SCHEDULE

Program Schedule

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2025-03-25 NWP schedule Download

2025 NWP Workshop Descriptions

Row	When	Who	Where	Title	Description
1	Sat 9:30a	Jenny	DANCE HALL	The Philly Connection	Dances & tunes from the Philadelphia region.
2	Sat 9:30a	Betsy	LAUREL LODGE	ECD Jam	Come play some gorgeous English melodies with Betsy this morning. Chestnuts, new favorites, and 'how does this one go?' tunes are all welcome. Bring your instruments, Barnes books, photocopies, and your ears to learn and enjoy whatever comes up during this 75 minute-long session.
3	Sat 10:45a	Brooke	DANCE HALL	Impropriety and Beyond	Enjoy dances from the recently released Impropriety volume 7 and some of Brooke’s solo dances, with attention to shape, texture, phrasing, transitions, and unusual features. Expect a challenge or two.
4	Sat 10:45a	Jacob	LAUREL LODGE	Dance Band	We'll discuss how music supports the dancers while experimenting with all sorts of ensemble games. A main tune will be taught by ear, with sheet music to follow after the session. We'll focus on groove, textures, layers, counter-melodies, and active listening across the ensemble. Experiment with doing more with less, giving space to the ensemble, playing with variety, how to make other ensemble members sound good, and more!
5	Sat 1:30p	Brooke	DANCE HALL	Dance Communication	Be the best dance partner you can be. Play some dance games to hone your communication, learning, and recovery skills. Learn how to 'help' by 'not helping'--reduce helping (and receiving help) to its most subtle and helpful.
6	Sat 1:30p	Betsy	LAUREL LODGE	English Dance Music for Non-musicians	Tired of pretending you know what it means when the caller says things like: “This is a slip jig” or “This is in 3, but it is NOT a waltz!” You, too, can learn to speak Musician! Betsy Branch will translate from Musician to Dancer and teach you about meters, tempos, plus all the other tools ECD musicians use to be good dance musicians. She will teach you how musicians interact with callers, how they play walk-throughs, and (most importantly) she will teach you how to compliment your favorite musicians with style and intelligence. Betsy believes that understanding the music more deeply will enhance your skill as a dancer and will greatly increase your appreciation of the entire art form. Musicians and callers are also welcome at this session.
7	Sat 2:45p	Jenny	DANCE HALL	The Dancing Choreographer	Jenny's take on some less obvious elements of dance construction that can make a dance pleasurable or memorable.
8	Sat 2:45p	Brooke	LAUREL LODGE	Global/Positional Teaching Strategies	Positional (if you are here now, do this). Global (transitions, the big picture, talk to as many people at once as possible). Teaching this way requires rethinking! Get tips, tricks, and inspiration.
9	Sat 4:00p	Jim & Shira	DANCE HALL	Balkan Dance Tunes	Join Jim and Shira in learning some interesting and approachable Balkan tunes. Why limit yourself to 6/8 and 4/4 when you can have all of the meters?? Ability to read music will help but is not required if you can play by ear. Dancing could spontaneously happen, if it wants to. All instruments welcome!
10	Sat 4:00p	Caroline	LAUREL LODGE	Gentle Yoga for Every Body	Give your body a little afternoon TLC and join Caroline (Registered Yoga Teacher) for some gentle yoga to ease any kinks from the hours of glorious dancing or sleeping in an unfamiliar bed. No experience necessary. Options and modifications will be given for all levels. Wear stretchy clothes and bring a yoga mat if you have one.
11	Sat 4:00p	Betsy	CY	Harmony Singing	Come learn a few songs in harmony! Betsy Branch will teach you a few songs, including harmony parts, that you can learn by ear. No music reading is required, and no previous singing experience is required. We will simply enjoy the beautiful act of singing together, which Betsy finds to be one of the most soulful experiences possible. Betsy will happily provide sheet music after the weekend to anyone who wants.
12	Sun 9:30a	Brooke	DANCE HALL	Making Heys	Learn how to do heys well, and how to get in and out of an assortment of heys in various choreographies while we have great fun with weaving and serpentine figures.
13	Sun 9:30a	Anita & Rachel	LAUREL LODGE	Band and Caller Communication	The stage is a busy place (duh). How might callers and band members communicate efficiently and accurately when time is short, attention is often scattered, and even sightlines are not guaranteed? We have some ideas that work for us, and we bet that you do too. We'll definitely cover starts and stops, mid-dance adjustments, and noodling coordination--maybe other topics as well. Callers and musicians are both welcome, experienced or not. If time allows, we'll set up practice scenarios too.
14	Sun 10:45a	Jenny	DANCE HALL	Attention	What do you notice while you're dancing? How does your experience change when you shift your attention? We'll warm up the day with dances that invite your attention in various ways.
15	Sun 10:45a	Clara	LAUREL LODGE	Stuck in the Middle With You	Not sure where you belong in the band? Join clarinetist and keys player Clara Byom for a workshop on finding your voice in the middle of the texture. We’ll learn tricks for filling in the space between melody and rhythm section/bass line, finding cool countermelodies, and other ways to liven up the texture from the inside out!
16	Sun 1:30p	Brooke	DANCE HALL	The Music Will (or Won't) Tell You What To Do	Sometimes the music will tell you what to do. Sometimes it won't! Sometimes it's a matter of interpretation. We'll listen closely to the music and experiment with ways to match our dancing to it.
17	Sun 1:30p	Jenny	LAUREL LODGE	Dancing for Different Generations	Jenny has led dancing for college students, for a very mixed-generation weekly dance, and for her "Gentle English" daytime dance for older dancers. What kinds of accommodations in programming, teaching, and mood can work for each? Share your experiences and questions.
18	Sun 2:45p	Jenny	DANCE HALL	Gentle English	Relax before dinner with gentler tempos and familiar figures. Some dances may be easy but new to you! (See previous hour discussion description.)
19	Sun 2:45p	Dave	LAUREL LODGE	Learning Tunes by Ear	In this workshop we’ll practice learning an ECD tune by ear a bit at a time, then another tune all at once but at a slow speed, then if both of those go well, try using some strategies to learn a tune at full speed.
20	Sun 2:45p	Jacob	CY	Community Singing	Let's sing together! We'll learn songs, rounds, and simple harmonies for all sorts of occasions! This will be a more quickfire learning session with picking up the song as you go! Bring your favorite songs with those catchy choruses to share! All songs will be taught by ear, and no previous experience is needed!
21	Sun 4:00p	Jacob & Mirinisa	DANCE HALL	Open Band Waltzing	This session is open to all dancers and musicians who either want to play or dance waltzes (or some of both!). We will be on mic and through a monitor to help hold us all together. Bring your Waltz Books, and if you have special waltz requests that are not in those books, bring copies to share. Suggestions welcome from both musicians AND dancers.
22	Sun 4:00p	Clara	LAUREL LODGE	Groovy Brains	Groovy Brains is an exploratory lab with interdisciplinary researcher Clara Byom! In this session, we’ll consider the following questions: How do we experience “groove”? What even is groove? What do musicians do that makes our bodies respond in different ways? How do you perceive the relationship between music and dance in social folk music-dance? How do we communicate with other musicians and dancers while the dance is happening? If the musicians change something in their playing, do the dancers step more in-time with the music? Be ready to move, have conversations, and possibly attach a sensor to your shoe!

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