Joy to the Person of my LoveJovial Beggars
Indian Princess
Campers
ESS 1997 had a total of 108 campers. Seventy-eight were full paying, 10
were work exchange, 10 staff, 3
children, 2 guests, and 4 committee members. Seventeen were new to
Pinewoods and 36 were new to ESS. The
number of beginning dancers totaled 20 for the Scots and 24 for the English.
Classes
All classes were well attended. Notable (and popular) changes to this
year's schedule were the three days of
basic Scottish Country classes and the addition of Country Dancing for
all included in the Show & Tell program.
The class schedule was also good, with few people wanting to be in two
places at once. Next year, however, we
might want to consider having the two longer periods in the morning rather
than afternoon.
Teaching Staff
With only four teachers this year things still went very well. Although
everyone was disappointed when
Kari Smith suddenly became ill and had to cancel her classes, Ron Wallace
offered, in addition to his other classes
(and to much applause), a well attended class in Cape Breton. Barbara
Finney taught both Basic English and English
Country, Chris Walker taught Rapper and Advanced English, and Robert
McOwen taught Basic Scottish and
Highland. Peter Barnes led the band workshop. All were enjoyed.
Music Staff
Elke Baker, Barbara McOwen, and Dave Wiesler played for the Scottish
dancing; Karen Axelrod, Earl
Gaddis, and Peter Barnes played for the English dancing; and Lisa
Greenleaf was on sound. In every way EXCEPTIONAL!
Social Events
The parties were fun. With special thanks to our great late night
musicians, they started early and went on
late . The afternoon themes were a Unisex Kilt Contest/ Fashion Show, a
Low Tea at Pinecones, and an Edward
VIIII Abdication Party - people especially liked the Gin & Tonics. The
after dance parties, for example "Caesar
meets Cesar," were filled with music and dance and much better attended
than last year. Unfortunately, because of
high attendance and low budget, we often ran out of food, and there were
some complaints about this. It is hard to
determine numbers for these events, but, given our financial constraints,
perhaps some parties could be more event
oriented and others more food or decoration oriented.
Something new that we did this year was to welcome all the people new to ESS and Pinewoods by having them stand up and tell us who they were and where they were from. The response to this was very positive.
Forever trying to cut costs, we decided to eliminate the piper work exchange position much to the dismay of everyone in camp. Fortunately, Kippy Brezner stepped in and saved the mornings. Another last minute volunteer was Maureen Ryan who offered to continue Monday's afternoon tea throughout the rest of the week.
Evening Dance
The evening dances were also fun and well attended. One suggestion, made
by the Scottish musicians, was
to try to coordinate the program so they don't always have to rush on
after the English set without any kind of break
in between.
Summary
By all accounts ESS 1997 was a very good year, and the campers thought
so too.
It would be better to surpass our break-even camper number earlier in
the year, but we understand many
come to us after being rejected from other weeks. Is there more that
can be done in advertising our session?
Given that ESS has had some lean years in the past, the question of how
best to use our surplus is an
especially difficult (although pleasant) one. The 1998 committee would
appreciate the boards' recommendations on
this.
Respectfully submitted,
Christina Wasch
JUDITH ERICKSON
Judy is a past foreman of Muddy River Morris and present foreman of Orion
Longsword (Boston area). Her
background includes ballet and modem dance as well as Scottish and English
country dancing and ritual dancing.
Her Scottish Hardshoe dances come out of traditional styles, with a bit
of Cape Breton and English stepping, styles as well. Whether teaching
longsword or step dancing,
the focus is on style and quality of movement.
EARL GADDIS
Earl has been fiddling for a mixture of English, Scottish, American and
international dancing, for
more than 30 years. He currently plays for weekly dances in Boston and
Northampton, MA, as
well as for dance camps, workshops and balls throughout the country and
abroad. He is a member
of Bare Necessities, whose third recording of English country dance music,
Nightcap, came out in 1996.
DEBORAH HAWKINS
Deb has been dancing Scottish Country Dance since 1986, started English
Country Dance a few years later, and
began teaching SCD in 1995. She loves Scottish because of its precise
positioning on the respective beat. She loves
English because of its more interpretive positioning. Actually Deb loves
any and all kinds of dance. Active in the
Boston Branch of the RSCDS, she has enjoyed being its president for the
last several years. She plays fiddle in her
free time when she's not in her garden with her new puppy, Skippy, whom
she's teaching to dance, naturally. If only
he'd keep on the beat.
