Family Week at Pinewoods

Community. Song. Dance. Laughter.

Join us among the pines for a week full of magic and joy, music and dance, for young, old, and everyone in between. Family Week at Pinewoods is a rejuvenating and inspiring way to spend time with your children, your grandchildren, your nieces and nephews, or other children dear to you. Together, we participate in the rich traditional music, dance, and song program offered by our skilled staff.

Morning classes are enjoyed by age groupings, with younger participants delighting in traditional song, dance, stories, and crafts, facilitated by expert children’s educators. Meanwhile, teens and adults choose from an array of energizing community dance classes. Teens are welcome to join in adult activities throughout the day but also have a daily class of their own that will weave together music and dance with dynamic instructors.

Each day there are two all-community gatherings (morning and evening) where staff and campers alike share stories, songs, and talents. There is also time in the afternoon for campers to offer one-off classes, so bring your talents to share!

Nestled between two pristine New England ponds offering daily idyllic swimming and canoeing, both natural beauty and community spirit are ever-present. Together, we celebrate the charm of living in woodland cabins, eating delicious home-cooked meals, and participating in the rich traditional music, dance, and song program offered by our skilled staff.

-Naomi & Erica Morse, Program Directors

Saturday Arrival Schedule:

Saturday Departure Schedule: 

Draft Daily Schedule

Period 1

Ages 2-3: Songs, Stories, and Dancing! – Sophie Wellington

Join in the fun of interactive storytelling, silly games, and music and dance activities with Sophie!

Ages 4-5: Sing and Play! – Erica Morse

We will sing songs, play singing games, and learn finger plays. We will enjoy singing picture books and make simple crafts. Come ready to sing and play together!

Ages 6-7: Musical Frolics – Ann Percival

We will create a piece of community art, sing, dance, and frolic in all things musical.

Ages 8-9: Longsword – Erika Roderick with Natty Smith

How do wooden swords stick together to make a star? It’s your turn to learn! We will work as a team to learn a traditional English longsword dance and will get to perform it for our camp community! Make sure to wear shoes or sneakers that stay on securely.

Ages 10-12: Social Dancing Fun – Imogen Mills with Owen Morrison and Aaron Marcus

We will learn aspects of community, contra, and English dancing, with a focus on giving weight and being playful. We’ll also sing songs and play games.

Ages 13 and up: English Country Dance for All – Margaret Bary with Karen Axelrod and Anna Patton

Celebrate the day by joining hands with others to share the joy of English Country dance. Inspired by glorious tunes, repertoire will range from 17th century Playford to modern choreography. Margaret will offer clear instruction to orient beginners, along with style tips and challenges for more experienced dancers. All levels are welcome.

Ages 13 & up: Rapper for All – Laurie Cumming

Never tried rapper before? Tried it and want another chance to ‘get it’? Come to this class and learn some classic short-sword moves along with a few more challenging figures to get the blood flowing (not literally, we hope)! This class will be paced according to the desire of the participants and will build towards creating a satisfyingly brisk dance to perform. Some stepping experience is helpful though not essential. Hard-soled shoes preferred.

Period 2

Ages 2-3: TBD – Chris Kelly

Description coming soon!

Ages 4-5: Singing, Dancing and Storytelling – Margaret Bary

Lively songs and dances with a sprinkle of silliness mixed in. We’ll have a barrel of fun, engaging our imagination with stories and creative explorations.

Ages 6-7: Singing, Dancing, and Games – Imogen Mills

We will learn songs by ear, community dances, and music and social games. Come ready to play, move, and share!

Ages 8-9: Musical Adventures – Ann Percival

Mornings with Ann will be a potpourri of singing games, crankie making, clapping, and singing… lots of singing!

Ages 10-12: Border Morris – Natty Smith with Aaron Marcus

Dancing with grace and power! We’ll learn a few border morris stick dances that will bring joy to the dancers and thrill our audience. Come wearing sneakers! We will also play games, goof around, and get up to general high jinks.

