Schedule and Class Descriptions 2025
Hey Days 2025 will open on Sunday June 15, 2025. Dinner will be served that evening and will be followed by a dance. The week will close after breakfast on Sunday, June 22. If you like to dance, sing, play music, take workshops, and party all day long and into the wee hours, the schedule provides that opportunity. You may also choose to take time off to visit with friends, relax in the sun, swim in the pool, go for a walk, or peruse the well-stocked bookstore. Either way, take this opportunity to try something new!
7:45-8:45 am - Breakfast
9:00-10:00 am - Class Period 1
ECD Explorations
For dancers of ALL abilities
Rachel Pusey
Join Rachel for an exploration of various aspects of English Country Dance. Each day we will play with a different idea: the delight of dancing basic figures with musicality and grace, ways to think about the patterns we make on the dance floor, how to be the dancer you’d like to dance with, and more. Tips for learning dances, recovering from mistakes, dancing safely, and inclusion will be woven throughout the week.
Waltzing Through Life: A Historical Waltz Sampler
For dancers of ALL abilities
Renée Camus
Learn the basic “country-style” or rotary waltz, and you’ll be able to comfortably dance any waltz heard at a contra or English country dance. We'll also look at several variations of the waltz throughout history, considering a different style each day, including Regency-era, mid-century Victorian waltz, late-century Viennese waltz, modern box-step waltz, and cross-step waltz. Expand your general waltz skills and techniques — even if you had none to begin with — working on footwork, timing, frame, musicality, adjusting to different tempos, leading and following, and variations. By the end of the week, you’ll be a stronger dancer and a stronger partner, not just for waltz, but for all movement.
Music Class: Creating Harmony
For musicians of ALL levels
Rebecca King
Bring your instrument and play around with making harmonies. We’ll use scales, modes and easy music theory to create harmony for English Country Dance tunes. Take this class at your own level - beginning players can work on the tune while more advanced players can try harmonies and other improvisations, all in a safe environment. Music reading recommended. Bring your Barnes Books.
10:15-11:30 am - Class Period 2
ECD (Advanced): The Art of Untangling Knots
For SKILLED and ACCOMPLISHED dancers
Joanna Reiner-Wilkinson
What makes a dance “advanced”? Is it new or new to you? Does it feature different sensibilities than much of our modern ECD repertoire? Does it have a high piece count? This class will feature a wide variety of challenging dances, old and new, and explore the skills required to master complex choreographies. Cheerful recovery skills and knowledge of ECD figures and basic repertoire is expected!
ECD: Finessing Figures
For dancers of ALL abilities
Juliette Webb
Circles, rights and lefts, poussettes, figure 8s, heys…these individual figures are the building blocks of English country dance. We’ll look at a variety of basic figures as the starting point to explore how creative variations in figures themselves, combined with differences in timing, direction, and music, can influence how to make each dance a satisfying experience for you and other dancers.
Music Class: Around the World in Five Tunes
For musicians of ALL levels
Take a quick dive into several different styles of music and come away with a tantalizing taste of the many rich cultures of traditional music. Over the week we will play five tunes from various Celtic and Western European musical styles, ranging from Swedish polskas and Breton andros to Quebecois brandys. Each day we will choose one style and listen to prominent musicians, discuss the ornaments, and learn a tune or two!
Social Singing Nitty Gritty
Open to ALL
Chris Bracken
We’ll do plenty of singing as we discuss such things as what makes a good song and where to find some, what to do (and not do) to make a social singing session great, making a song your own, and how to tangle with problematic parts of our singing traditions.
11:40 am-12:10 pm - Daily Gathering
Facilitated by Chris Bracken, our daily camp gathering is a chance to entertain your fellow campers. Read a poem, tell a joke, perform a skit, sing a song…share your talents – sublime, ridiculous or somewhere in between.
12:15 - Lunch
1:30-2:45 pm - Class Period 3
ECD: The Scottish Connection
For dancers of ALL abilities
Rachel Pusey
Join us for a ‘hint of haggis’ - a cross-border journey through English dances with Scottish influences and accessible Scottish dances. On our travels we will look at the distinct ways our two traditions have evolved and what we can learn from each other.
Longsword
For dancers of ALL abilities
Longsword is an ancient, spectacular, and mesmerizing linked sword dance tradition from northeast England, with related forms across Europe. Long, straight, single-handled swords link dancers in a ring; moving over, under and around them creates fascinating patterns, culminating in a ‘lock’ or star of interwoven swords. Explore both traditional and invented figures, likely focusing on the dance "Happy Jack" as adapted by the Vineyard Swordfish from a traditional Manx dance. Be prepared to leap lightly over low swords and bend from the waist. Check out this video of Happy Jack (the dance starts at about one minute).
