Staff

“Great dance workshops, taught by experts, supported by wonderful musicians, capped by a wonderful dance party each evening.”

June 14-21, 2026

Hey Days Teaching and Music Staff

Kalia Kliban	Jacob Chen	Karen Axelrod
Gene Murrow	Cynthia Shaw	Eric Martin
Sharon Green	Shira Kammen	Laura Kuhlman
Charles N. Adams, Jr.	Jim Oakden

Hey Days Committee

Juliette Webb, Program Director	Rebecca King	Lise Dyckman
Alisa Dodson, Camp Manager	Brooke Friendly	Renée Camus
Alex Bradley, Registrar	Alice Williams	Loretta Guarino-Reid

Kalia Kliban (CA) has been part of the California Bay Area traditional dance scene since the mid-80s, performing and teaching in a wide range of styles. At dance camps and festivals across the country she has taught English country dance and contra, longsword, morris, and English and American clogging. She’s a regular English and contra caller in the vibrant Bay Area dance community. She is well-known for her patient and supportive teaching style, as well as her inexhaustible humor. Her welcoming and relaxed teaching style has helped dancers of all levels experience the joy of traditional dance.

Kalia will teach ECD and Longsword.

Gene Murrow (NY) has been an English country dancer and musician since 1965, and has taught and called since 1988 at clubs, workshops, festivals, camps, and balls throughout the U.S. as well as Britain, Europe, and Japan. He has frequently chaired Early Music Week, English-American Dance Week, and English Dance Week for the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS).

In 1996, he organized the Amherst Assembly, a week-long conference devoted to a scholarly and practical look at the origins and evolution of the county dance. Sought out for his deep understanding of both music and dance and for his exceptional clarity when teaching, Gene has written a resource guide and training curriculum on musicianship for English country dance leaders, which served as the basis for week-long seminars at Pinewoods, Berea, and Mendocino camps at Early Music Week.

Gene has served on the Board of Directors of CDSS and Early Music America and is the Executive Director and Founder of Gotham Early Music Scene.

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. He has performed on four recordings as a member of MGM and produced the CDS Boston English Country Dance series featuring Bare Necessities.

The dances Gene leads are favorites with “newbies” as well as folks with decades of experience, since he succeeds in approaching 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.

Gene will lead the Music for English Dance Leaders Intensive and teach an ECD class.

Sharon Green (CA) simply loves welcoming people to the joys of English country dance. She has been a frequent visiting caller and teacher at dances on both coasts, and has taught at festivals and workshops in Canada, the U.K., and Japan, including CDSS English Week at Pinewoods where she served three years as Program Director, BACDS Fall Frolick, Dance Flurry, Down East Festival, Mainewoods Dance Camp, NEFFA, and CD*NY’s True Brit, Synergy, and Whirligig weekends.

Sharon has worked closely with Christine Helwig and Fried de Metz Herman. Interested in performance dancing as well as social dance, Sharon helped found the now defunct Harpies Molly team and served, with Paul Ross, as co-director of Christine Helwig’s Chelsea English Country Dancers demonstration team, with whom she began dancing in 1990. Sharon also edited the notes on English country dancing for two of Fried de Metz Herman’s collections of dances, “Ease and Elegance” and “Fringe Benefits.”

Sharon will teach an ECD class.

Charles N. Adams, Jr. (MN) is a dramaturg, playwright, director, and storyteller based in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, although he misses the Tennessee where he grew up. He spent four years performing in an improvisation-based theatre company touring the English-speaking world, and he has worked with and in countless communities creating, sharing, and performing new stories as collaborative theatre. Charles currently teaches all aspects of theatre at Augsburg University and across the street (fortunately!) at the University of Minnesota. Charles is a reader for the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis and works with playwrights developing new work. Charles seems to be a permanent member of the board for Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed, an organization that works to harness education and the arts to work for change. Charles has also been fortunate to travel the world in various choral groups, performing in Western, Central, and Eastern Europe, Russia, and in the South Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand. In his spare time (ha!) he enjoys cooking, learning new things, and playing boardgames.

Charles will teach a storytelling class.

Jacob Chen (OK) is a public-school music educator, composer, dancer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist based in Norman, Oklahoma. Growing up playing piano at the age of six, he developed an affinity toward learning various instruments and eventually started playing for contra and English dances. His passion for participatory music and dance has led him to be a presenter for workshops, sessions, dance camps, and dance weekends around the country. His warmth and community-driven ambitions keep folks engaged in gatherings and sessions. Jacob’s contagious enthusiasm for sharing music and dance create authentic connections between participants while respecting the musical traditions he has absorbed. When he’s not in the classroom or playing music, Jacob enjoys writing tunes, playing board games, baking various breads, and scouting the next piece of colorful fabric to wear.

Jacob will play for ECD and teach a singing class.

