New London Assembly
Printer-friendly versionBrad Foster, Director
Saturday, July 13, to Saturday, July 20, 2013
A week of English country dancing with a focus on historical dance, combining country dances from the 17th and 18th centuries with a look at their historical dance and music antecedents and their modern day successors.
Runs with support from the Country Dance and Song Society.
Faculty: Brad Foster, Gene Murrow, Andrew Shaw
Musicians: Shira Kammen, Emily O'Brien, Jacqueline Schwab
Check-in Saturday, July 13, from 3:00-5:00 followed by dinner and the evening dance. Classes from 9:00 to 4:45 Sunday through Friday. Evening dances all evenings except Tuesday. All classes and dances will be in beautiful air-conditioned dance studios in Crozier Campus Center.
Want to dance and sing or play music? New London Assembly participants may sign up for Central Program music classes in the late morning and late afternoon. Late morning classes will include the All-Workshop Collegium, directed by Tom Zajac, and Traditional Music with Nina Stern, recorder, and Glen Velez, frame drum. Central Program students are welcome to take New London Assembly classes at the same times.
Class Descriptions
First Morning Class
The New Country Dancing Master
taught by Andrew Shaw, with music by Shira Kammen, Emily O’Brien and Jacqueline Schwab
Early eighteenth century country dances from the annual collections published by John Walsh, including dances composed by Nathaniel Kynaston and the unknown Person of Quality.
For NLA registrants only, or by permission of the NLA Director
Second Morning Class
Lecture/Demonstrations and Concerts
Open to all
First Afternoon Class
Class 1: Derivative Modern Compositions
taught by Brad Foster with music by Jacqueline Schwab
Modern country dances with choreographic ties to historical dances.
For NLA registrants only, or by permission of the NLA Director
The New Country Dancing Master
taught by Andrew Shaw, with music by Shira Kammen, Emily O’Brien and Jacqueline Schwab
Early eighteenth century country dances from the annual collections published by John Walsh, including dances composed by Nathaniel Kynaston and the unknown Person of Quality.
For NLA registrants only, or by permission of the NLA Director
Second Morning Class
Lecture/Demonstrations and Concerts
Open to all
First Afternoon Class
Class 1: Derivative Modern Compositions
taught by Brad Foster with music by Jacqueline Schwab
Modern country dances with choreographic ties to historical dances.
For NLA registrants only, or by permission of the NLA Director
First Afternoon Class
Class 2: Not of the Letter, But of the Spirit
taught by Andrew Shaw with music by Emily O’Brien
A discussion/practical workshop on approaches to dance reconstruction.
For NLA registrants only, or by permission of the NLA Director
Second Afternoon Class
Classic Reconstructions
taught by Brad Foster with music by Emily O’Brien and Jacqueline Schwab
The classic reconstructions of Cecil Sharp, Douglas Kennedy, Pat Shaw and others. Many of these are part of today’s core dance repertoire, and their style and structure form the basis of all subsequent reconstructions and compositions.
Open to all with some experience in English country
Evening Dance Party
taught by Brad Foster, Gene Murrow, and Andrew Shaw, calling, with music by Shira Kammen, Emily O’Brien, and Jacqueline Schwab
English country dances for a dance party, with a focus on historical dance reconstructions.
Class 2: Not of the Letter, But of the Spirit
taught by Andrew Shaw with music by Emily O’Brien
A discussion/practical workshop on approaches to dance reconstruction.
For NLA registrants only, or by permission of the NLA Director
Second Afternoon Class
Classic Reconstructions
taught by Brad Foster with music by Emily O’Brien and Jacqueline Schwab
The classic reconstructions of Cecil Sharp, Douglas Kennedy, Pat Shaw and others. Many of these are part of today’s core dance repertoire, and their style and structure form the basis of all subsequent reconstructions and compositions.
Open to all with some experience in English country
Evening Dance Party
taught by Brad Foster, Gene Murrow, and Andrew Shaw, calling, with music by Shira Kammen, Emily O’Brien, and Jacqueline Schwab
English country dances for a dance party, with a focus on historical dance reconstructions.
11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Presentations
Sunday: Historical Social Dance, by Dorrie Olsson and Kaspar D. Mainz
A workshop in select European social dances from the 16th to 18th centuries. The presentation will include dances from the “Inns of Court” sources which show similarities to English country dance, as well as a minuet country dance. Illustrations of dance sources, dance notation and costumes will be available.
