Hey Days Staff
Joseph Pimentel (TX) is a popular caller at dance events throughout the country and further afield, drawing on a broad repertoire of English country, contra, and community dances. His calling combines clear teaching, discriminating taste in dances, and respect for tradition. Joseph has published two books of dances—The Cardinal Collection and The Goldcrest Collection. The latter has a companion CD featuring Goldcrest, who will also be at Hey Days.
A native New Englander, Joseph began square dancing in the late 70s while in high school and discovered contras at the University of New Hampshire. As a graduate student in the 90s, he found the wonderful and thriving traditional dance community in Ann Arbor MI, where he learned of the joys of English country dance, met Erna-Lynne Bogue, who mentored him as he learned to call, and founded a long-standing gender-free dance. Joseph has been an active dance organizer in Ann Arbor and Columbus OH, and is a former board member of the Country Dance and Song Society.
Joseph will teach two ECD classes and a Callers Workshop.
David Millstone (NH) is known for his clear and supportive teaching style, the breadth of his repertoire, his sense of humor, and his ability to pick dances that offer the right level of challenge for all audiences. He has called throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in eight countries in Europe. David started contra dancing in the early 1970s and has been calling for nearly 40 years. With an American repertoire ranging from traditional New England chestnuts to high-energy recent compositions, he calls contras, squares, and interesting dances in odd formations. David is an experienced English country dance caller and he also enjoys calling for family dances, weddings, and other special events. He has been a staff member at week-long family dance camps run by the Country Dance and Song Society.
A dance historian, David is co-author of Cracking Chestnuts, a book about classic American contra dances published by CDSS. He coordinates the Square Dance History Project, a major initiative that is building a digital library —moving images, audio clips, photographs, and text — exploring all different styles, past and present, of square dance. His video documentaries about Bob McQuillen, Dudley Laufman, and Ralph Sweet are well regarded. David served for six years on the Governing Board of the Country Dance and Song Society, and he is now CDSS President.
David will teach two ECD classes and a Square Dance class.
Mary Devlin (OR) has called dances, taught workshops, and appeared at festivals and dance camps throughout the US and in Canada and Europe, including the Silkeborg Konvent dance weekend in Denmark, and several courses at Halsway Manor. Mary teaches English country, contra and square dancing, and she especially enjoys developing and leading workshops designed to enhance dancers' skill and pleasure in dancing. She also loves to work with callers of all levels, from beginner to experienced. Mary has been program director for two CDSS English-American Weeks at Pinewoods, for two BACDS English Dance & Music Weeks at Mendocino, and for the first two years of Hey Days. She was on the Country Dance and Song Society Governing Board for a number of years and is a CDSS Past-President.
Mary is our program director for 2016.
Fred Todt (TX) inspires experienced and reluctant singers alike to raise their voices in boisterous and joyful song. His comfortable confidence, strong voice, and gentle guidance quickly have everyone singing and smiling.
Fred will lead a Shape Note class.
Dan Kozloff (CA) has taught acting for thirty years at the Jean Shelton School in San Francisco, St. Mary’s College in Moraga, the Drama Studio London at Berkeley, the College of the Redwoods, the Mendocino Art Center, Mendocino High School, and privately. He has been a valued actor at the Mendocino Theatre Company since 1984.
Dan will teach an Introduction to Acting class.
Shira Kammen (CA), a multi-instrumentalist (primarily violin, vielle, and viola) and vocalist, has spent most of her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. She is a favorite at dance camps and events around the country. A member for many years of the early music ensembles Alcatraz, Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Folger and Newberry Consorts, Anonymous 4, the Boston Camerata, the Balkan group Kitka, and the Oregon, California and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals. Shira is the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble dedicated to performance on river rafting trips. She has performed and taught in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Israel, Morocco, and Japan, and on the Colorado, Rogue and Klamath Rivers. Shira happily collaborated with singer/storyteller John Fleagle for fifteen years, and performs now with many ensembles, among them the English Country Dance band Roguery. Shira has recorded many albums in a variety of styles of music and has played on several television and movie soundtracks, including 'O', a modern high school setting of Othello and ‘’The Nativity Story’. Some of her original music can be heard in an independent film about fans of the work of JRR Tolkien. The strangest place Shira has played is in the elephant pit of the Jerusalem Zoo.
Shira will play for ECD and teach a singing class.
Three seasoned musicians of national reputation and steeped in the folk dance traditions of Appalachia, New England, and the British Isles come together to form the band Goldcrest. Named for a British songbird with close relatives in the Americas, Goldcrest features fiddler Daron Douglas, pianist Dave Wiesler, and multi-instrumentalist Paul Oorts in a trio producing country dance music of exceptional quality and unsurpassed variety.
