Andrea Veltman

Andrea brings the stilting skills she learned in the group Women Walking Tall to our camp. A patient and careful teacher, she has gotten campers of all ages up on stilts, and to judge by the smiles, the view from up there is pretty good!

Annie Johnstone

Annie has used poetry, story, art, play, authentic movement and sound to invite people little and big to express their creativity in community for over twenty years. Her heart's food and best inspiration come from Nature and the Humor of Four-year-olds.

Bobbi Nickles

Bobbi Shearn Nikles is a talented and versatile musician with a special interest in Appalachian, Celtic, and jazz fiddle styles. Bobbi currently performs with Wake the Dead, Douce Ambiance, and at contra dances and is the Director of fiddlekids. Her warm teaching style, creative approach, and infectious love for the fiddle make her a sought-after teacher for students of all ages.

Clyde Curley

Clyde has been playing guitar, mandolin and fiddle for dancers all over the Pacific Northwest (and beyond) for more than thirty years. As one of the editors of the popular tune book "The Portland Collection," he keeps his nose close to the ground, sniffing out good tunes wherever they may be lurking. He's active these days in the Puget Sound region with the old-time band Toad Mountain Ramblers, the Quebecois band Group du Jour, and the post-modern contra fusion band The Noodles. A retired high school English teacher, Clyde keeps busy at home in Bellingham, WA., with various writing projects, including taking a run at The Great American Novel.

Jon Berger

Jon has played fiddle and button accordion for Morris, English country, and contra dances since 1976. He plays in the contra dance band Flashpoint, and is a regular musician at Bay Area and North Bay English country dances. Jon is well known for his powerful music and his ability to connect the music, the dancers and the dance.

Craig Johnson

Craig Johnson has been on staff of many BACDS weekends and dance weeks, playing piano, guitar, accordion and leading song. After he was recruited from the piano of the local Irish pub, he helped start the Santa Cruz contra in 1981, and began playing several contra and English country series (and for ritual dances) shortly after moving to San Francisco in 1984. He's been to all but two of the Family Weeks, and looks forward to many more.

Denise Ladwig

and her crew return to cater our meals. We're delighted: not only are they all enthusiastic about dance and music, but their food is truly stellar. Here's how Denise describes what's cooking: "We believe people enjoy our cooking in part because we're committed to making things not only as healthy as possible for folks and the planet, but also as delicious as possible. We use organic, in-season, sustainable produce, dairy, meat and fish choices as much as is possible and do our best to bring out the natural flavor and beauty of the food. Healthy doesn't mean boring when it comes from our kitchen!

Jerry Allen

Jerry Allen, co-founder of the BACDS Family Camp, is a singer, songwriter, storyteller, caller, guitarist/multi-instrumentalist, and dancer, and has performed all over the world.  We are delighted that he will be returning to lead Pied Piper and the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.

Julian Shaw

Julian, "The English Woodturner", is a professional woodturner, teacher and woodworking historian, and has been a green woodworker for the past 15 years. He currently teaches woodwork to fifth through eighth grades in Sebastopol, and adult classes in Santa Rosa. When not teaching, Julian can be found in his workshop making bowls, vases, posts, and other turned items.

Julie James

Julie was an international folk dancer in her youth. She later found English country dance, then Morris, and never looked back. A deep love and respect for these dance traditions has grown through the years of performing with Barleycorn Country Dancers, Sixpence Morris & Sword, then with the Los Angeles women’s side Pennyroyal Morris for nine years (seven of which she served as foreman). In 2000 Julie formed Wild Wood Border Morris, where she focuses on teaching complex, fun dances with an emphasis on both precision and exuberance. Shunning the “Yell loudly and carry a big enough stick, and no one will care whether the dance itself is any good” philosophy, Julie teaches innovation combined with respect for tradition.

Kalia Kliban

Kalia is a long-time morris dancer, clogger, juggler, dance teacher and woodworker.  She is putting together a splendid program this year, with always a few surprises.  What's in her bag of tricks this year?  You'll have to come to camp to find out.

Kathrine Gardner

Kathrine has delighted Contra and English dancers with her fiddling since the mid-80s. Band mates have included Cathie Whitesides (The Amazons), Craig Johnson and Jim Oakden (Guppies), Charlie Hancock (Contra Bandits) and David Brown (Uncle Dave). She has also been known to instigate sing-alongs of Broadway musical and Weird Al Yankovic songs.

