2007 School Staff

Classes

Contras With A Special Twist Square Dance Calling Squares For All

Aubrey Atwater  and Elwood Donnelly
Award-winning folk duo from Foster, Rhode Island, Aubrey Atwater and Elwood Donnelly are delightful, energetic performers and workshop leaders presenting unique programs of traditional American folk music and dance.  Lifelong teachers, Aubrey and Elwood explain concepts clearly and reach students with humor and patience.  Aubrey and Elwood are in great demand on the American folk music circuit and have performed, taught, and researched music and dance in over thirty states as well as Canada, England, and Ireland.  They blend unusual harmonies and play and teach mountain dulcimer, old-time banjo, guitar, tin whistle, mandolin, harmonica, bodhran, bones, spoons, limberjack, and other surprises, as well as clogging, contra dancing, and singing. Their exquisite joy and musicality blend with their scholarly sides, showing deep understanding and appreciation of folk traditions and key participants. Since 1988, Aubrey and Elwood have produced five books and ten recordings which receive international airplay.

Classes

Intermediate Clogging Mountain Dulcimer Harmony Singing Harmonica Songs of the Carter Family

Jenny Beer
Jenny teaches English & Scottish Country Dance and also plays dance piano and recorder. She also enjoys creating new dances.  Home dancing-ground is Philadelphia, though over the years she has also lived and danced in Indiana, Vermont, Japan, and Berkeley, CA.

Classes

Some Assembly! Intermediate English Country Dance Dance Jam

Chris Bischoff
An enthusiastic supporter of traditional dance, Chris has been organizing, performing, and calling since 1986.  He’s called at contra dances, dance weekends and weeks throughout the U.S. and Scandinavia and has been a long-time staff member at Terpsichore’s Holiday, Cumberland Dance Week, and the Hindman Family Folk Week among others.

Classes

Beginning Freestyle Clogging Beginning Rapper Sword

Eric Crowden
Eric is a graduate of Berea College, a fine arts major in textiles. His festive banners, paper cuts, and decorations grace Seabury Center at CCDS. He has been making temari for over 15 years.  This will be his 4th year of teaching Temari at CCDS.

Classes

Beginning Temari Craft Intermediate Temari Craft

Laurie Cumming
A founding member and former teacher of Toronto Women’s Sword and an accomplished step-dancer, Laurie has taught dance at numerous camps, schools and festivals.  During the school year, she delights in teaching junior students in the public school system.  Laurie will teach an advanced rapper dance, and we hope she’ll show us a little of that Canadian step-dancing, too!

Classes

Advanced Rapper Sword

Brad Foster
Brad has been dancing and teaching English country, contras and squares, and morris and sword for over thirty five years. He is well known for sharing the joy found in dance, and has taught throughout the US, Canada and Europe, including at Berea, Pinewoods, Mendocino, John C. Campbell Folk School, and Augusta. He is Executive and Artistic Director of the Country Dance and Song Society, a post he has held for over 20 years.

Classes

Advanced English Country Dance English Dance Favorites

Katy Tarter German
A Berea native, Katy now lives in Hillsborough, NC.  In her free time, she works to organize intergenerational dances and call beginning contra dances.  She has led classes in traditional Appalachian song and dance at family dance camps across the country.

Classes

Play-party & Singing Games

Mary Harrell
Mary has taught English country dancing at workshops, dance camps, elderhostels, and at Christmas Country Dance School.  Her enthusiasm for the dance is infectious, and her clarity makes learning a pleasure.  She is a graduate of Berea College, and was a performance dancer under Frank Smith during her college years.

Classes

Beginning English Country Dance

Wayne Hankin
Wayne is a leading artist of period woodwinds. Over a 25 year career he has performed over 3000 concerts, played every major city in the United States, Canada and countless performance venues world wide. He currently works for Cirque du Soleil and has participated in three of its productions. Although his specialty focuses on early music, Mr. Hankin branched out from this discipline to create an eclectic career playing with several notable jazz figures (Lionel Hampton, Herbie Hancock, Jackie McLean), music directed top theatre companies (Schaubühne, Long Wharf, Alley, Center Stage, BAM, Odeon Paris) recorded pop major artists (from They Might be Giants to Jewell) as well as putting his classical artistry towards many major labels (ECM, RCA, BMG, SONY). He has performed on numerous television shows (CBS, ABC, NBC, HBO, and BRAVO) and made his conducting debut at Houston Grand Opera.  Recent films include Resident Evil & Disney’s The Princess, Belle and Anastasia. He has composed over 300 works for period instruments and received numerous awards and commissions for his work (ASCAP Awards, Meet the Composer Grants). He is the subject of a new film based on his career (7 Solos).

Classes

Beginning Recorder Intermediate/Advanced Recorder Playing the Jaws Harp

Steve Hickman
Steve has been on staff at dance camps and family weeks from Alaska to Florida, including John C Campbell Folk School, Lady of the Lake, Pinewoods, and Buffalo Gap.  Steve is a master of music for Irish, Scottish, English country, contras and swing dancing, and known for his mastery of “hamboning.”