MARGARET KELLER
Margaret began English dancing, 20 vears ago. Later she started Cotswold
Morris and Rapper
Sword. She was a member of Chesapeake Rapper in Baltimore, and formed
Charles River Rapper
when she moved to Boston 3 years ago. Margaret is a member of Ha'penny
Morris, serves on the
CDSS Board and is President-elect of CDS, Boston Centre. When not dancing,
she is Associate
Director of Resource Development at Sloan School of Management at MIT.
NORAH LINK
Norah started experimenting with ballroom dancing and yoga in university,
then moved on to ballet and ballet-jazz.
She first indulged in a life-long fantasy of dancing to Scottish music 12
years ago and hasn't looked back since
(except for the occasional wink at a partner). She has been teaching a
regular Scottish country dance class in
Cornwall, Ontario for 5 years and has taught introductory Scottish step
dance workshops. Norah has been a regular
camper at Pinewoods for several years and is thrilled to be here this year
as a member of the teaching staff.
JUDI RIVKIN
As the eyes of Judi's parents first sparked across a dance floor, it was
immediately apparent that
their daughter would naturally be attracted to contra and English Country
dance. After being born,
she dedicated all her free time to this enterprise, becoming a founding
member of CD/NY, as well
as a jolly 4th of July Pinewoods camper. 1991 found Judi in Seattle,
where she leads English
country dances and workshops around the Northwest, including Vancouver,
B.C. and the
Northwest Folklife Festival. Among her sterling, qualities is the
devoted appreciation of fine
chocolate--finding much delight in names such as Lindt, Suchard, Perugina
and Vairhona.
JACQUELINE SCHWAB
Jacqueline combines traditional music with a classical touch and a dance
musician’s improvizations. Her solo piano
improvizations on traditional American melodies were featured on several
of Ken Burns' series; The Civil War,
Baseball, and Lewis and Clark. She recently performed for President
Clinton at the White House. She is a member
of Bare Necessities, and has performed and recorded with them, with
Scottish singer Jean Redpath, fiddler Alasdair
Fraser, Rennaisonics, and others, as well as solo. Jacqueline is a
graduate of the New England Conservatory of
Music and is a touring artist for the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
DAVID TAGUE
David was born in Dumbarton, Scotland and emigrated to Detroit at the
age of five with the permission of his parents
(who accompanied him). After returning to Scotland as a young adult,
then settling in California, he took up Scottish
dancing in 1974 and was swept away by the music, energy , and just
plain fun of dance. He danced competitive
Highland for 15 years and formed the Strathleven Scottish Dancers,
a group which has performed at various
locations in the western U.S. and Canada. Old Time and tap are new
endeavors taken up in the last six years, but just
extend and continue his love of dancing.
LARRY UNGER
Larry has played for Contra, Scottish, International and English
dancing for 20 years, primarily on
guitar, bass and banjo. He tours on a regular basis with Elke Baker,
Reckless Abandon and
Uncle Gizmo, and has played for numerous dance camps all across the
country. He is well known
as a composer of many often played waltzes, reels and jigs, and also
enjoys playing blues, swing
and old time music
DAVID WIESLER
Dave (piano, kazoo and sundry other instruments) is very happy to return
to ESS a second year.
Inspired by Muriel Johnstone, he has played for Scottish dancing about
four years. He performs
regularly with several groups in the DC area for contra, English country
and couple dancing as
well as for Scottish. An avid dancer, Dave is equally happy on the floor
as on the stage, and is
especially psyched about the great musicians he'll get to dance to at
ESS this year. When not
working or playing music, Dave enjoys frisbee, hiking, and eating,
heinously decadent desserts.
SUSAN WORLAND
Susan can't remember how many times she's been to ESS, but it's always
been one of her favorite sessions. She
regularly plays for concerts, dances and classes in the Boston area.
She has made a recording, Dancin' Music, and
was featured in the 1998 Christmas Revels. In addition to Scottish,
Susan enjoys many other kinds of music and
dance. Ask her about her performance of "Oh Susannah" back in January ...
BASIC ENGLISH
JUDI RIVKIN
No prerequisites, though a sense of humor is encouraged. We'll review
vocabulary (whether it's all new
to you or English as a Second Language, i.e. "reel" ="hey"), mathematical
equations (how many people
does it take to... ? how long/many steps to... ?), Geography
(starting here, ending Where?), and style (the
way to-get there). All are welcome.
BASIC SCOTTISH
DEB HAWKINS
In the "basics" class you'll become familiar and at ease with Scottish
country dance steps in slow
and quick time. You'll learn easy and often used figures. You'll
gain confidence as we dance
through easy dances. We'll get the rhythm, find the beat and our
comers, and procress to the
bottom, which is a good thing,. Most of all we'll have a good time.
