“It will be, without a doubt, the most fun you’ve had in a long time.”
–Helen Whitty
July 20-27, 2024 // Plymouth, MA
Dance, sing, play, repeat: contra party in the woods!
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As of July 29, this session is over-subscribed. If you register, we’ll add you to the waitlist and let you know when space becomes available for you.
Already registered? Click the button below to log into your Camp Registration Home page to review, update, and make payments.
Program Description
An Incomparable Week of Contras & Squares, Tunes & Songs, and More!
American Week 2024 promises a week full of what you love plus the joy of discovery and making new friends. Young or old, new or experienced, come relax amidst our participatory, welcoming vibe and the pressure-relieving radiance of Pinewoods Camp.
We’ve hired a set of superlatively supportive and talented teacher-performers. Once again, we’re excited to showcase a number of staff new to Pinewoods from near and far alongside some familiar friends.
The Dancing: Delightful contras and squares will leave you more in love with dancing than when you arrived. Workshops on waltz and couples dancing alongside Cajun two-steps, swing, and more will give variety to your feet. We’re hosting a square dance callers’ intensive this year, so enjoy bonus chances to dance (and play) for squares.
The Music: For dancing, our heartbeat is soul-filling and transporting Midwest contra groove and deep doses of hot-hot-hot cross-country old-time. You could fill your day as a singer or instrumentalist. For singers: country harmonies, vocal improvisation, and shape note singing. For instrumentalists: instrumental workshops on old-time and contra dance styles, and plenty of jams. Attune your ears to the sounds of twin fiddles, pulsing jawharp, and New England chestnuts.
Plus!: The week is full of chances for fun: creative parties, glorious pub singing, joyous jamming, “magickal” stories, art and print-making, the Raccoon Bar social hour and old-time jam, and yoga!
Camper-led opportunities include one-off Hot Shots sessions, as well as performing at the campers night dance and the Roadhouse late night.
There are many chances to learn and participate. No matter your level, bring your shoes, your voice, and your instruments to join in. And there will still be plenty of time to just sit back and enjoy yourself by the pond. You’ll leave you glad you came and rejuvenated, relaxed, and inspired.
~ Max Newman & Julie Metcalf, Program Directors
Schedule
Arrival & Departure
Saturday Arrival Schedule:
3:00 pm | The earliest you can start arriving at camp |
4:30-6:00 | Welcome Party & lifeguard on duty for swimming |
6:00 | Tour of Camp starting from the Camphouse |
6:30 | Dinner |
7:30 | Orientation gathering |
8:15 | Opening night dance and party |
Saturday Departure Schedule:
7:45-8:15 am | Breakfast |
10:00 am | Final departure |
Daily Schedule
7:45 am | Breakfast |
8:35-8:50 | Morning Song |
9:00-10:00 | Class Period 1 |
10:15-11:15 | Class Period 2 |
11:25-12:00 | Gathering |
12:30 pm | Lunch |
2:00-3:00 | Class Period 3 |
3:15-4:15 | Class Period 4 |
4:30-5:30 | Class Period 5 |
5:45-6:29 | Raccoon Bar and Old Time Jam |
6:30 | Dinner |
8:00-10:30 | Evening dance |
10:30 onward | After-dance activities |
Class Descriptions
Early Mornings
Morning Song – Yaya Patterson
Warm up your body and your voice with the vocal equivalent of an adaptogenic-ginger-turmeric-oatmilk-latte… thing. Just come if you want to start the day in song. Yaya will bring some songs to share, and you can too.
Voice Coaching – Yaya Patterson
Find Yaya to sign up for a half-hour, one-on-one session. With a warm and encouraging teaching style, Yaya is excited to help you develop your skills and confidence. Whether you are looking to get more comfortable in your singing voice, looking to work up a swing standard for honky-tonk night, or just want someone to bounce ideas off of, this is a wonderful opportunity.
Period 1
Sunny-side Up Contras – Lindsey Dono with the Mean Lids
Graceful and groovy contras to start off your morning.
