bring bells if you’ve got them! Bring sneakers to dance in.
First Choice     Second Choice

Class 4

ECD: Forgotten Treasures of the 17th and 18th Centuries – Philippe. A varied selection from dances published between 1650 and 1800, none of them belonging to the programme of old classics. Chosen for their interesting patterns and great tunes, you will have a chance to learn dances reconstructed by people such as Pat Shaw, Tom Cook, Andrew Shaw and Philippe himself.
First Choice     Second Choice

Cotswold Morris Jigs – Julie. Jigs are dances performed by from one to three dancers, emphasizing solo abilities and strengths with a fun, competitive feel. Experienced morris dancers, and other enthusiastic, confident dancers, will learn a range of jigs and jig styles – perfect for providing variety and rounding out a team’s repertoire, for stretching ones own ability and experience, and for increasing the opportunities for dance.
First Choice     Second Choice

Playing Melody – Eden. We'll work on shaping melody lines and using ornamentation and improvisation to develop ideas. We will also work on technical issues in challenging tunes. And we'll have fun playing beautiful music together!
First Choice     Second Choice

Playing Backup (for non-melody players) – Anita. Don't play melody? This class is for you. Find out how to use existing chord suggestions, how to find chords when they're not marked, and how to experiment with chord substitutions. In addition, we'll investigate what kind of rhythmic backup works best for English dance music. Contra backup players looking to add English to their repertoire are particularly welcome.
First Choice     Second Choice

Class 5

ECD: Brad’s Favorites – Brad. This class is about the joy of dance, moving to music and dance patterns that are generally well known and loved (or should be!). The focus will be on modern compositions, along with a few classics for variety. Think less, dance more, and enjoy the favorites. Suggestions are always welcome.
First Choice     Second Choice

Notation and Reconstruction of ECD – Philippe. Take a look at the reconstruction of country dances, both English and continental European, from the 17th and 18th centuries. Philippe will share his research and techniques for making old dances come alive. Each day we will have a look at a dance from a different period using the original notation. This is a mostly sit down, talk, discuss and try out class.
First Choice     Second Choice

Tune Writing – Larry. Learn the secrets of writing a tune that will live. We’ll discuss making tunes chordally and melodically interesting, what it takes to make viable dance tunes, and will collaborate on crafting a group-effort tune in class.
First Choice     Second Choice

Musicians:
If you plan to attend music workshops and/or play for campers’ night, please indicate below:

Instrument(s) you play:

Level of experience playing English country dance music (all levels welcome):

Callers:
Mary Devlin is coordinating the callers for the Wednesday camper’s night dance. She will set the program by Monday morning so the musicians have time to form bands, learn tunes and get coaching during 3rd period camper band class. Please come to camp prepared to give Mary at least three choices of what you might teach by dinner on Sunday. The goal for campers’ night is a program of primarily accessible and/or familiar dances and tunes (ideally in red or blue Barnes). If you don’t know if a tune will be playable by the camper band, ask one of the staff musicians. If you REALLY want to propose doing a not-in-Barnes dance, please bring a dozen copies of the tune with you to camp. If you have pre-camp questions about calling on Wed contact Mary: mary@mdevlin.com

I would like to call a dance at campers’ night.