SCHEDULE
Program Schedule
Here’s the current schedule for 2024 (if the schedule doesn’t display on your device, click on the red 2024 NWP schedule below, or download a copy):
Workshop Descriptions
| When | Who | Where | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 9:00 | Graham | DANCE HALL | Humours of an Age: Dances of the First Golden Age (1670-1730) | In England, the years 1670-1730 saw the end of the Stuart era and the beginning of the Hanoverian age, as well as the rise of English power and cultural influence. All of this was reflected in the many masterpieces of longways dance, from the distinctive works of Thomas Bray and Nathaniel Kynaston to the creations of brilliant anonymous devisers. Join us for a feast of the best. |
| Sat 9:00 | Audrey | LAUREL LODGE | ECD Jam | Come play some gorgeous English melodies with Audrey 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. |
| Sat 10:30 | Jenna | DANCE HALL | The Dances of Jenna Simpson | A survey of Jenna's dances including some well known favorites and some hot off the press! |
| Sat 10:30 | Paul | LAUREL LODGE | Seconding for ECD musicians | What to do when you’re not playing melody. |
| Sat 1:00 | Jenna | DANCE HALL | Genre-benders | Many figures that are more common in contra and Scottish Country Dance have found their way into the ECD repertoire. Enjoy a session of crossover fun! |
| Sat 1:00 | Shira | LAUREL LODGE | Rounds | Explore rounds, canons, cathes, and other forms using musical imitation from the 12th to 17th centuries. The music will range from the simple and sweet to the complex and rich. For anyone who likes to sing, experienced and otherwise. |
| Sat 2:15 | Graham | DANCE HALL | Be Merry: Tom Cook's Choregraphies and Reconstructions | The English dancing master Tom Cook quietly set the tone for much of our dancing now, both as a creator of new material and an inspired interpreter of the old. Join us for a “Cook’s Tour” of beauties such as “Wakefield Hunt,” “Stepping Stones,” “Lady Pentweazle’s Maggot,” and “Smithy Hill.” |
| Sat 2:15 | Shira & Laura | LAUREL LODGE | Historical Settings in English Country Dance Music | These settings of ECD music range from the Renaissance Playford collections, dances set to melodies by Purcell and his contemporaries, likewise some of the classical sources adapted for English Dance, elegant 'Jane-Austin-ish' tunes, as well as gnarly versions of folk and ballad tunes. We'll also spend a little time composing in different styles. Bring your sense of musical adventure. For this class it is useful to be a music reader. |
| Sat 3:30 | Elke & Laura | 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. |
| Sat 3:30 | Graham | LAUREL LODGE | A Trip to Chawton: Jane Austen and the Dance | Every contemporary English dance group owes a debt to the great Jane Austen, whose characters and novels inspired the movies that first attracted many dancers to the form—but Austen herself owed much to the dance. Dance and dance scenes populate all her novels, and tell us much about her characters, her world, and her own life. Her dance world was not that of Playford, nor was it ours, but we will follow the thread that links her experience to ours. |
| Sat 4:40 | Tamara | LAUREL LODGE | Reading 18th Century Dance Notation | An ingenious system for notating dances was invented for the French court of Louis XIV to convey dance choreographies the way musical scores do for music. Collections published each year circulated throughout Europe and the colonies and included popular English Country dances. We’ll look at how this notation works and explore ways to reconstruct a simple dance - from the page to the moving body! |
| Sun 9:00 | Graham | DANCE HALL | A Gentleman's Delight: Dances of Philippe Callens | At the height of the pandemic, we lost one of the brightest lights of English country dance, the Belgian Philippe Callens. Philippe had an unparalleled feeling for the kinetic priorities of our form of social dance, and he was a profound historian of the form as well. All of that is reflected in his dances and interpretations, some of the best of which we will enjoy. |
| Sun 9:00 | Paul | LAUREL LODGE | EuroTunes by Ear | Learning and playing traditional folk melodies from Europe’s bagpipe, hurdy gurdy, épinette (lap dulcimer) and the (diatonic) accordion repertoire. |
| Sun 10:30 | Jenna | DANCE HALL | Music, maestro, please! | Dances to tunes by Jonathan Jensen and Shira Kammen: Come experience wonderful dances and have the pleasure of hearing the composer play their own works. |
| Sun 10:30 | Elke | LAUREL LODGE | Slow Jam | A chance to learn some of the trickier ECD tunes at a slower pace. |
| Sun 1:00 | Graham | DANCE HALL | Dunham Oaks: Dances of Brian Wedgbury and other British Masters | In the United States, we have had the good fortune to nurture wonderful native choreographers—but old England has continued to present us with great material too, none better than the late Brian Wedgbury. We will sample some of his best, and perhaps a surprise or two from other English devisers |
| Sun 1:00 | Jenna | LAUREL LODGE | Considerations in Choregraphy | Jenna will facilitate a discussion about approaches to choreographing English Country Dances. Bring your questions and experiences to share. |
| Sun 2:15 | Jenna | DANCE HALL |
The Newest in Old Dances: Selections from Andrew Shaw's Irish Howl |
Dance interesting reconstructions from Andrew's newest publication. |
| Sun 2:15 | Karen | LAUREL LODGE | Comedy Improv | This class is open to everyone who wants to add a bit of fun and humor into their day. No experience necessary. And you don't even have to be funny. We will play a bunch of theatre games, and we will aim to quiet our internal self-critical voice. |
| Sun 3:30 | Karen & Audrey | DANCE HALL | Waltzing and More! | Come dance waltzes, and more, to Audrey and Karen. We will play waltzes, as well as schottisches, polkas, tangos, mazurkas, swing, and Zwiefachers. There won’t be any teaching, so it’ll all be dance, dance, dance. We might even take requests. |
| Sun 3:30 | Jonathan | LAUREL LODGE | American Songbook | Lead, perform or sing along on classic songs from Tin Pan Alley, Hollywood and Broadway, accompanied by Songbook enthusiast Jonathan Jensen. Lyrics will be provided. |