American Dance & Music Week at Pinewoods 2024

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

Program Directors

• Julie Metcalf
• Max Newman

Program Staff

• Chenda Cope
• Lindsey Dono
• Mary Fraser
• Lisa Greenleaf
• Jessica Harwood
• Sasha Hsuczyk
• Miriam Larson
• Will Mentor
• Mickey Nelligan
• Yaya Patterson
• Maggie Shar
• Ben Smith
• Matt Turino

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

Course Leader

Will Mentor

Program Description

This course is for callers who have at least some experience calling squares and/or contras.  Participants will focus on calling squares for one or more of the contexts listed below:

1. Contra dances
2. Old time square dances
3. One-off dances
4. Family dances

At camp, during the 1st and 3rd class periods, participants will walk through and prompt squares followed by friendly constructive feedback. During 5th period, there will be an optional Square Dance Party session for participants to practice calling squares for the wider camp community. Outside of these live-calling sessions, there will be optional meetings to talk about square dance calling. During the rest of day and evening, participants have full access to the American Dance & Music Week at Pinewoods program.