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Family Week
Family time is a precious commodity and it is hard to find something the whole family can do together. For music lovers both young and old, going to music camp often means leaving loved ones behind. Would not it be great to instead bring them together for adventure?
The Country Dance and Song Society (CDS) offers family weeks in three different camps – pine forests near Plymouth, Massachusetts, Timber Ridge in West Virginia, and Ogontz in New Hampshire's White Mountains – that give a folk holiday for the whole family.
"Family Week tends to keep people with a high degree of interest in dance and music making, or both," Mitzi says Collins, 66, of Rochester, New York, who participated Family Week for many years both as an instructor and participant.
It was thanks to Collins and other like-minded musicians, Family Week began. One hammered and mountain dulcimer teacher, Collins frequented adult Camps organized by CDS, and she and other musical parents found himself saying, "Gosh, we have such a good time. Would not it be great if our children could do this?"
They approached CDS management that was initially concerned about how children can be integrated into a camp. But it was in the 1970s and change was in the air. CDS, and some interested campers, came up with a structure and Family Week was born.
Then Collins just wanted to share his love of music with her family. She had no idea how fast Family Week will blossom into something truly extraordinary.
Sweetness and Beauty
"At an adult camp you are a little bit self-focused, and at Family Week it's not just about you, "says Nawal Motawi, 43, a tile artist from Ann Arbor, Michigan." There is a sweetness and a beauty to the people. "
Motawi has attended Family Week for about five years from when her son, Kitson Dong, was three. "At Family Week we use a lot of time together and I find I enjoy his company in a different way, "she says.
Kappy Laning, 51, serves as camp director at Timber Ridge and participates Family Week with a large blended family that includes her husband, Sam Droege, 49, her son, Stuart HEAnet, 16, two step-daughters, Anna, 14, and Wren, 15, their mother, Romey Pitman, 42, Pitman's husband, Brad Seay, 41, and Pitman and Seay's four-year-old daughter, Bizzy.
Laning, a pediatric nurse from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, walked only one CDS camp at the behest of a friend. "My first camp I was pregnant with my son and I have been coming ever since," she remembers. " My son has grown up in this environment. He is an avid dancer and learn to play guitar. "
Romey Pitman went to camp for the first time when Bizzy was two. "It was amazing how much fun I had, "she says.
"I love dancing, music that goes with it and play this music," says Pitman. "CDS camp is a way to share my love for the things with my kids. "Pitman's teenage daughters are both involved in music all year round. Wren plays tuba and flute and Anna plays clarinet and accordion.
An Annual Ritual
Those who have tried CDS Family Week has tendency to come back year after year as they watch their children grow and mature. Families are encouraged to bring all the resources they play and everything is organized around making each family member feel they are part of the group.
Families eat together in a dining hall, often accompanied by live music. Each person is assigned a daily chord, and they are asked to participate in at least two daily sessions.
Freelance radio producer Marika Partridge, 52, of Takoma Park, Maryland, says she has participated in so many camps with her husband, portrait painter Larry Ravitz, 56, son Chaney, 17, and daughters Sally, 14, and Irene, 13; that she has lost count.
"My son is high-functioning autism with special needs, and when we went to our first camp I did not know how he would fit in, "Partridge recalls." It has been really good for him and anytime that something is good for him, it's usually good for the rest of us. "
Not only have Family Camp was a relaxing time for all family, it helped Chaney discover his sense of rhythm. "Now everyone in my family is a dancer," says Partridge. "My son plays piano and want to learn drums. He has a pretty good sense of pitch, and he learn harmony, and the dancing strengthens it. "In addition, Partridge plays piano, tin whistle and ukulele and her husband plays sax and flute. "My daughter Sally is really blossoming as a guitarist, and plays violin and accordion, and Irene is a pianist." The family packs a range of instruments family week.
For children and adults, Family Week is a chance to perform in a friendly environment. "Kids have a chance to participate in the dance band," says Mitzi Collins. "It is often a real Eureka moment because people dancing along with their games and they come to serve musicians in society."
"It is great to see kids put their violin that they may have started at school, and they try it out at camp and be a part of the camper band, "says Laning." The next year they come back, and they are even better on the instrument, or maybe another instrument. "
A Sacred Retreat
Like campers are encouraged to bring musical instruments they are discouraged from bringing electronic gadgets and video games. And there is no TV and Internet access in the cabins. "CDS Family Camp is a kind of sacred retreat, "explains Collins.
"We are modeling a much healthier way of living," says Partridge. And although live music from jam sessions and dances can be heard all day long, there are plenty of other activities to keep families busy, such as swimming, canoeing, organized hikes, crafts, and even some built-in time to just read or relax.
"Some of the best times I ever had was at camp," says Nawal Motawi. "The whole package is fun: being outdoors more than we ever have in our urban life and sharing music with other people."
Learning for young and old
Family Week is a learning experience for the whole family and the daily classes, divided by age group, to be held both morning and afternoon.
