Raised in the cradle of Vermont’s Green Mountains, Mary Wesley found her way to a Burlington contra dance in the fall of 2005 and was immediately hooked. She was later happy to learn that the tradition is in her DNA – she is the granddaughter of two square dance callers!
Mary loves to share her infectious joy for traditional dancing with dancers of all ages and she has something to offer every crowd.
Jennifer Armstrong is a long time friend of music, story and dance. She grew up performing with her parents George and Gerry Armstrong in the Chicago area and sang on the first Golden Ring recording when she was 5 years old. She has twice been a featured teller at the Jonesborough Storytelling Festival and first taught at Pinewoods Camp when her daughters Georgia Rose and Suzannah Park were babies! She is delighted to still be traveling about with a song to sing,
Erica Morse grew up surrounded by the folk music and dance community and attended Family Week at Pinewoods throughout her childhood. She was an elementary school teacher for many years, and she currently she teaches preschool music. In addition to teaching she plays bass, cello, and sings. She enjoys working in her garden, hiking, swimming and skiing, and playing with her three-year-old. She lives in Vermont with her wife and daughter.
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,
Fiddler and dancer Joanne Garton mixes her pervasive passion for Scottish culture with the drive and rhythms of the New England dance floor. Ten musical years in Montreal and two in Scotland provided ample influence and inspiration for traditional tunes and the art of teaching them. A resident of Montpelier, Vermont for the last 15 years, Joanne teaches fiddle, trad band class, and dance to kids and adults, performs on stage, plays in sessions,
Rebecca McGowan is a dancer and teacher of traditional Irish dance in the Boston area. Drawing on the musicality of older-style step dance and the joy of social dance traditions, Rebecca is interested in exploring step dance as music and making Irish dance lyrical and approachable. She performs with duet partner Jackie O’Riley and co created a unique visual album, From the Floor. Rebecca has been on the faculty of the Catskills Irish Arts Week,
Natty Smith is a dancer, singer, and fiddler from Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has been dancing with teams like the Pinewoods Morris Men, Thames Valley, International, Maple Morris, and Candyrapper VSOP for decades. Now the foreman of one team, frequent organizer for others, and musician for many, he has also recently enjoyed teaching the morris dancing for The Midwinter Revels in Cambridge. His favorite Morris tradition is Oddington, which, unfortunately, does not feature his favorite morris step—plain capers straight into a galley.
Lily Kruskal Leahy grew up attending Family Week at Pinewoods, starting at age 4! The skills she learned there resulted in a lifelong love of music, dance, and community. She has been teaching longsword, morris dancing, and other traditional dances and songs to children for the last 20 years at CDSS Family Camps, and for various other organizations. She also had the privilege of being Program Director for Family Week at Ogontz for 3 years.
Naomi Morse grew up surrounded by music and dance in the folk communities of New England (including Family Week!). She is known for her energetic and driving fiddle playing for both contra and English Country dancing and finds sounds both fiery and flowing in various styles of roots music including American old time, New England, Irish, Quebecois, and Scottish. Her bands have included The Poor Cousins, Night Watch, Housetop, and the mega-fiddle-band Childsplay and she has toured extensively with the world music ensemble Northern Harmony.
Photo and bio coming soon!
Dance, Music, & Song Camps