Most class periods are 75 minutes in length.  Exceptions are the morning core Dance classes, which are 60 minutes in length, and the all-dancer warm-up classes which are 30 minutes.

Mornings are dedicated to our “Core Classes” in which students study their major discipline (instrument / dance / song). There are two periods of Core Discipline classes each morning.

For instrumentalists and singers:
Classes are at 9:00 – 10:15am (Period 1) & 10:45am – 12:00pm (Period 2).

For dancers:
There is an all-dancer warm up from 9:00 – 9:30am
Classes are at 9:45 – 10:45am (Period 1) & 11:00am – 12:00pm (Period 2). 

Morning classes run Monday – Friday of camp week.

Each afternoon features community music & dance events, which are open to both our regular students and folks from the local community. All of these community music and dance sessions are designed to include students of all experience levels from a mix of disciplines. 

The schedule overview is:

Period 3 (1:15 – 2:30pm):

• Faculty-led instrumental jams & community singing sessions (Mon, Wed, Fri)
• Social dance with faculty-led open band (Tue, Thu)
• One-off workshops on a specific topic (a few each day)

Period 4 (3:00 – 4:15pm):

• Faculty-led Student Ensembles (every day)
• One-off workshops on a specific topic (a few each day)

Though some of the one-off workshops can be targeted towards a specific level or instrument, where this occurs, it must be clearly indicated in the workshop title, i.e. “Exploring alternate tunings for guitar”, “Cape Breton dance: beyond the basics”, etc.

Specifics of what you need to know about these different sessions will be included in emails from your Directors when you are assigned to teach them!

This is an important question.  We have chosen to define our classes not by the typical “how advanced is this student” (ie. “level”), but instead by what kind of learning experience students can expect to have in each class.  To help emphasize this philosophy, we are doing our very best never to use the word “level” (or related words like “beginner”, “intermediate”, or “advanced”) in describing our groups or classes, and we appreciate your help with this when talking with your students!

The morning Core Discipline classes will have the following groups, with the corresponding focuses: Moose (From the Ground Up), Seal (Skill Building), Bear (Nuance and Detail), and Eagle (Intensive Artistic Development) … we tried to be inclusive of Maine wildlife!  The important differences between the groups have to do with things like pace, intensity, and how much explanation will be given about foundational skills (i.e. assumed prior knowledge).  To help with your class preparation, we have put descriptions of each group  – and what you can expect for teaching it! – here. We highly recommend you take a few minutes to read this, as it will clarify the kind of experience, skills, and material that students will be expecting to encounter  in each of your classes. 

Most faculty members will teach both a Seal and a Bear class.  Additionally, Fiddle instructors will also teach one Eagles class. You should already know if you are teaching a Moose class – these “From the Ground Up” classes are extra special at Acadia Trad, and your Directors will have already spoken with you directly about it if you are teaching this group.  If you are teaching Community Singing, this class is all experience levels combined.  If you are still unsure about what groups you are teaching, please ask your Directors.

Yes!  Each year, we have a small group of Artistic Work-Study (AWS) students who, as a part of their program, will come to play melody for the accompaniment and dance classes.  We will schedule these students’ programs based on requests from faculty ahead of time, so please let Mari and Kieran know if you would like a couple of “visits” from the AWS folks throughout the week. Please note that official AWS visits are only available for Morning Core Classes (not for one-off afternoon workshops).

Once you receive your AWS visit schedule, we highly recommend that you communicate with the AWS musicians matched to your class ahead of time about what kinds of tunes/material you are expecting to cover. Our AWS students are all excellent, serious young musicians, and they appreciate knowing in advance how they can be most helpful to you and your class!

If you would like additional time with a melody player in your class, or for a one-off afternoon workshop, you’re welcome to recruit any student to come play for you during the week (there are lots of folks who would happily volunteer at camp, especially those experienced students participating in our Eagles class).

If you requested a speaker, white board, or other backline items when you filled out your registration form, we will do our best to provide them.  It is always a challenge to get everyone everything they need, so we thank you for your patience and understanding.  If you’re driving and able to bring your own speaker (or an extra for another instructor who is flying) that would be extremely helpful.  Please drop April a note with any changes or adjustments.

We ask that anyone calling or teaching social dance use gender free language. Your specific approach to this (larks and robins, positional calling, etc.) is entirely up to you!

Please plan your travel early, as Bar Harbor is a popular vacation destination, but a bit “out of the way.” Our transportation page has a lot of information you’ll find useful, including our carpool form which will be useful if you plan to fly and would like to share or find a ride from the airport (with other faculty or participants.)

Anyone can start a session, any time! Students are encouraged to start jams to build their confidence in playing and sharing. Part of the beauty of Acadia Trad is the feeling of “we’re all in it together” so we encourage you as faculty to join sessions and dances when you feel you are able. Sessions tend to self-select into styles and experience level, and there is no formal management of this. The outside noise curfew on campus is 9:30pm, and all sessions must move inside after this time.  It might be useful to read this Session Etiquette doc which we make available to all students.