Program: Class Descriptions 2015

For details on the schedule, click here.

Click on the links below for details of the 2015 classes.

 

Rapper Sword

For dancers of ALL abilities
David Macemon with Kimberly McKittrick

Fast paced and energetic, Rapper sword is loads of fun! We will look not only at figures, but also what it takes to dance well and dance as a team. Figures will be an interesting mix of traditional and new. A great time will be had by all! Hard-soled shoes work best for this dance, but anything will work.

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Longsword

For dancers of ALL abilities
David Macemon with Kimberly McKittrick

English Longsword is the forerunner of rapper sword. It's a beautiful dance, and is interesting to dance and to watch. We'll be working on the Iron Mountain version of the traditional dance from Salton (Note: Iron Mountain was inspired from Orion's version of the same dance). Comfortable shoes are recommended, and the dance is done using a hornpipe step (slow polka).

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Callers Class

For ALL callers
Bruce Hamilton with Anita Anderson

Get practice calling interleaved with mini-modules on music, choice of words, care and feeding of your own attitude, and the social dynamics involved in constantly telling your customers what to do.

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English Country Dance: Advanced

For EXPERIENCED and ACCOMPLISHED dancers
Bruce Hamilton with Paul Hutchinson, Betsy Branch, and Anita Anderson

Explore dancing with the whole room, listening deeply to the music, and enjoying a few challenging dances. We'll also revisit Douglas Kennedy's writing from the 1950s on moving to music.

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English Country Dance: A Sampler

For dancers of ALL abilities
Bruce Hamilton with Karen Axelrod and Wayne Hankin

Experience the breadth of ECD--elegant, clever, social, rowdy--with music from five centuries. And while we’re at it, why do we do this stuff? What's in these dances that has made them so enjoyable, for so long?

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English Country Dance: Where is Your Attention?

For dancers of ALL abilities
Jenny Beer with Daron Douglas, Karen Axelrod, and Paul Hutchinson

One of the nice things about ECD is that you can choose what and who you pay attention to, and that can make each round of the dance feel different. Using both familiar and challenging dances, we'll look at different ways to experience the dance--physical, social (partner, minor set, major set), geometric patterns, music and mood, and self-expression.

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English Country Dance: Body Work

For dancers of ALL abilities
Jenny Beer with Daron Douglas, Charlie Hancock, and Wayne Hankin

Enjoy excellent not-complex dances, each day looking at a different element of the physicality of ECD dancing: energy, arms and hands, legs and feet, balance and posture, head and expression, moving through space, connecting with others, how does it look vs how does it feel. The goal is to become more aware of your own "style" and habits, what gives you pleasure, and to expand your ability to match your movements to the particular moment.

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English Country Dance: An Introduction

For dancers of ALL abilities
David Macemon with Kimberly McKittrick and Charlie Hancock

Dancing is more than just learning figures and patterns, and during this introductory English dance class, we'll be learning figures, dances and a bit of style. We'll dance a mixture of old and new dances, while being aware of how to move in the style of the dance, how to dance with/to the music (timing and transitions), and how to appropriately help your partner and others through the dance. So if you're newer to English dance, or just want a relaxing class where we'll do lots of fun things, come join us!

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ECD Open Mic for Callers, Musicians, and Dancers

Open to ALL

Jenny Beer with Charlie Hancock
Dancers—you are are warmly invited to enjoy another opportunity to do English dance and support your fellow campers who are playing and calling.
Callers—The mic will be open for newer callers to practice calling familiar dances, and for experienced callers who want to try out new or unfamiliar ones. You will have the option of getting coaching from Jenny and/or whatever kind of feedback you want afterwards from her and the dancers.
Musicians—here's a chance to play for dancing while having fun on the main stage with your fellow campers. You should be able to read basic melodies at dance speed and/or be able to pick up complete melodies by ear. Charlie will lead the open band on piano and accordion.
Come in one role, two, or all three—a good time will be had by all! And we will keep things moving!

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Singing

For singers of ALL abilities

Betsy Branch

We will sing a wide variety of songs from all around the world, from folk songs to rounds, madrigals, pub songs, and swing tunes. We will sing mostly by ear, but may use sheet music occasionally. We will learn how to warm up our voices, how to sing in harmony with each other, and how to listen to each other to create a cohesive and satisfying sound.

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Playing Nicely with Others--an Ensemble Class

For EXPERIENCED musicians

Daron Douglas and Karen Axelrod

Foxfire (Daron Douglas on fiddle and Karen Axelrod on piano and accordion) will take you on a musical trip. We'll lead you off the beaten path to help you expand your comfort and creativity with playing in a band. We have some music games to play that will get you thinking outside the box. We'll work on improvising, and finding a place in the ensemble—but we'll also pay attention to what makes the music danceable. Come ready to try new things. You should be fairly proficient on your instrument, with an ability to sight-read music and to pick up things by ear. However, if you are not at this proficiency level, come along anyway...and we'll find a place for you.

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Musical Improvisation

For musicians of ALL abilities

Wayne Hankin

Learn specific techniques for playing in an English country dance band with an emphasis on improvisation. Using 17th-century English repertory as our guide, we will open the gateway to successful improvisational playing where lead instrumentalists learn to embellish or create new melody structure while accompaniment instruments improvise based on realized chord symbols. Materials: Wayne Hankin's book Playing from the Top. It will be available from him for $19.

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Band Workshop

For EXPERIENCED musicians

Besty Branch

Learn to play as a dance band, with emphasis on inspiring each other by listening to one another. We will play a variety of tunes, and will explore ideas of harmony and arranging to create a rich tapestry of dance music. We will prepare music for campers' night, and will collaborate on how to bring ideas back to your home dance communities.

Prerequisite: at a minimum you should be familiar enough with your instrument(s) that you can play scales of up to 3 flats and sharps, and you must be able to read music and/or be able to pick up complete melodies by ear.

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A Little Late Night Music

For musicians of ALL abilities

Paul Hutchinson

We will work on two tunes a day (one will be a waltz) and focus on developing ensemble skills whilst deepening our musicality. We will perform these tunes each night after the dancing. The music will be arranged in parts and the workshop will be accessible to musicians of all abilities.

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Mummers Play

All experience levels welcome

Alisa Dodson

Mummers plays are traditional bits of street theater, but they are not amateur theatricals. So, you need absolutely no skill or experience to attend this workshop. We’ll find out what the plays are like and where they come from, explore what’s common among them, and create our own mixture of doggerel and magic.

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Photo credits top to bottom: longsword Michael Siemon, singing by Paul Bestock, others by Julie Grieves