«Back to all NGI Letters

NGI Recipient: Audrey Knuth

Session Attended: Folk Arts Center of New England - Labor Day Weekend (2011)

Folk Arts Center of New England and Pinewoods Camp Inc:

This past Labor Day Weekend was my first experience at Pinewoods and want to thank everyone for their generosity to allow me to attend camp under the NGI Scholarship.

The slight anxiety I had prior to arrival due to not knowing many people who were attending, was quickly dissipated when I was given an immediate tour of Pinewoods and introduced to so many wonderful people.

Sunday was quite an eventful day that involved my first ever English Country Dance, Morris Dancing, International dancing and Scandinavian Dancing. As a musician, I’ve had the pleasure to play a lot of these types of tunes, but having danced them now has created another dimension in my appreciation for these traditions.

One of the many highlights of the weekend was the International Instrumental Jam Session lead by Barbara Pixton. With a great group of musicians, we learned one tune by ear and then zipped through 5 or 6 tunes with sheet music that varied from Romanian to Greek tunes.

Having the large dances at night is what I think best represents the incredible atmosphere and magic of the weekend. After an exhausting day of classes and dancing, what else are you going to do but dance even more? With pirate hats and princess dresses, dancing the night away to contras, english and international dancing was the ultimate party. Again, I’d like to thank the incredible organizers of the Labor Day Weekend and Pinewoods. I’m excited to take what I learned that weekend and continue to participate and grow in the wonderful dance communities of Boston.