{{Short description , World music and dance celebration with workshops
Lark Camp World Music, Song & Dance Celebration, originally called Lark in the Morning Music Celebration, is an American annual week-long world music and dance celebration that includes instructional workshops for professional and beginner musicians and dancers.
Lark Camp takes place in the
Mendocino Woodlands State Park
The Mendocino Woodlands State Park is a group camping facility located at 39350 Little Lake Road, Mendocino County, California, inland from the town of Mendocino. It was built as a Recreational Demonstration Area by the Civilian Conservation ...
, near the coastal village of Mendocino, California.
There are three primary camps:
* Camp One is focused on
Irish music
Irish music is music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.
The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th and into the 21st century, despite globalis ...
English folk music
The folk music of England is a tradition-based music which has existed since the later medieval period. It is often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music. Folk music traditionally was preserved and passed on orally wit ...
Swedish folk music Swedish folk music is a genre of music based largely on folkloric collection work that began in the early 19th century in Sweden. The primary instrument of Swedish folk music is the fiddle. Another common instrument, unique to Swedish traditions ...
,
* Camp Two is focused on
Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combination ...
,
Square dance
A square dance is a dance for four couples, or eight dancers in total, arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances contain elements from numerous traditional dances and were first documente ...
Tango dance
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combinat ...
,
Andean music
Andean music is a group of styles of music from the Andes region in South America.
Original chants and melodies come from the general area inhabited by Quechuas (originally from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile), Aymaras (originally from Bolivia), a ...
, Galician music and dance,
French folk music
As Europe experienced a wave of roots revivals in the 1950s and 1960s, France found its regional culture reviving traditional music. Brittany, Limousin, Gascony, Corsica and Auvergne were among the regions that experienced a notable resurgence ...
, and Swing dances,
* Camp Three is focused on
Middle Eastern music
The various nations of the region include the Arabic-speaking countries of the Middle East, the Iranian traditions of Persia, the Jewish music of Israel and the diaspora, Armenian music, Kurdish music, Azeri Music, the varied traditions of Cypriot ...
Bellydance
Belly dance (Egyptian Arabic: رقص بلدي, translated: Dance of the Country/Folk Dance, romanized: Raks/Raas Baladi) is a dance that originates in Egypt. It features movements of the hips and torso. It has evolved to take many different f ...
,
Zimbabwean music
Zimbabwean music is heavily reliant on the use of instruments such as the mbira, Ngoma drums and hosho. Their music symbolizes much more than a simple rhythm, as the folk and pop style styled music was used as a symbol of hope for Zimbabweans ...
, Samba Brazilian music and hand drumming.
There are also continuous
jam session
A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without exte ...
s, and nightly dances for all participants.
History
Established in 1980 by Mickie Zekley, Lark Camp was created to allow traditional musicians and dancers to exchange ideas and learn.
External links
*Jody Rosen "Joanna Newsom, the Changeling" ''New York Times'', New York, NY, March 7, 2010, about Joanna Newsom and Lark Camp.
*Larry Li "A Celtic Paradise on the California Coast" ''Strings Magazine'', San Anselmo, CA, March 2010, about Lark Camp's Celtic music program.
*Bob Doran "Song of the Lark" ''North Coast - The Journal'', Humboldt County, CA, August 7, 2008, about Lark Camp.
*David LaHuta ''Budget Travel Magazine'', New York, NY, March 2007, recommending Lark Camp as a family vacation
*Claudia Kriva "Tell Us Where To Go" ''Los Angeles Times'', Los Angeles, CA, August 13, 2008, about Lark Camp as a non-traditional vacation.
*Erin Shrader "Plays Well with Others" ''All Things String'', San Anselmo, CA, August 28, 2009, by a Lark Camp instructor about her experiences at music sessions at Lark Camp.
*Vicki Sanders Corporon "The Lure of Lark Camp ... I'm Singing Its Praises" ''The Galley from The Clan MacNeil Society'', San Pleasanton, CA, Fall/Winter 2005, about a campers experiences at Lark Camp.
*Marta Veiga "Gaitas No Cerne Do Imprio" ''El Progreso'', Lugo, Spain, April 2, 2010,about Kevin Carr and the Galacian music at Lark Camp.
*Staff ''Group Trip Advisor'', Glendale, AZ, 2009, about summer camps for groups traveling on a budget.
Lark Camp website
Lark In The Morning website
English folk danceContra danceMusic festivals in CaliforniaFolk festivals in the United States