Cynthia Shaw (NY) has been playing for English Country and Contra dancing for many years. With a home base of New York’s Country Dance New York, she has also played dances, dance weeks, and weekends at CDSS’s Pinewoods Camp, The John C. Campbell Folk School, Princeton Country Dancers, Germantown Country Dancers, Long Island Traditional Music Association, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in Malle, Belgium. She has worked with such dance callers as Philippe Callens, Andrew Shaw, Gene Murrow, Graham Christian, Beverly Francis, and Paul Ross. She plays with The Fish Family contra band and other musician partners, including Naomi Morse, Tom Phillips, Gene Murrow, Paul Friedman, Barbara Greenberg, Dan Beerbohm, and Daron Douglas, to name a few.

Cynthia is also active as a singer. She has performed choral music and as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, as part of the choir in several New York churches, and in numerous musical theatre productions as a soloist and part of the ensemble.

Visit Cynthia’s website.

Cynthia will play for ECD and teach a singing class.

Shira Kammen (CA), a multi-instrumentalist (primarily violin, vielle, and viola) and vocalist, has spent most of her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. She is a favorite at dance camps and events around the country. She performs with many ensembles, among them the English Country Dance bands Roguery, Night Heron, and the Whoots.

A member for many years of the early music ensembles Alcatraz, Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Folger and Newberry Consorts, Anonymous 4, the Boston Camerata, the Balkan group Kitka, and the Oregon, California, and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals. Shira 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, Mexico, Europe, Israel, Morocco, and Japan, and on the Colorado, Rogue, and Klamath Rivers. Shira happily collaborated with singer/storyteller John Fleagle for fifteen years. Shira has recorded many albums in a variety of styles of music and has played on several television and movie soundtracks, including “O,” a modern high school setting of “Othello,” and “The Nativity Story.” Some of her original music can be heard in an independent film about fans of the work of J.R.R. Tolkien. The strangest place Shira has played is in the elephant pit of the Jerusalem Zoo. You can find more information at her website.

Shira will play for ECD.

Jim Oakden (CA) started playing piano and clarinet at an early age and stumbled into early music from the classical music scene. After six years performing early music, he discovered the world of traditional and ethnic music. Having diverse tastes, he has played in many bands and performs on an absurd number of instruments, including accordion, mandolin, several styles of bagpipes, recorders, whistle, and zurna (to name but a few).

A dancer himself, he specializes in playing for dancers in a bunch of bands for ECD, contra, morris, Irish, Breton/French, Greek, and Bulgarian. He has been on staff at myriad dance camps throughout the country.

Jim plays with a number of English Country Dance bands, including Roguery, Persons of Quality, and The Whoots.

Jim will play for ECD and Longsword.

Karen Axelrod (VT) left the world of classical music over 25 years ago, and has found her home in the folk world. She is highly regarded for her creative piano playing at English, American, and Scottish dance events around the country (including Pinewoods Dance Camps, Ogontz, Buffalo Gap, Berea Christmas Country Dance Week, The John C. Campbell Folk School, and BACDS events) and abroad. Her improvisational playing is lyrical, yet touched with humor and whimsy. In addition to Alchemy, Karen is in the band Foxfire, with Daron Douglas, and plays accordion with 3rd String Trio, a band that plays old world cafe music. She also plays accordion for the renowned longsword team, Orion. Karen used to perform comedy improv with The Villa Jidiots, and loves to teach improv to adults and children.

Karen will play for ECD.

Eric Martin (MA), equally at home on fiddle and viola, is a dance musician who brings joy and soulful expression to many folk dance idioms. Through the freedom and improvisation inherent in traditional music, Eric enjoys the opportunity to break away from his classical background while playing for English country dances, contra dances, festivals, balls, camps, and concerts throughout the United States and Canada with numerous groups including Alchemy, Axelrod-Martin duo, and Coincidance. He has been on staff at Country Dance and Song Society and Folk Arts Center New England camps at Pinewoods and at Ashokan Northern Week. Eric holds performance degrees from Ithaca College and University of Limerick, Ireland, and lives and works at Gould Farm, a therapeutic farming community in the Berkshires.

Eric will play for ECD and teach the Camper Band class.

Laura Kuhlman (OR) plays flute and recorders for the English Country Dance community in Portland. She performs with the Portland-based Oregon Renaissance Band and the newly formed 19th-century group, the Fireside Social Orchestra. Laura also teaches flute, saxophone, recorder, early double reeds, and renaissance bagpipes both at workshops and in her home studio. If there is not an instrument in her hands, Laura can be found roaming the hills and dales of Oregon on her beloved bicycle.

Laura spent many years in Chicago, Illinois, as a freelance musician. From Bach to Broadway, she has enjoyed partnerships with several early music ensembles, including the Burgundian Ensemble, Masqued Phoenix, and the Too Early Consort. She founded and led The Milwaukee Renaissance Band from 2009-2014. Laura is currently music director for the Portland Recorder Society and the Recorder Orchestra of Oregon, and is past president of the national American Recorder Society. She has taught at many early music workshops around the U.S. and in Canada and Switzerland. Laura also performs with the lively medieval band, Orchestra of the Moon.