Michael Barraclough

Michael was a Folk Camp leader in the UK for many years. He came across ‘country dancing’ at elementary school in England, but it was not until he went to a Barn Dance when he was 17 that he became hooked. He started calling in 1969 as the resident caller at Haystack Folk Club, the weekly London University folk dance and song club. He has danced with London Folk (the EFDSS national dance company), London Pride Morris Men (Cotswold), Manley Traditional Morris Men (NorthWest) and founded/directed the Queen Anne Dance Company (baroque). He has called at most of the major folk festivals in the UK and was the caller with the acclaimed electric folk-rock band Pyewackett for 10 years. Since 2002 he has called at many UK festivals including Bromyard, Whitby, Eastbourne, Lichfield, and Sidmouth. He has also run a monthly zesty contra series in Newbury and five ‘sell-out’ zesty contra weekends at Halsway Manor.

He brings his talents as a high energy ceilidh caller with his experience of dancing (and calling) contras and English Country Dance, both in the UK and the USA. In 2008 he emigrated to the USA and lives in the Washington DC metro area with his American wife. You can find more information, together with his interpretations of Playford dances at www.michaelbarraclough.com.

Nick Cuccia

"But I *am* dancing! It's just that my partner is electronic and has a lot of knobs!" is how Nick responds when asked why he's listening to music instead of dancing. Taking equal joy in producing contra, English, and other folk and couple dance music of the highest quality, Nick's credits as lead or assistant sound engineer include BACDS events and camps too numerous to list.

Stan Fowler

Stan returns as our lifeguard, and we couldn't be happier. In past camps, he's been a morris fool, a contortionist, and camp archivist, when he's not on duty keeping the waters safe for all. He's worked for years as a ranger at Glen Echo Park near Washington DC, and has been lifeguard for many family dance camps on the east coast.

Susan Michaels

Susan has been calling contras, squares, and family dances for 18 years and has toured extensively throughout the western United States and Canada. She is known for her dry, quirky humor and quick, no-nonsense teaching style and her goal at every dance is to facilitate the pleasure of the dancers. Susan is also an accomplished story-teller and games leader.

Kim Atkinson

Kim is a Northern California multi-percussionist who has been an energetic presence on the San Francisco Bay Area music scene since the 1970’s. His studies in Nigerian, Ghanaian and Congolese drumming led him to Brazilian shamanism, Caribbean music, American jazz, folk and popular music. Kim directs the Carnaval Spirit Parade Group, his rhythm fusion band “Samba Lumina” and performs with other groups in many styles.

Tina Fields

Tina calls contra and barn dances. She brings “day job” skills as a college professor to her teaching—but don’t be scared; there will be no quiz. Tina is also a singer & songleader for Queer Contra Dance Camp, a DIYer who loves making art out of junk, an outdoor leader, and incorrigible punster.

Mark Carroll

Mark has played piano and accordion at Bay Area English and contra dances and for Apple Tree Morris, and is co-founder of the Sebastopol English dance. Mark especially enjoys dancing English and squares, is taking a stab at longsword, and looks forward to a great time returning to camp!

Norm and Jan Kidder

Norm and Jan are expert in crafts of earlier days, be it wheat weaving or woodcraft. We’re delighted to have them return to camp this year.

Paul Kotapish

Paul is equally confident and inventive on every fretted instrument, and has distinguished himself on the stage for over 20 years. Recently, Paul has made a name for himself with his concerts and recordings with Kevin Burke’s Open House. His blazing guitar and mandolin work also help drive the Hillbillies from Mars, Wake the Dead, the Quirks, Euphonia, and other Northern California–based acoustic groups.

David James

David has spent time in western swing bands, symphony orchestras, pop/rock bands and ECD/Contradance bands. He’s the musician for Wild Wood Morris (Border) and Rising Phoenix Morris (Cotswold), and a member of the ECD/Contradance band Whirled Peas.

Angela Lloyd

A virtuosa on Washboard, Angela's performances are a whimsical braid of poetry, story and song played on Autoharp, Tenor Guitar, Spoon and Bell. Not only will she be providing us with bedtime stories, music and maybe even some afternoon stories, she'll teach us how to decorate and play our very own washboards! To learn more about Angela, you can visit her website at http://www.angelalloyd.com/index.htm.