an experience of music and community
an experience of music and community
Report from the 1998 Woods
Sue Goldberg
The echoes of the last song are still ringing in my ears. My heart is so full that it spills over in joyful tears. The hugs and good-byes are done. The campus is strangely quiet. No music, only the lapping of waves against the rocks and the cries of birds soaring through the trees. Just minutes ago we were arriving, meeting each other, and listening to the staff introduce their classes.
I spent mornings in banjo class with Cathy Fink, cleaning up my double thumbing and learning how to learn tunes. Afternoons I worked on French Canadian step dance with Benoit Bourque to the music of Gaston Bernard's fiddle class. As Benoit said...it was the perfect combination. On the first day, we had to dance slowly and they could only play slowly but by the camper's concert we were all up to speed (not without mistakes but who cares!) One brilliant sunny day we had class on the dock with the vistas of Lake Rosseau's shores delighting our eyes while our feet made joyous rhythms.
Others, apprentice songwriters and aspiring performers, "majored in" Christine Lavin. Some sang their hearts out, learned sea songs and British music hall songs with Tom Lewis. Some became graceful Playford dancers under the tutelage of Lanie Melamed or hotshot mandolin players with the guidance of Marcy Marxer. Those who studied beginning guitar with Marcy appeared in the camper concert as The Pregnant Pause. Benoit and Gaston taught an amazing class on French Canadian traditions where everyone sang, danced and learned tunes together. Gee, I wish I'd had a chance to do all of those things!
But that was just classes. During free time, the campus was dotted with little groups jamming in different musical styles. In the evenings there were concerts by the staff, dancing to the exhilarating music of Benoit, Gaston, Cathy, Marcy, (and anyone who wanted to sit in) and then singing as long as we could stay awake. Amazingly, breakfast continued to be well attended all week. And who could forget the community times filled with a mix of topics ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous: "My First Folk," "Does music make a difference?" "Ask Professor Music."
My personal highlights: The grand finale with Christine's class waving florescent batons and ribbons; surprising Grit Laskin on his birthday with a song parody and a birthday card signed by the whole camp; Ruth Goldberg and Evalyn Parry caricatures of staff members while advertising their wares in The Woods Boutique; and Jane Field, back at camp after a long illness, once again dancing in her wheelchair.
A memorable week, but all too short. Wait 'til next year!
Trevor Mills has kindly posted some pictures from The Woods 1998.
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