July 27 – August 3, 2024 // Plymouth, MA

Featuring Global Terminology and Positional Calling

During Harmony of Song & Dance at Pinewoods

Already registered? Click the button below to log into your Camp Registration Home page to review, update, and make payments.

Program Description

If you are a beginning to intermediate ECD caller who wants to focus on teaching strategies and learning global/positional language, this course is for you!

In this course we will discuss:

  • Use of language
  • Strategies for preparation, teaching, and prompting
  • Crowd management
  • Working with musicians, 
  • How to build a dance program that meets both your goals for the evening and the needs of the dancers in front of you
  • A variety of social aspects and techniques to promote a welcoming community.

Course Details and Participation Requirements

Participation is limited to 12. Participants will be chosen based on the criteria listed below and on their answers to a pre-admission survey.

The class will meet for two class periods each day. The first class period will be spent with lecture, discussion, and interesting exercises. The second class period will be for practice teaching and calling with feedback from Brooke. You will also be expected to attend Brooke’s daytime dance class and the evening dances.

To benefit the most from this course, you should be

  • Proficient as an English country dancer, with at least three years of in-person dancing
  • Familiar with common ECD figures and formations
  • Willing to prepare for class by doing some homework in advance of (both reading and writing) and during camp
  • Willing to challenge yourself in a supportive camp environment

To complete your application for this course, after you register for camp you will be directed to fill out a survey.  Survey responses are requested as soon as possible.

Survey Questions:
  1. Why do you (want to) teach ECD? What are your goals as a caller?
  2. What are the three things you’d most like to learn from the course?
  3. Describe your experience as an ECD dancer (how long/how often, where, in what settings).
  4. Describe your experience as an ECD caller (how long/how often, where, in what settings).
  5. Have you taught ECD using global/positional language? For how long and in what settings?
  6. Have you taught/do you currently teach any other forms of dance? What? For how long and how often?
  7. What other caller’s workshops have you taken?

Course Leader

Brooke Friendly is known for her warm yet commanding personality, clear teaching, sense of whimsy, and focus on community. A dancer for more than 40 years, she teaches English Country Dance using global/positional language and strategies in a variety of settings including for college academic credit and for older adults. Brooke has been on staff at week-long dance and music camps, weekends, festivals, and events throughout North America, England, and Australia. She has led numerous workshops for callers, including online courses, using a balance of engaging material, lively discussions, and interesting exercises. A dance choreographer, she and Chris Sackett have published six books of dances (Impropriety Vols. 1-6) and produced seven CDs with the band Roguery.

Registration

This year we are using a sliding scale model to make this course accessible to more people. The sliding scale fee you choose will not affect your chance of getting into the course.

Full fee$1,080Covers all tuition, room, and board costs, so that we can pay our program staff and the wonderful facility we use. If you can afford to pay the full price, thanks for helping us make camp sustainable.
Low-income rates$810-$945For those who can’t afford full price. If these scaled down options still leave camp out of reach for you, we want to help you get to camp with additional supporting funds.
Supporter rates$1,350-$1,620For those who can easily afford full price, and more. Your generosity makes this flexible pricing structure work and makes camp more accessible to more people. Thanks for supporting this community!

Some preference may given to applicants supported by their local community. Strong indicators of that support are our Affiliate priority and matching scholarship processes, where a CDSS Affiliate vouches for a participant and may offer some scholarship, asking CDSS to match that amount. This is a statement by people who know the individual, that the person is deserving of assistance and would benefit the local community by attending the course.

To learn more about available scholarships, visit our scholarships page.

To register, please log into the CDSS Commons, or visit our registration page for more information.