Laura will play for ECD and teach a recorder workshop.

Hey Days Sound Staff

“Your sound crew was top notch!!! I don’t think that most dancers really understand that having talented sound wizards on site is just as crucial to the success of a dance as is having good musicians and callers.”

Christopher Jacoby (CA) plays accordion, mandolin, and guitar for Contras, English, and Scottish country dancing. He has performed in many bands and combinations over the years. Christopher’s non-dancing related hobbies include (but are not limited to): singing, sourdough and fermenting, Digital Audio & Audio Engineering, training computers to understand music, and workshop facilitation. He has been the sound engineer for BACDS Fall Frolick dance weekend and numerous local dances.

Alicia Cover (CA) will be an assistant sound engineer. Alicia grew up dancing ECD, contra, and display dance. She has worked Fall Frolick with Christopher, was sound assistant for the Mad Robin Ball, and often does sound at contra dances. She occasionally runs sound for PEERS events, and is the regular sound person for the Berkeley Thursday night and Experienced ECD.

Hey Days Committee

Juliette Webb (TN) is our Program Director. Juliette lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is a dance organizer, teacher, and caller of English Country Dance with the Nashville Country Dancers. Juliette was recently a member of the Board of the Country Dance & Song Society, where she served on the Executive Committee, chaired the Nominating Committee, and co-chaired new board training. She travels regularly to dance weekends and weeks from coast to coast.

Alisa Dodson (CA) is our Camp Manager. An ECD dancer, organizer, caller, choreographer, and member of BACDS since the early 1980s, Alisa has been on the Mendocino, Gualala, and Hey Days committees for many years, taking the position of programmer and bookstore honcho with Allen Dodson. She has also been on ball committees and has served as a series dance manager.

Alex Bradley (CA) is our Hey Days Registrar. He is a VFX artist and illustrator based in Los Angeles. To get away from the screens, exercise, and connect with others, he loves nothing more than English country dancing. With his wife, Renée Camus, he performed in Centuries Historical Dance company, a highlight of which was joining a production of “The Merry Widow,” graduating from dancing in one scene to being full-blown singing cast members overnight. They have also danced professionally at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They are owned by two cats.

Rebecca King (CA) is our site liaison. She has served on the Hey Days Committee as camp manager, including during our pandemic online camp. Her former job as a classroom music teacher and band director with the Sonoma Valley Schools gave her a lot of experience in large groups, patience, and working toward goals, which she hopes to put to good use on the committee and working with Green Mountain Retreat, our fabulous venue. Rebecca has also been on the music staff at Hey Days. Besides playing the piano, Rebecca enjoys hiking and the great outdoors.

Brooke Friendly (OR) joined the Hey Days committee in 2007 as program director and has remained involved ever since, in charge of marketing and housing. She was program director again in 2017-19, including the transition from Bishop’s Ranch to SSU, and finished Bridget Whitehead’s term as Program Director for 2025 as we navigated a new facility at Green Mountain Retreat. Brooke has been on staff at Hey Days several times, and taught for weeks, weekends, and festivals across the U.S., Canada, England, and Australia. Happily retired from a career in arts education and arts management, her other loves are theatre improv, gardening, hiking, birding, singing, dancing, and playing with her grandchild. Visit Brooke’s website.

Alice Williams (CA) joined the committee in 2024 as our treasurer. Alice first fell in love with English Country dancing in 1999. She began calling in 2003 and has been a caller and organizer of Santa Barbara’s English Country Dance ever since. She has managed the Santa Barbara Winter Dreams Ball since its inception in 2014. Retired as an office and business manager, when not dancing she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, sewing, quilting, gardening, and hiking.

Lise Dyckman (CA) joined the committee in 2024 as our bookstore/auction manager. Lise started dancing (folk, contra, & country dances) in 1974, and has not stopped since. She has taught and called in Philadelphia, New York City, and (since 1995) California’s Bay Area, focusing mostly on ECD with forays into the social history of dance in Europe & the U.S., dance reconstruction, folkways, and more recently bal folk and composing modern ECD. A research librarian, she originally trained as a historian — which shows up in some unexpected contexts (like serving dance community organizations).

Renée Camus (CA) has been organizing and calling English country dance for many years, and currently serves as caller, committee member, and webmaster for Culver City English Country Dance. Renée designed the new Hey Days website. She has taught various styles of dance, including folk, morris, English and Appalachian clogging, historical, and ballroom dance, in schools and camps around the country, including Pinewoods, Berea, and at Hey Days in 2021 and 2025. She has written several English country dances (published on her website), one of which won a dance-writing competition in 2022, and one that was published in the CDSS newsletter.

Loretta Guarino-Reid (CA) is a long time co-manager of the Peninsula English Country Dance in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been on the Hey Days committee in various roles since 2009, serving as treasurer, running the bookstore, and most recently, as manager.