Dance, Music, & Song CampsAugust 17-23, 2026 // Plymouth, MA
Take your calling to the next level!
During American Dance & Music Week at Pinewoods
Instructor: Will Mentor
Size: max 10
Program Description
Are you a contra caller who wants to start calling square dances? Are you an experienced square dance caller looking for new skills or repertoire? Are you somewhere in the middle? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this course is for you!
Our work will start before camp with individual consultations via phone or Zoom. Course time at camp will be catered to the specific needs and goals of the participants, and participants will be able to dive right in and make the most of that time together.
Course Details and Participation Requirements
There is a limit of 10 participants for this course. Participants should have some calling experience either in contra dancing, square dancing, or both.
Pre-Camp Work
Each participant will be invited to two pre-camp conversations with instructor Will Mentor. The first will be to discuss individual skill levels and goals. Together you will come up with a set of squares and breaks that fit your objectives for the course, which you can begin working on independently. The second call will be a follow-up conversation about a month later to see how the practice is going and to adjust or add material as appropriate.
Based on these pre-camp sessions, Will will design a schedule for the week to maximize everyone’s at-camp time at the mic.
At-Camp Work
Due to the pre-camp prep, at camp you hit the ground running! After five minutes of introductory thoughts and reminders of ground rules, the first caller will walk a square/break through, prompt it to live music and dancers, and receive respectful/constructive feedback. This will repeat for the rest of the course sessions throughout the week.
Each participant is expected to attend at least two daily workshop sessions and will have the opportunity to call during an optional third session. A positive and supportive attitude is required, with plenty of care, patience, and good humor along the way.
Course Leader
Registration and Fees
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 Fees
| Standard Fee (2026) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $750 | $875 | $1,000 | $1,125 | $1,250 | $1,375 |
If you apply by March 8, you’ll be notified about your acceptance status around March 10. Applications received after March 8 will be reviewed on a rolling basis. If you are accepted to the course, you will also be accepted to its host session. The fee below covers both the course and the host session.
If the course is oversubscribed on March 8, there will be a lottery for admission, with some preference given to CDSS Members and applicants supported by their local community through priority admission nominations and/or matching scholarships. A CDSS Affiliate can vouch for a participant by nominating them for priority admission and/or offering funds for a matching scholarship. This kind of community support lets us know that the applicant would benefit the local community by attending the course! Matching scholarship funds are reserved for those with financial need.