Music Class: Camper Band
For musicians of ALL levels
Michelle Masek (Levy)
Camper Band Class is a great way for musicians of all levels to connect with others to make inspiring dance music together! During the first part of the week, we'll learn and play the tunes that will be on the camper night program, when the staff dances and the campers call and play the music! We'll also learn and practice techniques for adding variety to the music in ways that complement the dance and the dancers. We'll play as one community ensemble, with Michelle conducting. More advanced players who want a challenge will have opportunities to take solos on camper band night. After camper night, we'll dive deeper into experimenting with accompaniment techniques. Bring your own instrument(s) and your Barnes books. While this band is open to all levels, to get the most out of the class, we strongly recommend that you be able to tune your own instrument and to play scales up to 3 sharps and flats in at least one octave. You should also be able to either read music fluently or be confident picking up tunes by ear.
ECD Caller's Workshop: The Art of Noticing
For dancers of ALL abilities
Joanna Reiner-Wilkinson
As callers, only part of our job is writing the dance program, conducting the walk-through, and calling the dance. So much of what we do is take in information about what is happening all around us. This class will explore the various things callers have to pay attention to while they are working: the dance form itself, individual dancers, the whole room of dancers, music and musicians, the community, and, of course, themselves. Class will consist of discussion, exercises, opportunities to practice calling, and a daily observational homework assignment.
3:00-4:00 pm - Class Period 4
ECD: The Art of Dancing Well
For dancers of ALL abilities
Joanna Reiner-Wilkinson
We’ll look specifically at the technique of English country dancing and consider the notion that how you move, how you hold your body, how well you transition between figures, change roles, and recover from mistakes directly affect, and hopefully increase your enjoyment of the dance.
Border Morris
For dancers of ALL abilities
Once upon a time, there was a border morris team in the city of Oxford called Rogue. The team is gone, but its vibrant repertoire lives on. We will explore stick dances for varying numbers and formations. Athletic capers and leaps are not required, just good focus for energetic stick-clashing choruses. Prepare to be dazzled while having fun!
Slow Jam
For musicians of ALL levels
Play a variety of tunes ranging from Klezmer to Medieval dance tunes, Gaita folk tunes to Germany rustic tunes, learning at a relaxing pace. Ability to read sheet music helpful.
Storytelling: Finding the Stories Inside of Us
Open to ALL
Charles Adams
Storytelling is perhaps the oldest art form of all, and it’s part of being human to want to tell them. Together we’ll examine our own histories, communities, families, and imaginations to find stories that make us laugh, that help us heal, that build relationships, and forge community. We’ll take an embodied approach to storytelling, finding the physicality of our characters, of their environments, and the actions they take. We’ll find their voices and their stances, and we’ll engage a bit of Junebug Theatre/The Free Southern Theatre’s approach to storytelling for community building and change. We'll explore storytelling basics like structure, grabbing attention, character and object placement, memorization, and more! And we’ll do a little bit of improvisation work that might help us when we get stuck. Drop-ins are fine; if you attend each session you’ll walk away with a polished story and skills that will help you develop and perform others!
4:15-5:00 pm - Class Period 5
Callers Open Mic
For callers and dancers of ALL abilities
Facilitated by Juliette Webb
Are you a budding caller who would like to practice your teaching and prompting skills? Then join us for our Open Mic session! This is open to any caller who wants to practice prompting tried and true dances in front of a kind, forgiving audience—and an opportunity to work with some of our excellent staff musicians. There may also be opportunities to receive feedback, if desired. And of course, callers can’t practice without willing dancers, so please join us! Anyone may join, and drop-ins are welcome.
Social Singing Circle
Open to ALL
Chris Bracken
Singing with a group of people is one of the more magical things in life - whether it's shouting the rousing chorus, leaning into a crunchy harmony, or feeling the soft vibration of a quiet chord in your bones. We'll do a lot of magic-making, including learning some easy choruses, trying out harmonies, and practicing leading songs. Bring a song (or several) to share, or come to enjoy singing the choruses.
Dance, Music, and More - Grab Bag Sessions
Open to ALL
staff and camper led
Experience a wide variety of one-day workshops led by staff and campers--something different every day! Campers will be invited to propose sessions as part of their pre-camp questionnaire.
Free/Social Time
6:15 pm - Supper
7:30-10:15 pm - Evening Dance
10:15 pm on - General Merriment