Dave Wiesler (DE) started playing piano for folk dancing a bit over two decades ago and quickly fell in love with its rhythmic drive, variety, and improvisational elements. A self-described mockingbird, adept at learning and imitating different styles of music, Dave is a nationally recognized accompanist for many types of dance (Scottish and English country dance, contra dance, waltz, swing dance) and can fake his way through an awful lot of other music genres, ranging from ragtime and vintage dance to classic rock, from Romantic-era classical music to Brazilian choro music. He has played at numerous music and dance camps and festivals across the country, as well as in Canada, Scotland, England, France, and onboard a ship traveling the waters of the Galapagos Islands. Dave is a patient music teacher, a capable guitarist and singer, and a prolific composer of over 300 tunes, songs, solo piano pieces, choral arrangements, and even a few classical pieces arranged for small orchestra. He lives in Newark, DE, with his supportive wife, two sons for whom he is primarily a chauffeur, and two cats that he’s allergic to. Besides Goldcrest, some of Dave's other bands include the Gigmeisters, Cabaret Sauvignon, The Avant Gardeners, Green Light Karma, and Thistle House.
Dave will play for ECD and square dance.
Daron Douglas (LA) combines the precision and tone of a classical violinist with the energy and soul of an Appalachian fiddler. She grew up in the Appalachian hills, learning traditional ballads from her grandmother and studying classical music through college. Daron has been on staff at many dance camps nationally, including CDSS camps, at Ashokan, and at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC. Daron also plays with dance bands Foxfire and Misbehavin', with pit orchestras, and with blues bands. She also brings a rich repertoire of songs from her great-grandmother, who was one of Cecil Sharp's informants in the southern mountains.
Daron will play for ECD and square dance.
Paul Oorts (MD) is in demand on the dance circuit for his driving rhythms, creative improvisations, and stylistic versatility. Paul plays an array of instruments, including mandolin, banjo, cittern, musette accordion, and harp guitar. A native of Belgium, he is well versed in Flemish and continental European music and performs regularly with his wife, flutist and dulcimist Karen Ashbrook. His recordings include Celtic Café and KA/PO with Karen, and The Goldcrest Collection with Goldcrest.
Paul will play for ECD and teach a music ensemble class.
Erik Weberg (OR) plays flutes, harmonicas, and bombardes (yes, plural). He is a regular musician at English country dances in Portland, and he organizes and plays for a monthly contra dance with the band Joyride. He is also an English and contra dance caller, performing at festivals and weekends around the country. Erik is caller and co-producer of the Portland Megaband contra dance event and is co-programmer of the Northwest Passage Dance and Music weekend in Portland, Oregon.
Erik will play for ECD and teach the band class.
Betsy Branch (OR) has been a mainstay of the Portland, Oregon dance community for many years. Her exuberant dance fiddling has delighted dancers on both coasts and her warmth and engaging smile extend beyond the stage and draw in dancers and listeners alike. Betsy is an accomplished harmony singer and song leader and has taught singing and harmony workshops around the country. Most recently, she was on staff at CDSS Harmony of Song and Dance at Pinewoods. She is the Associate Music Director of Portland’s Revels theater company, and their house fiddler. Betsy plays for English and Irish dancing, and in several contra dance bands, including Wild Hair and The Quarks, and is a leader in the Portland Megaband. Her primary passion is teaching and mentoring fiddlers and dance musicians. Betsy teaches privately out of her home in SE Portland, and for workshops around the region. When not playing or teaching, she works as a music editor, arranger, and transcriber.
Betsy will play for ECD and square dance, and teach a music theory class.
Lisa Scott (OR) is an accomplished pianist and teacher. Coming from a musical heritage, she earned a Bachelor of Music at Lewis and Clark College. She studied the art of accompaniment at the University of Southern California and in New York. She began Scottish dancing, soon earned her preliminary teaching certificate, and then learned to play for Scottish dance. Lisa has played piano for Scottish dance in the U.S., Canada, and Japan, and Scotland. Many years ago she fell in love with English country dance and music and has been playing for workshops and balls ever since. Lisa's sensitivity to dance rhythms and her lyrical style make her music a joy for dancers.
Lisa will play for ECD.
Bill Tomczak (OR) has been playing clarinet for folk dance of one kind or another since 1979. A member of the contra dance band Latter Day Lizards, he has also recorded with BLT, Wild Asparagus and Yankee Ingenuity, and appears on the recordings Cascade of Tears and Gypsy Wine with Mary Lea and friends. Since moving to Portland, he plays clarinet, saxophone, and percussion with Fine Companions and The Quarks for both English country and contra dance.
Bill will play for ECD and teach a music improv class.
Alan Roberts (WA) will return after doing a great job as sound engineer the past two years. A regular sound engineer at dance events in the Northwest and at CDSS weeks at Pinewoods, he is also a fiddle player and dancer. Aware of the nuances that make us happy, he is able to provide a great experience for callers, band members, and dancers.