"All children must go to classes and teachers are top-notch and experienced," says Laning. "In all my years in the camp I've never had a child refuses to go. We always find a way to work out and all ends with a great time. "
For younger children classes begin at age two and focus on singing, movement, dance and crafts. From age eight and nine children begin to learn clogging, body rhythm, social dance, and longword.
"It is the brain gym, all dance and movement patterns they get out of this is crucial for the development of the brain, "says Partridge." The teachers see the children and they know who needs extra help. "
Ten to 12-year-old singing, dancing and clash sticks together while learning about music around the world. Adult classes for 13 years and elderly, including contra, clog, and swing dancing, longword, family ties to ages 10 and up, mummers and harmony.
"It's great for adults and children, "says Partridge, whose husband has early onset Parkinson's." He is in good shape, but the dancing is fantastic for him. It's healthy for us all, and uses all our abilities. "
"A lot of times we send our children off to do wonderful things, while they think, 'If it is so wonderful why not the adults do it? " says Collins. "The children can see that it is important enough for adults to do. It also offers a fantastic model for do things with their own families. "
The camp is a particularly great experience for teenagers who are treated as adults and learn social skills, together with musical skills, which transferred to their home life. Collins stresses that this is particularly useful because adolescence is often the time when we "lose" our children.
"Kids do not get to talk to adults so much," she explains. "At camp they get an understanding of other skilled adults not critical of them and see them as separate people. It is particularly important for teenagers. "
"My teenage daughter told me that it is the only place where she feels she can just totally be themselves, "says Romey Pitman." They do not have to act cool and tough as they do in school, they are full participants in the adult community. They play music and dance with the adults, but also play with the little children and watch out for them. All ages are involved in such a healthy way. "
Total Immersion in Music
Every evening at 8:30 a guitarist leads all children under 10 years to their cabins for bedtime. Once they are safely tucked in bed, parents are free to return to the dancing and live music while roving babysitters supervise the children.
"It is a great holiday for a mother, "says Partridge." Live music, dance and healthy activities, really nice people and the community is fantastic. "
CDS staff of professional musicians and music educators interact with families camping in all aspects of the camp, including bringing their own families to camp.
"Music is an integral part of everything we do at camp, "says Laning." We are devastated by live music at the camp. We appreciate the musicians who perform and we are also inspired by them. "
"You can join the band or just sit and play," says Partridge. "If you're a younger player, who want to learn something new, the musicians always, always take time to do it. "
She has good memories of jamming poolside with Family Camp teacher David Cantieni, a flutist from the group Wild Asparagus. "I play the ukulele and he tells me what I could do to accompany him," says Partridge. " He teach me tunes and strums and I really coming along because of this informal work. "
"There could be a craft project ongoing and near people jamming, "explains Collins." So kids hear music while doing other things. It is so valuable. There are plenty of ways to teach music. You can learn it in a classroom, but people all over the world to learn music more from just being around it. This is a more organic way. "
"My favorite part is the multisensory nature of it," she adds. "You are in a pine forest, away from the world and yet are buried in music and dance. I go to a lot of different music festivals, but rarely am I saw water. "
Musical Legacy
Many of the adults who bring their children to the Family Camp see it as a way to lead the tradition of folk music and dance. "This public world is such a healthy world," says Laning. "At camp teaches children that it is a wonderful community and they have a tendency to either stick with it or stick close to it as they grow up. "
"We did not think generationally back when Family Camp started, but we are certainly thinking generationally now," says Collins. "There is a lot of gray hair in any cultural activity today. You have a tendency to get a lot of people in their 40s and 50s, which is wonderful for them but takes not address the next generation. "
And Family Week's generational thinking seems to be working. "Any number of children who went to the early camps are now back on staff, running camps and have their own children attend, "says Collins.
Collins and her husband make their part to pass the tradition of folk music to the next generation, they are now bringing their grandchildren to camp every summer. "We come with a little changing of votes each years, "says Collins." We may have two or three generations. "
"What's really nice to us when our grandchildren are concerned, is that we are going to be around them and learn a lot about them outside of ceremonial occasions, "she says." But yet they are not with us all the time. "
"We have the best, stupidest whole week," says Partridge. "We will enjoy music, dance, song, and we even have a parade. We come home with songs stuck in our heads … It is pure joy! "
For more information visit the country dance and song society website at www.cdss.org Making music or see calendar of Music camps at makingmusicmag.com / calendar / camps.html .
About the Author
Making Music is a bimonthly magazine for adult amateur and recreational musicians. Our readers make music simply because they enjoy it—it helps them to relieve stress, connect with their loved ones, and express themselves creatively. Many have played all their lives, while others have only discovered music recently. We publish articles on music theory, practicing and performing techniques, and the health and wellness benefits of playing a musical instrument. Our stories feature real people who find ways to fit music making into their lives, and is intended for musicians of all playing abilities.
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