Classes

Hambone & Body Percussion

Andrea Hoag
Andrea Hoag’s CD Hambo in the Snow was a 2007 GRAMMY® nominee for Best Traditional World Music Album.  Andrea’s first performances as a fiddler were in Berea with Parcel of Rogues in 1978-1980.  A Seattle native and a Maryland resident since 1992, she has performed and taught widely in the U.S. and in Sweden.  She is delighted to be back in Berea for Christmas School.

lydia ievins
Based in Montague MA, lydia plays fiddle regularly for English, contra, and couple dancing.  Her love for creating rich harmonic lines has led her most recently into exploring the vibrant traditions of Swedish fiddling.  As an avid dancer herself, she infuses her fiddle playing with rhythmic clarity and sensitive phrasing to produce eminently danceable music.  She plays with many combinations of talented folk, including regular appearances as a guest musician with the Greenfield Dance Band, the Moving Violations, Yankee Ingenuity, and members of Bare Necessities.

Jonathan Jensen
Jonathan is an inspired pianist in a wealth of musical styles from contra and English country to ragtime and jazz.  A composer of brilliant English country dance tunes and waltzes, Jonathan performs at dance events and camps around the country and is a bassist with the Baltimore Symphony.

Atossa Kramer
From Berea, KY, Atossa is a multi-talented musician who has accompanied country dancing for more than 40 years playing clarinet, piano, recorder and accordion. She is a member of the music faculty of Berea College teaching several courses, including basic theory and ear training, and many private lessons. In addition to regional dance week-ends and summer camps, she plays regularly for the English dance group in Berea, plays and performs with Musick’s Company, an early music group, and is a clarinetist with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra.

Classes

Beginning Dance Band

Lewis & Donna Lamb
Native Kentuckians, this remarkable father-daughter  duo have been making, preserving, teaching, and sharing traditional Appalachian music for many years.  With Lewis on fiddle and Donna on Guitar your feet don’t stand a chance of  remaining still!  They began playing for the Berea College Country Dancers in the 1960’s.  They perform and teach old time square dance music and traditional songs at festivals and workshops throughout the region.  Lewis is also known for his folk-art woodcarvings and he and Donna together have crafted numerous musical instruments.  Lewis and Donna have are recent winners of the Kentucky Folk Heritage Award.

Barry Marshall and Jeri Burns
Jeri Burns and Barry Marshall are The Storycrafters.  Their natural, energetic style has been featured in major festivals, schools and libraries in the US and abroad, including The National Storytelling Festival.  With awards from Parents Choice, The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio and Storytelling World, they specialize in original retellings and modern renditions of world folklore, integrating music and song, poignancy & pizzazz.  Publishers’ Weekly describes them as ‘top-notch family entertainment;’ their son would say, “Oh that’s just Mommy and Daddy!”

Classes

Story Styles, Story Types Stories with Music

John Mayberry
John went to his first dance at two weeks old, carried in a basket.  His love of dance, music, performance and craft has led to a career including carpentry, performance, writing, teaching, directing and almost everything else.  He is the “Fool” of the Toronto Morris Men, an accomplished traditional singer with many years of experience in street theater and mumming, and a professor of theatre production in the Department of Theatre, York University, Toronto.  He will be guiding the creation of the mummer’s play this week.

Classes

Mummers Play

Elise Melrood
Elise is a classically trained pianist who specializes in improvisation with a blues base, and has been playing for dances of all kinds for many years.  She plays for Contra dances with the Berea Castoffs, vintage dances, Christmas Country Dance School, and travels with the Berea College Country Dancers. She is a member of the Lexington based Reel World String Band, a regional band of renown with a folk and political base.

Elvie Miller
Elvie spent her childhood in New Hampshire surrounded by folk music and dance. With a strong background in classical piano, Elvie began playing for contra and English Country dances in her early teens, and since then has performed and taught dance music across the country.  A regular member of contra dance bands Airdance and Night Watch, she grounds bands with groovy piano accompaniment and accordion breaks that leave dancers screaming for more.  In 2005-2006, she traced the origins of New England dance music in northern Europe as a Watson Fellow.  Elvie is also a professional weaver and resides in Boston.

Classes

Advanced Dance Band Bonanza! Will coordinate After Dance music

Rick Mohr
Rick Mohr has been a leader, dancer, and choreographer for 20+ years in both the contra and morris dance worlds. Known for clear and well-paced teaching, good humor and fresh tradition-based choreography, Rick keeps an active schedule calling contra dances and is the founder of Boston’s Commonwealth Morris Men. He is also a singer, fiddler and button accordion player.