ENGLISH COUNTRY
JUDI RIVKIN
In which we assume a Basic Knowledge of the Figures, and an Insatiable
Desire to put them
together in Dances, accompanied by Extraordinary Musicians and Delectable
Tunes. Some of the
dances to be repeated, reprised and revisited for Maximum Enjoyment.
ENGLISH LONGSWORD
JUDY ERICKSON
The dance is to the tune "In the Good Old Way," a hymn, and the
figures come from dances
observed at the international sword ale in May of 1995. 1 composed
the dance to demonstrate
some alternative styles and figures not featured in the more
well-known longsword dances, such as
tunnels, unlinked figures, stepping, a processional on figure, etc.
English teams composing new
dances are incorporating material from rapper dances, continental
sword dances, traditional
country dances, etc. and this provides an example of that kind of
integration. The step is a running
drop step but the chorus is stationary so it is not one of those
non-stop aerobic experiences. Style
will be stressed.
HIGHLAND
DAVID TAGUE
Depending on size of class and experience of dancers, this class is
designed as an introduction to
basic movements of Highland dancing. These basic movements will be
linked together to create a
dance that is either a traditional Highland dance such as the Highland
Fling,, a Scottish National
dance such as Barracks Johnnie or something newly choreographed using
Highland movements.
Dancers should feel comfortable with this class if they can hop on one
foot four to eight times
before switching to the other foot.
OLD-TIME BALLROOM
DAVID TAGUE
This is the original ballroom dancing of Britain. Dancers are with
a partner going round the
ballroom and the dances are in sequence including waltzes, saunters,
foxtrots, quick steps and
tangos. Most dances have a sixteen or thirty-two bar sequence that is
repeated throughout the dance.
RAPPER SWORD
MARGARET KELLER
Rapper sword dancing comes from the coal mining region in the north of
England. It is a combination of
fast footwork and mind (and sword)-bending figures. Quick thinking and
teamwork are the keys to
success. In addition to fancy figures, you will learn hints about
stepping and dance choreography.
SCOTTISH COUNTRY
DAVID TAGUE
This is the social dancing of Scotland where teamwork rather than solo
dancing is the important aspect. Dances will
be fast and lively reels and jigs or the very elegant and graceful
strathspey. Dances will be either in lines of four
couples or square sets of four couples. The dances selected for this
class will be mostly of an intermediate level ana
will include some well known figures such as reels of three, circles,
rights and lefts, pousette as well as introducing
some lesser known figures as the targe, the rondel and the knot.
SCOTTISH HARD-SHOE STEP
JUDY ERICKSON
The dance I will teach is to the tune of "The Little Cascade," a 5-part
pipe tune written in the 1950's by
George McClellan. The dance combines traditional Scottish hardshoe steps
with some English cloa steps,
both traditional and modem (the same influences that produced the modem
steps in the dance "First of
August"). The steps are not complex and are repeated. Notation will be
provided.
SCOTTISH LADIES' STEP
NORAH LINK
Scottish Step dancing incorporates the movements of both Highland and
Scottish country dancing, exhibiting a soft,
elegant style with quiet strength rather than the power of Highland.
Although often referred to as Ladies Step
Dancing, there is no reason men cannot enjoy this style, and they are
welcome in class. This year we will work on
basic movements in a dance for beginners. Norah also has something more
challenging up her sleeve for interested
advanced dancers. You will need soft-soled shoes--ghillies or ballet
slippers are ideal; and full skirts, legoings or
shorts for the ladies and kilts or shorts for the men.
SOMETHING ENGLISH: "ENGLISH BY THE NUMBERS" (1-Day Class)
JUDI RIVKIN
Spanning the centuries, here's a dazzling array of set dances for two,
three, four, five, and six couples.
Heaps of fun--you can count on it!
SOMETHING SCOTTISH: "KNOTS AND NOT KNOTS" (1-Day Class)
DEB HAWKINS
To knot or not. That's the metaphysical question we'll answer in this
class. We'll untangle the knot in
both slow and quick time. We may do a few variations as well, or not.
Whatever knot dances we do,
they'll be do-able for all levels. So tie up your ghillies and see you
in class.
PARTY PREP
DEB HAWKINS & JUDI RIVKIN
A class to review and pre-view difficult figures and dances on the
evening program. All welcome. Be
serene at the evening dance--come to Party Prep.
NOTE: English Longsword and Rapper Sword are both co-operative team efforts; therefore it is a very good thing to come to all the classes and dance on the same team--don't let your team down!
Joy to the Person of my Love
St. Andrew's Fair Leaflet 1982
Old Batchelor
River Cree Book 8:5