Donal Sheets, a New England-based multi-instrumentalist, grew up surrounded by traditional music and dance, playing classical cello and other instruments from a young age. He has spent many years playing American and Irish music and has taught and performed at music and dance festivals throughout the United States.
Hamish Swanson first attended Family Week at Ogontz when he was 9 and has grown up in the Boston folk dance community. With friend Sam Overbeck he danced with Hop Brook Morris and Great Meadows Morris and Sword, two youth teams in Sudbury, MA. He now dances Morris with the Pinewoods Morris Men as well as rapper sword dancing whenever he can. Having missed his friend Sam last year, he is thrilled to be on staff at Agassiz Village leading classes in which he was a student not too long ago.
Sam Overbeck first attended Family Week at Ogontz when he was 10 and has grown up in the Boston folk dance community. With friend Hamish Swanson he danced with Hop Brook Morris and Great Meadows Morris and Sword, two youth teams in Sudbury, MA. He now dances Morris with the Pinewoods Morris Men as well as rapper sword dancing whenever he can. Having missed Ogontz 2022, Sam is thrilled to be on staff at Agassiz Village leading classes in which he was a student not too long ago.
Daisy is a medievalist, storyteller, theatre director and dance teacher, and works as a lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton. Her storytelling weaves medieval narratives together with English folk song. Often moving, occasionally political, frequently feminist, just a little queer and regularly funny, Daisy’s stories underline the relevance and vibrancy of medieval narratives for today’s world. She also teaches folk dance, including ceilidh, Playford and contra, and enjoys making early dances lively and accessible for new and more experienced dancers.
Andrew Swaine is a dedicated folk dance geek and proponent. He researches and interprets historical country dances from the Playford collection and other contemporary manuscripts and publications, emphasizing having as much fun as the people who originally danced them. He is an experienced caller of English ceilidh and contra. He was responsible for defining many aspects of the style of Gog Magog Molly, and since moving to Sheffield now dances with Boggart’s Breakfast Border Morris.
Ann Percival is a pianist, guitarist, dancer, singer, erstwhile social worker, and artist. Ann’s dancing days started when her Norwegian grandparents took her dancing at the Sons of Norway hall in Brooklyn. At Girl Scout Camp she discovered that she loved singing. She has in recent years found special enjoyment teaching visual arts and crafts. Ann is a founding member of Wild Asparagus, The O-Tones, and Dear Ella. She is an exceptional dance musician for contras,
Luke Donforth loves sharing the joy of traditional dancing and has been doing so all over North America by writing dances and calling for over a dozen years. Luke brings a warm and welcoming presence to any stage. He draws from classic and new compositions to match the occasion from family dances to advanced weekends. His non-calling jobs include working at science museums, teaching physics at college, and writing a board book about contra.
Nicole Singer is a musician, teacher, organizer, dancer, and artist. Nicole has taught visual art at public elementary and middle schools in western Massachusetts for over ten years, living her childhood dream of becoming an artsy version of Miss Frizzle. When she’s not teaching art, she sings a lot, and organizes several song events. Nicole is a co-founder and organizer of Youth Traditional Song Weekend, co-author of CDSS’s Folk Sing Starter Kit (with Julia Friend),
Emily Troll plays fiddle and accordion and hails from South Portland, ME. An avid lover of French-Canadian and Old-time traditions, she’s spent many years at Pinewoods and Maine Fiddle camp honing her skills as informally as possible. You’ll often see Emily playing with her all-girl band, Anadama. When she’s not playing, she’s probably dancing. When she’s not dancing, she’s probably ripping weeds out of the garden.
Laurel Swift is an inspiring instigator of creative new projects and performances rooted in the folk arts. Laurel has choreographed and devised national touring dance productions for Morris Offspring, co-created and performed Under Her Skin with Debs Newbold, advised theatre and film companies on using folk music and dance material, performed and taught at festivals in the UK and America, founded an organization to develop youth folk arts projects, teaches and contributes to education projects in the UK,
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