Monday: Sources and Evolution of English Country Dance Music, by Gene Murrow
Beginning with the Elizabethan era, when the “country dance” was first identified as such, the sources of the music for dancing have been widely varied, including traditional (vernacular) tunes from England and Europe, ballads, theater
and opera music, and original compositions. The tradition continued through the 18th-century, the 20th-century revival, and into the present day, creating a repertoire of dance music that is uniquely rich.
Tuesday: Improvisations, a solo concert by Jacqueline Schwab
A concert of improvisations on traditional and vintage tunes from America, England, Scotland and beyond with music ranging from Civil War song, Victorian ballroom dances, Scots and Irish songs and dances, hymns and spirituals, ragtime—plus Latin waltzes and tango and Billie Holiday blues.
Wednesday: The Lovelace Manuscript Revisited, by Carol Marsh
The Lovelace manuscript probably predates Playford's Dancing Master and provides verbal instructions for a number of dances, some of which are quite different from versions in theDancing Master. Carol will present some reconstructions and hopes to generate some discussion about our "Playford-centric" vision of 17th-century English country dance.Thursday: Puzzled by Duplicates, by Andrew Shaw
An exploration of the artifices used by the eighteenth century publisher John Walsh in the compilation of his books of country dances. (This presentation will also involve participant dancing)
Friday: Renaissance & Baroque Settings of English Country Dance Music, concert by Shira Kammen & Friends
This mini-concert will present selections from early settings of English Country Dance tunes, including from Playford's 'The Division Violin', compositions by Purcell and Praetorius, Thomas Simpson, and more!
Brad Foster
Brad Foster, from Amherst, MA, has been dancing and teaching English country, contras and squares, and morris and sword for over 40 years. He is well known for sharing the joy found in dance, and has taught throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including at Pinewoods, Ogontz, Buffalo Gap, Timber Ridge, Berea, Mendocino, John C. Campbell Folk School, Augusta, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, and Lady of the Lake. He is Executive and Artistic Director Emeritus of the Country Dance and Song Society, after 28 years as Director. He is also founder of the Bay Area Country Dance Society as well as co-founder of their English and American dance weeks. Photo by Marty Stock.
Gene Murrow
Gene Murrow has been an English country dancer and musician since 1965, and has taught and called at clubs, workshops, festivals and balls in the U.S., England and Europe for the last 20 years. In 2006 he appeared at the Southam Gathering and Tring Ball in England and led a series of workshops in Japan. For CDSS, he has frequently chaired Early Music Week, English-American Dance Week, and English Dance Week. In summers 2000 and 2003, he offered a seminar on English Dance Leadership Training in Music at Early Music Week. In addition to oboe and recorders, Gene plays concertina, accordion, and crumhorn. He holds a degree in music from Columbia University with studies at Juilliard, Class of '68. As a member of the dance band MGM, he has made three recordings of dances by Fried Herman and Gary Roodman. He is the producer of the Boston Centre series of English dance recordings featuring Bare Necessities and serves on the Country Dance and Song Society Governing Board. He approaches English country dances as works of art, striving "to make their richness of structure, musical form, texture, and affect enjoyable and appreciated by dancers of all abilities."
Andrew Shaw
Andrew Shaw developed an enthralling interest in and enthusiasm for the history and performance of the English Country Dance as a teenager. Now as an interpreter and exponent of these dances, he teaches at weekends, festivals and other courses at home (England) and abroad, including three visits each to Pinewoods and Mendocino dance weeks in the USA. His own annual dance weekend at Halsway Manor in Somerset was inaugurated in 2001; featuring the musicians Paul Hutchinson and John Hymas, it draws dancers from far and wide.
Andrew's interest in the dances of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, especially those composed by Nathaniel Kynaston, has resulted in the publication of four dance collections to date: Mr. Kynaston's Famous Dance in 2000, The She Favourite in 2002, Emperor of the Moon in 2006 and Farnicle Huggy in 2009. In 2004, Andrew edited The Dances Of Brian Wedgbury, in memory of this fine dance composer and near-neighbour, with an accompanying CD by John and Sue Stapledon on English concertina, keyboards, and violin.
Andrew lives near Altrincham in Cheshire where he runs the Lemmings Reprieve dance club - a name which oddly but neatly sums up his belief in the life-enhancing qualities of this dance form.
