Updated Monday, March 9, 2020.
Please plan to arrive between noon and 1:30 pm (having had lunch on your own). The first session will begin at 2 pm Saturday, May 23. There will be two afternoon sessions on Saturday — with a short break for a snack and hydration between them — and an evening dance after a delicious dinner. On Sunday, there will be two morning sessions, lunch, and two afternoon sessions, with (of course) a break for tea during the afternoon. Then dinner and more dancing. On Monday morning, there will be two sessions, lunch, and one last session featuring all of the callers (plus organizers Kappy Laning and April Blum). Then off you go, home in time to fix dinner and start the laundry.
We will offer an introductory session at 1:30 pm on Saturday, to go over the basics for those who have not danced English regularly or not recently, or perhaps ever! If you know someone who has just discovered English Country Dance, please assure them that we welcome beginners — and that this sort of “total immersion” is one of the very best and quckest ways to become comfortable with ECD in all its marvelous diversity. We do NOT designate workshops as “beginner/intermediate/advanced.” ALL dances at ALL sessions and workshops are intended for ALL attendees.
We have three excellent callers: new to Trifle this year, but well known nationwide, is David Millstone, from New Hampshire; returning are Melissa Running from Washington, DC (who has called at every Trifle since its inception) and Gaye Fifer, from Pittsburgh. Elegant, boisterous, exuberant, plangent and playful music will be provided by eight musicians (Josh Burdick, Sophie Chang, Bruce Edwards, Jonathan Jensen, Paul Oorts, Carrie Rose, Kathy Talvitie, and Miranda Weinberg). We “mix and match” — no two sessions will feature the same combination of instruments. (During the last session Monday afternoon, it’s not uncommon to look up at the stage and see ALL of the musicians playing — a “wall of sound.”)
This year, we will be dancing on a covered porch (the Camp calls it a Social Hall), with a real stage for the musicians and callers. The hall is just over 19 feet wide, and about 48 feet long, with very deep eaves for weather protection. We think two long lines will work for most dances, and three lines if we dance carefully. The Camp has roll-out flooring (called Marley by theater techs) which will provide a reasonably comfortable and smooth dance surface over the wood slats that the floor is made of. You might want to bring several pairs of dance shoes with differing “slickeriness” or slip-on Dance Socks.
Attached to the open air Social Hall is an enclosed space the Camp calls the Library, which has a nice wood floor and is big enough for a small workshop. The restrooms are on the far side of this space. Photos as soon as April can remember how to upload them from her phone.
The cost per person (and we have a lower price for younger dancers) includes all meals and very comfortable cabins. Last year we were able to give everyone a private cabin with bath. We have also a list showing how many steps (if any) there are for each cabin. Some cabins have as many as 5 steps, but a few have none — they are handicap-accessible. If you have a mobility issue, please let us know when you sign up, and we’ll do our best to put you in a cabin with few or no steps.
As of March 23, we will require proof of vaccination and booster; we expect that masks will be recommended but not mandatory when in the open air dance pavilion. We will monitor the situation carefully. The Camp has requested that everyone sign a waiver — we will post it on the website and will also have a stack of them at Registration.
April Blum and Kappy Laning, Organizers
