Camps and Workshops
2011 International Sessions
Three back-to-back programs in Georgia
Georgian dance Camp
June 23-July 3, 2011 (10 days)
Led by choreographer Vano Chincharauli & Zedashe Ensemble director Ketevan Mindorashvili
This will be Village Harmony's first specifically-dance camp, in cooporation with the Zedashe Ensemble in Caucasus Georgia. So many great activities during this ten-day long program--beginning with expert instruction in a variety of traditional regional Georgian dance styles. We will be based in the beautiful historic eastern hill-town of Sighnaghi in Kakheti and will stay and rehearse in Village Harmony's new retreat center there. The program will include traditional harmony singing sessions, as well as dancing; and we will also go on outings to neighboring regions to visit dance troupes and see significant historical sights and national parks. And of course, we will eat wonderful Georgian food and have ample opportunity to investigate the local wine culture. Plan to arrive a few days early to rest and recover from jet lag, and stay on afterward to see more of the country or take part in the singing camp.
In residence in Sighnaghi, Kakheti, Republic of Georgia. Tuition includes instruction, food, lodging and on-ground transportation during the program period; flights to and from Georgia are not included in the price.
$800
Caucasus Georgia Camp
July 6-23, 2011 (17 days)
Led by Ketevan Mindorashvili, Shergil Pirtskelani, Patty Cuyler
This will be Village Harmony's 11th singing workshop in the Republic of Georgia. Georgia has one of the world's most ancient polyphonic singing traditions, and one unlike anything in European music. This camp will be a rigorous study-tour of some of Georgia's most distinctive and unique land- and song- scapes, with a scattering of highly-polished performances each of the regions we visit.
We will meet participants in Georgia’s capitol, Tbilisi, and then make the long drive up into Svaneti in the Caucasus Mountains. We will be spending our rehearsal week in the remote and historic village of Ushguli--the highest continuously-inhabited village in Europe, with an astounding collection of 12th-century stone towers and surrounded by towering mountains. While in Ushguli participants will have the opportunity to go hiking and horse-back riding (including a planned overnight horseback camping trip into the mountains). From Svaneti we will descend to the lush hills of Ajara--south near the Black Sea coast and the Turkish border--to stay with a bagpipe-maker and his clan. We will finally head east across the country to Sighnaghi in Kakheti, a historic 18th-century walled fortress town, where we will spend our final days of exploration and performances.
Rehearsal week in Ushguli, Svaneti, Republic of Georgia. Tuition includes instruction, food, lodging and on-ground transportation during the program period; flights to and from Georgia are not included in the price.
$1600
Georgian Language Course
July 25-August 20, 2010 (28 days)
Led by Amanda Blasko, Gia Rokashvili
This intensive introductory 4-week language course will be offered immediately following the VH music touring camp--a wonderful opportunity for high school/college students and older folk alike. Team taught by a native Georgian instructor and an American college instructor, the course aims to catapult you into conversational Georgian with an emphasis on practical skills and everyday situations. Each morning we’ll work on vocabulary building, pronunciation, grammar and syntax in three 50 minute classes. The morning language classes will be followed by group lunches with a chance to practice the morning’s lessons. In the afternoon, you will be able to take lessons on baking kiln bread, traditional weaving, carving and pottery making. There will be ample time to explore the environs of Sighnaghi, with its 18th-century walled fortress, cobblestone streets with shops and a farmers’ market, nearby Bodbe Monastery, and breathtaking views of the Alazani river valley. Evening suppers will be catered by locals, showcasing the fresh produce and unique cuisine of the region. We’ll also take weekly day-trips to explore natural wonders and historical sites in Kakheti, Georgia’s wine country. And OF COURSE there will be a lot of singing.
Tuition includes morning language and afternoon culture classes, meals, lodging, and transportation for excursions. Individual lessons on Georgian folk instruments will be available for a fee.
In Signaghi, Kakheti, Republic of Georgia. Tuition includes instruction, food, lodging and on-ground transportation during the program period; flights to and from Georgia are not included in the price.
$1600
Ushguli & Sighnaghi
Caucasus Republic of Georgia
Ushguli, Svaneti, is purported to be the highest continuously-inhabited village in Europe, at 2200 meters. Actually a cluster of four villages nestled in a snug valley at the foot of Mount Shkhara, one of the Caucasus’s higher summits, Ushguli's famed medieval towers are on UNESCO’s heritage list. Participants in the music camp will stay in the upper village. We will perform outside historic St. Mary’s church (12th c.) at the end of our stay, before descending to Ajara near the Turkish border, and then on to Sighnaghi in the eastern part of the country, to finish the singing camp.
Sighnaghi, Kakheti, is a small 18th-century town nestled in the foothills of the eastern Caucasus, with a 18th-century walled fortress and recently-renovated old buildings and cobblestone streets. It is an easy walk to historic Bodbe Monastery, and Village Harmony's little retreat center at the edge of Sighnaghi--where language students will study and be housed-- offers breathtaking views of the Alazani river valley.
Leaders
KETEVAN MINDORASHVILI, director of Zedashe Ensemble, was raised in a traditional singing family in Sighnaghi, in the eastern Kakheti region of Caucasus Georgia. She has become well-known as a singer and teacher of Georgian folk music, particularly of the fluid ornamentation of Kakhetian folk songs. She has a deep knowledge of church chanting, and is a master of the panduri, a three stringed lute. Ketevan is also a solo dancer in the Jlekha dance troop based in Sighnaghi. She has led Village Harmony camps in Georgia since 2003.
SHERGIL PIRTSKHELANI was born and raised in the northwest highland region of Svaneti, the third of eight siblings who learned to sing and dance traditional songs from their musical father. Shergil now makes his permanent home in Sighnaghi, where he is a musician and also carves furniture and makes instruments. Shergil sings bass and middle voice in Zedashe Ensemble and performs with the Jlekha dance troupe. He plays and teaches panduri (3-stringed lute from eastern Georgia), chonguri (4-stringed lute from western Georgia), and chuniri (bowed viol from Svaneti) as well as teaches singing in our camp sessions.
VANO CHINCHARAULI has been working with Zedashe Ensemble and the Jlekha dance troupe for over 14 years, first as doli (drum) player, and currently as their primary choreographer and dance instructor. He taught with Village Harmony camp for the first time last year and instantly became one of the most popular members of the teaching staff. Vano is well-beloved for his patience and an infectious sense of humor, while maintaining the ability to draw out of participants a consistantly high standard of performance.
PATTY CUYLER of Marshfield, Vermont, is an energetic, dynamic workshop leader and director with special expertise in teaching Corsican, Georgian and South African singing and dance music. Her passion for honest, direct music coaxes fierce, forthright singing out of even the most timid singers. An instrumentalist from an early age, Patty is a brass player and self-taught accordion player. Since 1995 she has co-directed Village Harmony and Northern Harmony with Larry; in 2002 she founded a women’s Corsican trio and began the Montpelier World Music Chorus and Boston Harmony in 2004. Patty has edited and published two volumes of The Folk Rhythm South African songbook series, as well as three books of Georgian folk and sacred songs.