Playing and Listening to Old-time – Mary Fraser
A playing and listening class. We will learn and play some tunes, talk about the Old Time music tradition and its history, and listen to archival examples for understanding of the tradition and as inspiration for playing.
Close Harmony – Chenda Cope and Sasha Hsuczyk
In this workshop we will learn to hear and practice close harmony singing in the style of the Carter Family and early Stanley Brothers, building blocks of later bluegrass and country harmonies. We will learn songs together then pair off to practice and come up with your own close harmonies.
Yoga – Jessica Harwood
Drop in and get your stretch on with guided yoga.
Square Dance Callers Course
By pre-registration only. Square Dance Callers Course
Period 2
Square ’em Up – Will Mentor and Lisa Greenleaf with Mary Fraser, Maggie Shar, Sasha Hsuczyk, and Chenda Cope
Square ‘em up with Will and Lisa as they tour the country via squares of all types. We’ll have lots of fun with cool moves you only find in hot squares! All are welcome.
Moaning and Groaning: Non-lexical Vocables – Yaya Patterson
A workshop on the art of vocalizing beyond (and even without) words. Participants will explore the history and American traditions of wordless singing. Participants will get an opportunity to draw connections between different cultures as well expand their own vocal repertoire. Prepare to make your own song of nonsense syllables.
Looking Under the Lid: Mean Lids Music Workshop – Matt Turino, Miriam Larson and Ben Smith
Join the Mean Lids for a dive into music making music. Topics include: how to use the density of music to create and build or lessening feelings of excitement or more peace and openness, creating an emotional arc over the course of a dance, and creating space in your music while maintaining a dance-able rhythm. All levels of musicians or music interest welcome.
Period 3
Complex Contras – Lindsey Dono with Julie Metcalf and Matt Turino
Explore the far reaches of contra choreography from ‘zesty’ classics to recently-written brainbenders, honing recovery techniques and teamwork skills along the way.
Printmaking and Book Arts – Chenda Cope
Relief printing, stencils and book making with artist Chenda Cope. We will learn techniques that you can continue on your own without a press!
Square Dance Callers Course
By pre-registration only. Square Dance Callers Course
Period 4
Waltz Etcetera – Lindsey Dono with Julie Metcalf, Ben Smith and Max Newman
Each session will begin with a stand alone 20 minute open-level ‘danceshop’ on waltz, east coast swing, etc. Following the workshop, Julie, Ben, and Max will play waltzes and more.
Old Time Banjo – Maggie Shar
Time to learn a few tips, tricks, and tunes to up your frailing game. We are planning a survey before camp to get a sense of what experience levels are coming and how best to structure the class, but we are expecting this to be aimed at beginner-intermediate level. New banjo players are welcome to drop in.
Making Giant Puppets – Miriam Larson
Description coming soon!
Shape Note Singing – Sasha Hsuczyk
Come sing some rousing four-part harmony music out of the Sacred Harp! No prior experience required! Our main goal will be to get singing as much as possible, but we will contextualize our singing with some history about the Sacred Harp and also some shape note theory. Don’t be afraid of the theory – we will explore how shape note notation is even simpler to understand and read than regular notation that only uses round notes.
Period 5 and Beyond
Hot Shots
A time for one-offs. This could be dance, song, craft, a walk in the woods, a genre jam session, etc. Most of these will be camper-initiated, so bring your ideas!
Raccoon Bar
Snacks. Beverages (including non-alcoholic). And old-time music. In the key of the day. All are welcome. Just a good old-time
Dance Terminology
Contras and squares | Larks/Robins |
Couple dances | Lead/Follow |
Registration and Fees
This year we are using a sliding scale model at this week to make camp accessible to more people. The sliding scale fee you choose will not affect your chance of getting into camp.
Full fee | $1,080 | Covers 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-$945 | For 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-$1,620 | For 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! |
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.
You can find more information about the registration process here. If you need financial assistance in order to attend, please go to our scholarships page.