Contra Dance Musicians Intensive

June 13-20, 2026 // Lexington, MI

Developing the Musical Arc

This course, held concurrently with Dance, Music & Spice at Camp Cavell, is designed and led by Sarah-Hadley Yakir (fiddle) and Kristen Planeaux (piano, accordion, flute), who are two thirds of New England contra dance band River Road.

Program Description

This course is part of the Community Contra Lab at Dance, Music & Spice this year! Three specially designed intensive courses—for callers, musicians, and sound operators—will be woven together through shared labs, practice dances, and cross-course exercises designed to show how each role supports the others. You’ll gain practical insight into the whole ecosystem of a contra dance, learning how great communication and teamwork elevate every role on the floor and on stage.

Music is the glue that holds everyone together in the contra dance hall. The band’s job is not only making expressive music that propels dancers, but also working within the limitations of the dance form and communicating with callers, sound people, and each other. This will be an opportunity for intermediate to advanced musicians to deepen the skills of playing and arranging music for dances. We will explore how to tell a musical story through an 8- to 10-minute dance and not get bored! Through a combination of playing, brainstorming, discussion, and close listening in groups big and small, we will take a deep dive into the following:

Tempo
Melody and phrasing
Exploring chords and textures
Matching tunes to dances
Building and arranging sets
Playing the musical long game
Band communication and listening skills
Working with the caller and communicating effectively
Working with sound operators
Using cues from dancers to inform your playing

We will hone the skills of listening to and locking in with our bandmates in both rehearsal and gig settings in addition to leaving space for improvising on the fly, all while engaging and supporting dancers. These skills are relevant to both developing your own band’s sound and being an effective player in an open band or pick-up band.

Course Details and Participation Requirements

There is a limit of 20 participants for this course. It is geared toward intermediate to advanced musicians who are able to play tunes at dance tempo and have some experience playing for contra dances.

Pre-Camp Work

While there is no formal audition or application for this course, a list of tunes with recordings and sheet music will be sent out beforehand; participants are expected to learn them before coming to camp as minimal class time will be spent learning tunes.

At-Camp Work

Each day we will meet as a group for two hour-long class periods. You will have additional chances to play in small ensembles for the daily afternoon contra dance class and during Camper Night. Throughout the week, there will also be opportunities to work with participants in the Sound Operators Intensive and learn more about communicating with the sound engineer and understanding the live sound needs of your particular instrument.

Contra musicians playing in a circle — Photo by Doug Plummer

Course Leaders

Registration and Fees

If you apply by March 8, you’ll be notified about your acceptance status around March 10. Applications received after March 8 will be reviewed on a rolling basis. If you are accepted to the course, you will also be accepted to its host session. The fee below covers both the course and the host session.

If the course is oversubscribed on March 8, there will be a lottery for admission, with some preference given to CDSS Members and applicants supported by their local community through priority admission nominations and/or matching scholarships. A CDSS Affiliate can vouch for a participant by nominating them for priority admission and/or offering funds for a matching scholarship. This kind of community support lets us know that the applicant would benefit the local community by attending the course! Matching scholarship funds are reserved for those with financial need.

Camp fees cover all accommodation, meals from dinner on the arrival day to breakfast on the departure day, and all of the various dance, music, and song events in the program.

This year, all of our weeks have sliding scale pricing for adults to help make camp financially accessible to more people. The fee you choose will not affect your chance of getting into camp.

How it works:

The standard camper fee covers program staff pay and travel costs, facility fees, and all of the other costs associated with running this camp week.
The higher price options allow you to add an additional amount to your registration fee to help make camp more accessible to more people. Thanks for supporting this community!
If the standard camper fee doesn’t work for you, no worries! Feel free to choose one of the lower price options.
If the lower price tiers still leave camp out of reach for you, we encourage you to apply for a scholarship and/or work exchange. See our Scholarships page for more details