Don't fall into a dance rut! Take a step off that beaten path and come to the 1998 Fall Dance Weekend at Monte Toyon. Our camp's stellar staff is full of multi-talented people who straddle the borders between different dance genres. Our varied program will let you both indulge yourself in your favorite dance type and experiment with styles you might not have done much before -- or ever. We're also offering music workshops for both beginning and established musicians. Whether you live for the dance trance and the flirty balance or for smooth and swooping moves to scrumptious music, Fall Weekend will have something to please you.

Our Teaching Staff

• Bob Dalsemer, a world-class contra and squares caller from Brasstown, North Carolina, has been a favorite locally, where his warm personality and clear instruction have inspired square and contra dancers, cloggers, and aspiring callers at Spring Weekend, the May Swing and Hey and the Mendocino Country Dance Week. At Fall Weekend he'll teach a session of user-friendly contras (exceptionally smooth dances punctuated occasionally by something a bit out of the ordinary), as well as a session on Danish couple and set dances. Bob will also lead a fast-paced two-session workshop that features selected aspects of Modern Western square dance choreography while ditching the fancy outfits and recorded music.

  To beginning callers, learning to deliver the dance calls along with the music may seem like the main problem. Experience reveals that effective teaching, both of dances and of dance skills, is at least as important. In a workshop titled "Teaching Without Preaching," Bob will focus on this vital aspect of the caller's craft.

• Beverly Francis is renowned on the East Coast as a contra and English country dance caller. Her encyclopedic knowledge of dance repertoire inspired the Ring o' Bells Morris ditty, "Beverly Francis, she knows lots of dances..." -- not an idle rhyme! For Fall Weekend Beverly will teach a longsword dance new to the West Coast, the Inn River dance from Austria, which she has performed with her New-York based sword team, New World Sword. Beverly comes to us fresh from her successful programs on country dance and Jane Austen, which helped bring many new people to English dancing at Country Dance * New York (where she has also been a frequent Mistress of Ceremonies for their Playford Ball). In her Literary Connections session, Beverly will also show us the longstanding links between popular English country dances and popular literature, from early Playford through to this century, as well as explore the boundaries of English dance with sessions on "perpetual-motion" dances and on lush, romantic dances.
• Seattle's Mike Richardson was a big hit when he taught at Fall Weekend in 1992. He teaches and composes English and contra dances and tunes, and plays a sprightly fiddle. Mike will straddle the border between English and contra more than once, not only in his class on English and Contra Favorites, but in his Dance Band Workshop, suitable for both English and contra musicians. The band workshop will cover dance band issues from the most basic -- starting and stopping together, instrumental variation -- to the more sophisticated -- picking tunes that fit the dance, appropriate use of cheap tricks, and ways to keep callers happy and give them what they need even if it's not what they want. Mike will share his experience from both sides of the caller/musician border.

  Contra aficionados should make a point of attending Mike's class on "contra dance enlightenment," or transcending mere technical issues to achieve both community and dance nirvana. And finally, Mike will serve as both a caller and musician throughout the weekend.

• Carl Dreher, a dancer, musician, and general ritual dance maven who comes to us from Dallas, Texas, has taught ritual dance at camps from Pinewoods to Brasstown and Buffalo Gap, and many weekend festivals. His rapper and Cotswold morris classes, suitable for newcomers and ritual dance veterans alike, will zero in on "reaching out to the audience" and giving really hot performances. As part of this focus Carl will teach a flashy Bampton-style stick dance of his own composition, showing ways to make standard dance figures look better. The rapper sword workshop will include both standard figures and new ones, and will spend some time on looking at the rapper set as a stage space.
• Doug Olsen, who was well received at last year's Fall Weekend, and on staff for Mendocino English Week this year, will again lead singing, including a special Sacred Harp session on Sunday morning. Doug's extensive musical background includes many years performing and recording with Oak, Ash, and Thorn, and his sense of humor and good fellowship bring a lot to camp.

Our Musicians

The staff is chock full of musicians whose skills span multiple genres of dance music. Here's a brief rundown:

• The Guppies, known in their individual incarnations as Kathrine Gardner, Craig Johnson, and Jim Oakden, will serve as the primary contra band for Fall Weekend. Kathrine has been a mainstay in BACDS music circles for years -- she's currently a member of the Contrabandits, and is the nucleus for the community contra band Hell Broke Loose in Berkeley. Craig Johnson, when he's not being the linchpin that holds all of BACDS together, plays Irish, English, Morris, and American tunes on piano and accordion, and chants Gregorianly; Jim Oakden plays a wide range of wind and string instruments for English and American dance in both CDS and SCA venues, and is an accomplished archer.
• Dick Bagwell, longtime Fool for Deer Creek Morris Men (and yes, Fool is an official term) literally wrote the book on pipe and tabor playing, The Pipe and Tabor Tutor. Dick will play for English and morris.
• Jon Berger has played for morris, English Country, Scottish, and Irish dancing for almost twenty years. In his spare time between musical engagements, Jon attends Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.
• Chris Jong, well known as a folk-music radio host for the KUSP program, "Down on the Peripatetic Farm," is also one of the leading musical lights in the Santa Cruz/Monterey dance community.
• Ruth Anne Fraley, a long time pianist for English and Scandinavian and a founding accordionist for Deer Creek Morris Men, will play for English and Danish dancing, as well as Beverly's longsword class. Ruth Anne has been on staff for week-long camps at Pinewoods and Mendocino.
• Anise Feldman, fluent flautist and Accordionist from Hell, will play for English Country Dancing. Anise is also an English Country dance leader and a high-jumping morris dancer.

• A new feature of this year's camp is the Waltz Jam, which is designed to be particularly accessible to campers who have recently have crossed over from dancing to playing music and may be challenged by playing the notier jigs and reels up to tempo. This will be a chance to look at some less technically challenging tunes and work on making them beautiful. Conveniently enough, we'll hold the Jam in a space suitable for dancing.

A Kid-Friendly Camp

Fall Weekend aims to be child-friendly. Families are welcome! We'll set aside dorm space for adults bringing children. However, we don't have special programming for children, and parents remain responsible for their children at all times during camp. A parents' co-op will be organized so that everyone gets time to dance. Call camp co-manager Vanessa Schnatmeier at (650) 365-2913 to find out more about pricing and other arrangements for children.

Ready to register? Look for our flyer in the BACDS publicity mailing or at your local dance, or check out our web page at ./fw98.htmlx. For more information, call camp managers Alan Winston and Vanessa Schnatmeier at (650) 365-2913, or email meier@ssrl.slac.stanford.edu. This is a dance camp you won't want to miss!

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