Schedule Change Info

You might have noticed that our schedule for camps at Pinewoods looks a little different next year! We’ve received a lot of feedback and questions about the changes and wanted to share some of those conversations more broadly. So, here’s some additional information about why we are making these changes and how they will impact each CDSS session at Pinewoods.

We had a few overarching goals with this new schedule, which we will be monitoring over the next two years. Namely:

  • To help potential program staff have an easier time saying yes to working at camp. In recent years, many campers have requested program staff who are new to Pinewoods and who represent a more diverse array of traditions. For example, there are some fabulous BIPOC teachers and culture bearers who’ve been unable to join us for week-long camps; we hope that offering shorter sessions will make it easier for potential camp staff to say yes.
  • To reduce financial barriers for campers. Shorter sessions make camp more affordable both by lowering the registration fee and requiring fewer days away from work.
  • To engage people who have not attended CDSS camps before. For almost 100 years, most of our camps have been week-long sessions. There is beauty and magic in the arc of a community over the period of a week. But there are also many people—dancers, leaders, singers, and musicians—who are unable to attend full-week sessions. We want to offer camp experiences to them, too! By introducing shorter session options, we hope more of those folks will be able to come to camp.

As we considered various schedule options, we had to keep other things in mind, too. The new dates needed to work for the program directors who’d already committed to working with us in 2026. And we wanted to avoid scheduling conflicts with other similar dance and music events. We also decided not to shorten the intergenerational sessions this year to give families traveling with young children as much time as possible between the packing in and packing out of camp. And we prioritized scheduling these intergenerational sessions early in our season to avoid bumping up against school start dates. And, of course, all the changes we made had to fit neatly within the six-week window of time that we have at Pinewoods.

We’re excited about where we landed for 2026 and 2027 and are eager to see if these changes help us achieve the overarching goals above. Read on for more about how each session at Pinewoods will look next year.

Family Week at Pinewoods (July 19-26, 2026)

It makes sense to keep our family programming as early in the summer as possible to avoid school start dates. So Family Week will kick off our Pinewoods season and is staying the same the same length (7 nights). However, it will be starting a day later in the week, making it a Sunday–Sunday session.

Starting on a Sunday means the callers and musicians staffing the week can have other gigs on the previous Saturday if they like. It will also allow CDSS to move into camp without disrupting the preceding program’s last evening and will give the Pinewoods crew a one-day mid-season break between camper groups.

English Dance Week (July 26-August 1, 2026)

English Dance Week will move earlier in the summer and be one day shorter in length (6 nights). It will be a Sunday–Saturday session, which means callers and musicians could potentially maintain Saturday evening gigs on both ends of the session. The shortened length will also bring the camper fee down a bit.

Campers’ Week (August 1-8, 2026)

Campers’ Week has been at the tail end of our season for many years now, even as more and more school systems are starting earlier. We wanted to move it earlier in the season, so it’s now in the third slot. Like Family Week, we are keeping this one at 7 nights, running Saturday–Saturday as in previous years.

Harmony of Song & Dance (August 8-13, 2026)

Harmony of Song & Dance will be 5 nights/4 days next year, running Saturday–Thursday. This is the biggest change to an existing session. We did this for a number of reasons, namely to make the session more financially accessible to campers and open the door to hiring tradition bearers who have previously declined due to the session length. Harmony campers in particular have requested camp staff who are new to Pinewoods and who represent a more diverse array of song and dance traditions. We hope that offering a shorter session will make it easier for potential camp staff to say yes.

New! Adult Mini-session with Rotating Theme (August 13-17, 2026)

Brand new next summer! This 4-night/3-day mini-session running Thursday–Monday will feature favorite (and often requested!) program elements from various other sessions, drawing inspiration from its two adjacent sessions. In its first two years, the mini-session will fall between Harmony of Song & Dance and American Dance & Music Week and will have a particular focus on song.

The theme for 2026 is: SEA Session
Songs and English and American dance inspired by the deep blue!

In 2026, the new mini-session and Harmony of Song & Dance will be the most financially accessible programs in our summer line-up, with lower program fees and requiring campers to take fewer vacation days. Plus, folks who want a longer time at camp can come to both sessions and get a 9-night song-heavy Pinewoods experience!

American Dance & Music Week (August 17-23, 2026)

American Dance & Music Week will be one day shorter (6 nights) and will begin on a Monday. As a Monday–Sunday session, callers and musicians will be able to have full weekend gigs leading up to camp.

Early Music Week (August 23-29, 2026)

Early Music Week will wrap up our Pinewoods season, start a day later in the week, and be one day shorter, running Sunday–Saturday. Since most universities start later than elementary, middle, and high schools, we are experimenting with having this session close out our summer at Pinewoods. One bonus to this placement is that the weather in late August is typically cooler and kinder to the specialized instruments played by campers and staff at this week.

We hope to see you at camp next summer! Please email [email protected] if you have questions. And keep an eye out for additional information about the mini-session and special intensive courses in the works for next summer!