Classes

Calling Contra Dances Fun & Easy Contras Fun & Easy Contras Cotswold Morris: Ilmington

Jim Morrison
Jim has been a traditional dance enthusiast since his first Christmas Country Dance School in 1968. He helped found several morris and sword dance groups. He was a pioneer in the study of historic American social dance and a collector of traditional community dance in the Southeastern US and New England.  Jim also plays fiddle and guitar, making obscure Morris dance recordings and performing with the Morrison Brothers Band.

Classes

Appalachian Dance Longsword Dance

Owen Morrison
Owen grew up in the thick of the music and dance world and began playing for contras and English dances as a teenager. He is now a full-time guitarist, performing with numerous bands at dance evenings, weekends and weeks throughout the country. Owen holds a degree in music from Guilford College and now lives in Nashville, TN.

Naomi Morse
Naomi, a native of Vermont, grew up surrounded by music and dance and is known for her energetic and driving fiddle playing for contra and English dancing.  She has excited dancers and audiences alike through her playing and singing with many bands, including Night Watch, Housetop and Childsplay.  While living in York, England last year, she studied Renaissance singing and explored the traditional music of the British Isles and Sweden.

Janet Northern
Janet, a basket maker from Rockcastle County, Kentucky, will proudly be joining the CCDS staff for her eighth year. Janet will be offering both traditional and nontraditional styles of basketry using materials native to the east Kentucky region.

Classes

Basketry, Session One Basketry, Session Two

Joe Tarter
A dance leader and organizer for more than twenty-five years, Joe has been Program Director of CDSS Family Week at Buffalo Gap and is Squire of the Foothills Morris Men in Berea. He was the interim Director of CCDS in 1990 & 1991, and has served as Director of CCDS since 2000.

Peter Rogers
Peter has taught traditional dance for about four decades: in community dance programs schools; at various dance camps; and numerous “one night stands”.  He leads English, Danish, Appalachian, Contra, Morris and Sword for new dancers as well as experienced, and is an acknowledged leader for teaching callers to call.  One of his special interests is the square dances of Southeast Kentucky (aka “Running Set”) about which he has gathered oral histories, published descriptions and live experience to share with others.

Classes

Kentucky Set Running

Lissa Schneckenburger
Lissa Schneckenburger grew up in Maine as an active member of the folk music and dance community, where she cut her teeth as a musician at a very young age.  She has continued to explore music throughout her life, leading to her graduation from The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts (2001). While embracing a diverse pallet of musical influences, she still stays true to her New England roots.  Lissa has played all over the world as a fiddler and vocalist, including appearances in Russia, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Canada, and of course, the United States.

Classes

New England Fiddle

Onie Seynk
Onie now lives in the Kennedy Space Center area in Florida.  She has taught beading projects throughout the years both in the U.S. and overseas.  She is a member of “The Embroiderer’s Guild” and “American Needlepoint Guild, Inc”.  A few years ago, she placed second in embroidery at one of the national conventions.

Classes

Beaded Shaped Bracelets

Kari Smith
Kari has been teaching a variety of English and Anglo-American display dance traditions for more than 20 years.  She is foreman of Guiding Star Clog Morris, sword dances with Marlboro Morris and Sword, and enjoys research connected to the history of “English-style” clog dancing in the United States.  She has a Ph.D. in Dance History and Folklore, and currently teaches graduate students in education to use music and dance in the classroom.

Classes

English Step Dance: “Marley Softshoe” Clog Dance Garland Dance

Paul Eric Smith
Paul Eric Smith has been calling, dancing and playing for social and display dance for more than 20 years. He is currently a musician for Guiding Star Clog Morris and The New Dancing Marleys. Of late, Paul Eric has been attempting to raise the profile of modern English ceilidh (e-ceilidh) dancing in the U.S.

Patty Tarter
Patty is a member of the Ritchie Family of Eastern Kentucky with a repertoire of traditional Appalachian songs and singing games.  She plays dulcimer and sings for Elderhostel groups in and around Berea.

Classes

Will coordinate Morningsong and Stories, and Evening Parlor

Al White
Al teaches Appalachian music for string instruments at Berea College and is best known for his mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and banjo playing, teaching any and all of these when asked.  Al plays fiddle in the Berea Cast-Offs dance band and has been an artist-in-residence for the Kentucky Arts Council in storytelling, folk music and dance.  He also has been a staff member at Pinewoods, Buffalo Gap, KY Summer Dance School, and other dance weeks.

Classes

Dance Jam

Alice White
Alice grew up singing and playing traditional, bluegrass and gospel music with her family in the McLain Family Band.  She is an early elementary school teacher and plays bass in the Berea Cast-Offs.

Classes

Will coordinate evening staff music

Nathan Wilson
Nathan is an inspired bassist in a wealth of musical styles from contra and old-time to classical and jazz.  Currently plays bass with Sheila and the Geezers, Tim Lake and The Little Big Band, and Lewis and Donna Lamb.  Nathan also directs a church music program and teaches music privately.  His love of dance music is something he shares joyfully with people of all ages.

Sound  by  Doug Dorschug