From a recent review: "Andrew Shaw reminds me of a good parent or teacher when he presents his workshops. He has 'nurtured' his dances and watched them grow with affection so that he knows and understands them well and can teach with that intimate knowledge. Andrew's use of short demonstrations is also most effective and illustrative especially when delivered with the style and panache that we have now come to expect from his teaching."
Shira Kammen
Shira Kammen received her degree in music from UC Berkeley and studied vielle with Margriet Tindemans. A member for many years of Ensembles Alcatraz and Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Boston Camerata, Teatro Bacchino, Kitka, and the King's Noyse, and is the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble dedicated to performance on river rafting trips. She has performed and taught in the United States, Canada, Europe, Israel, Morocco, and Japan, and on the Colorado and Rogue Rivers. Shira happily collaborated with singer/storyteller John Fleagle for fifteen years, and performs now with several new groups as well as Fortune's Wheel: a new music group, Ephemeros; an eclectic ethnic band, Panacea; and Trouz Bras, a group devoted to the dance music of Celtic Brittany. The strangest place Shira has played is in the elephant pit of the Jerusalem Zoo. She hopes to spend more time playing music of all kinds in the wilderness.
Emily O'Brien
Emily O'Brien is a native of Washington, DC where she played recorder from a young age. She studied recorder and french horn at Boston University, and recorder and Baroque flute at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany. She performs and teaches in the Boston area, including the Society for Historically Informed Performance concert series, the Boston Recorder Society concert series, and in fringe events surrounding Boston Early Music Festival, as well as Early Music New York and the NEC Baroque Society. She is also on staff this summer at the Country Dance and Song Society's Early Music Week at Pinewoods, and plays frequently with Jacqueline Schwab for English country dance in the Boston area. Currently she is also working with Friedrich von Huene on his "Well-tempered Recorder" project, a collection of recordings of the entire Well-tempered Klavier in arrangements for recorders. Emily works for the Von Huene Workshop and the Early Music Shop of New England in Brookline, MA. In her spare time, she enjoys long distance cycling. For more information, see www.emilysdomain.org.
Jacqueline Schwab
Jacqueline has played piano for as long as she can remember and loves telling stories and creating moods with her music, as well as inspiring people to dance. She has specialized in improvising or composing meditative, spirited arrangements on traditional and vintage tunes from America, England, Scotland and beyond—spinning out stories, in her variations on the themes.
In Ken Burns’ words, “Jacqueline Schwab brings more feeling and intensity to music than anyone I know. Her playing is insistent, physical, heartfelt and ... unusually moving.” Jacqueline Schwab has been heard on over a dozen of Burns’ documentaries, including the Civil War, Baseball, Lewis and Clark, Mark Twain, The War, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, and the recently-premiered Dust Bowl. She has also been heard on other PBS documentaries. She has performed at the White House for President Clinton, and also, with singer Jean Redpath, on Minnesota Public Radio’s A Prairie Home Companion and CBS’ Late Show with David Letterman.
Schwab has performed her solo arrangements concerts and festivals throughout the US, including at the Savannah Music Festival and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, in Cincinnati. Her performances draw on a wide repertoire—Stephen Foster and Civil War song tunes from North and South, Victorian ballroom dance tunes, Scots and Irish songs and dance tunes brought over by settlers, hymns and spirituals, ragtime—plus Latin waltzes and tango and Billie Holiday blues, as well as contemporary-style Celtic and English traditional music. Jacqueline’s arrangements of American heart songs honor the community and improvisational spirit of music making reported in Twain’s times but also link to the present day.
She has recorded with Scottish fiddlers Alasdair Fraser and Laura Risk, Scottish singer Jean Redpath, the English dance music quartet Bare Necessities and others. She has three solo recordings: Mad Robin, Down Came an Angel and Mark Twain’s America. Recent recordings include three CDs of Civil War-era music. An upcoming solo CD of waltzes and airs in many styles, True Blue Waltz, is in production (see her successfully-funded kickstarter video, at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/133109880/true-blue-waltz-solo-piano...).
A dance musician for many years, Jacqueline plays for many different types of dancing and also leads English country dancing. She is a graduate of New England Conservatory of Music, where she majored in piano improvisation. She is married to Edmund Robinson, the minister of the UU Meeting House, in Chatham, and she lives on Cape Cod. For more information, see Jacquelineschwab.com, or listen to sound clips onmyspace.com/jacquelineschwab.