Ages 13 and up: Appalachian Flatfooting from the Ground Up – Sophie Wellington with Naomi Morse

In this all-levels flatfooting class, we’ll focus on learning three basic flatfooting steps and using them to improvise. This class will help folks understand and feel the rhythms deeply rooted in old time fiddle music, with a focus on repetition and groove. No experience necessary. Please bring a pair of hard-soled shoes (leather, hard plastic, etc.) that don’t grip the floor. Check out thrift stores for affordable options, test ’em out before buying them for sound and grip—and comfort of course!

Ages 13 and up: Morning Cup of Dance – Susan Michaels with Eden MacAdam-Somer and Owen Morrison

Start the day off right with fun and flowing contras and squares. Learn new figures and revisit favorites from the past. Level up your swing! Gender neutral. All welcome.

Period 3

All ages (under 9 with a parent): Community Art – Ann Percival

This is a class for everyone! We will gather and make art—chatting, laughing, and sometimes singing. Using a variety of mediums, we will have a relaxing, creative time together. No previous art experience necessary!

Ages 8 and up: All-Comer’s Chorus – Anna Patton

For anyone who is excited to raise their voice in song: an all-comer’s chorus! We will spend the week working up a short set of charming and accessible harmony singing arrangements in 2, 3, and 4 parts. All songs will be taught by ear with word sheets. The repertoire will be mostly American songs that fall under the “folk” umbrella. Some will be “insta-songs” and a few will be more challenging pieces we will return to often through the week. No prior singing experience is needed.

Ages 8 & up: Creating a Mummers’ Play – John Mayberry

If you’ve seen a mummers’ play before, you know that it’s a loud performance of nonsensical doggerel presented by a group of people in disguise. These seasonal, community-based activities are still done in parts of England, Ireland, and Newfoundland. Many communities and cultures all around the world have ritual traditions of allowing certain kinds of excess, breaking of taboos, and doing things that are disruptive. These traditions often include disguising and saying formulaic things, like we still do when we trick-or-treat at Halloween. John will guide the class in finding our own brand-new play to share with everyone at the end of the week. This is not “acting,” just playing with words and story. No experience necessary.

Ages 10 and up (younger with permission): Family Band – Eden MacAdam-Somer

Musicians of all ages and abilities are invited to join this week’s family band, led by Eden MacAdam-Somer. We’ll work with familiar tunes, learn some new ones (maybe even write our own!), develop our sense of rhythm and groove, arrange some medleys for dances, explore harmony and improvisation, and more, depending on the needs and interest of participants.

Late Afternoon

Ages 13-17: Teen Class – Imogen Mills with Sophie Wellington

Games, dances, and songs, with a focus on leading in community.

All Ages: Stories – Susan Michaels

Relax and recharge with great, real-life stories—a mix of personal shenanigans, family history, and little-known stories from our shared past (history of the flying saucer anyone?). Bring your own short family story to share. Also, feel free to bring your favorite plushie friend for a stuffed animal story swap. Bring favorite poems too!

Ages 10 and up: Instrument / Singing Jam – Various Staff

Description coming soon!

Camper-led Activities

Description coming soon!

CDSS camps use a variety of calling terms, including gendered and non-gendered role terms, as well as positional language, at the discretion of each week’s Program Director. Read more about CDSS and dance calling language here.

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

Sliding Scale Adult Fees

Fees for kids

You can find more information about the registration process here.

Program Directors

• Erica Morse
• Naomi Morse

Staff

• Aaron Marcus
• Ann Percival
• Anna Patton
• Chris Kelly
• Eden MacAdam-Somer
• Erika Roderick
• Imogen Mills
• John Mayberry
• Karen Axelrod
• Laurie Cumming
• Lily Kruskal Leahy
• Margaret Bary
• Natty Smith
• Owen Morrison
• Sophie Wellington
• Susan Michaels