The date of the camp

Too often happens that camps are too close to each other or at the same time. More often some dance competition and a camp are at the same time. Of course if the organizers have plenty of funds there is no problem organizing everything at the same time - I can't see any point in this.

So, when you choose the date, you must check out different dance calendars and ordinary calendars.

  Advertising

Naturally you must start advertising the camp in good time. This means at least a month ahead and even earlier if it is a bigger camp. By e-mail you can spread the advertisement easily and cheap. If you want to use attachments you should think about the size of them - there are lots of modem users who won't be happy getting huge attachments.

When advertising or at the latest in the info letter you could tell the participators what the theme of the camp is, so that they can practice the right things the week before.

   Schedule

I've seen the again and again: 4-5 hours of teaching per day is enough! So many times you hear the students tired wishes of "please let's dance to slow music next lesson". It's no use getting them too tired, they won't even learn anything if they barely can lift their feet.

The lesson must last  over 60 minutes. The ideal length is 1 hour 20 minutes. Only sometimes a lesson can be 60 minutes, because the day will otherwise be too mixed up if they learn some detail at each lesson. This kind of detail work is very hard on the teachers and on the dancers. It is a completely different thing is you have an intensive camp and you should think carefully who you invite to such a camp.
When needed the lesson contains also a warm-up, which can have something to do with the theme of the lesson. After that you tell them what your theme will be and then teach it. The dancers will need short breaks to drink. Then yo let them practice and add some details and such. At least on the very last lesson of the day you have stretching, which usually is left out (how on earth can you teach dancing if you leave out taking care of your muscles???) If you can do all above in 60 minutes, you are in a real hurry.

You really should mark in the schedule separate intermissions. Then it is clear to everybody when the lessons start and end and everyone has time to change classrooms.

Mark also in the schedule at the end of each day the stretching part. At least then you would do it.

   Place

There isn't much to say about the place. Only thing is that when the camp is longer, you should think about your knees: stone floors will kill your legs.

   Teachers/coaches

Each teacher (yes each,  also in couples and also the female teachers) will need the following information: 
- Schedule (some kind of a schedule will be needed when you ask the teacher to come and teach at the camp)
- What kind of dancers there will be (how long they have danced and what, a name list could help also)
- What should be taught (do the students have wishes, do the teachers have wishes, what the students already can do)
- Who else will be teaching the same group and their phone number, e-mail and such
- Info letter (usually this is not mailed to teachers - I quess they would like to know if you can eat at the camp and when and...
- What kind of equipment you have there (CD, can you plug in MiniDisk (AUX in), do you have speed control, MC)

Before the first lesson starts (in good time):
- teachers must know in which room they teach 
- in the classroom you must have tables for the CD-player AND for the teacher's stuff (you can hear the music better, the CD's will be safe and sound and in good order and so on.
- when the teachers needs: big paper to write on, markers and tape; or a blackboard

Accommodation of the teachers and such
You shouldn't get the teachers too tired either, because the whole camp will suffer - teacher is the one that the dancers see the most.
Teachers need in advance information about where they will stay. It's self evident that always when it's possible the teachers and the students will stay in separate rooms. How else could they plan anything new and surprising?
One extra CD-player in the teachers room, if they need to find more music/songs during the camp.
If your teachers are foreigners, you will naturally take much better care of them. The one thing that is almost always forgotten is translators in different happening - it feels extremely stupid to just sit and not understand a word.

   Information during the camp

During the camp you will need info about everything: changes in the lessons, party times, dinner times - and you must introduce the teachers and staff... For this is an excellent means: a daily meeting (or what ever funny name you want to give to this meeting.) You gather up all the dancers, staff and teachers - at the same time you will have a better camp spirit when the dancers can see people from other groups too. 

On a notice board you can put more permanent things, like a map of the city/village, schedules, a sign-up list for private lessons (if the organizer wants to give the dancers a possibility of private lessons).

   Meals

You must ask the kitchen staff how many persons they can feed at once and you MUST have decided beforehand a place for all those people to sit and eat. The minimum time for eating is 30 minutes. In each camp you must thing if you should stagger the dinner times in order to avoid unnecessary queues. This is done by arranging the lessons to end at different times.

   Maintenance

Also during the camp you will need staff to take care of: 

sweeping the floors at least once a day with wet cloth (otherwise the dust will fly around and end in your lungs, yam)
emptying the garbage
there is enough paper to dry your hands

A dirty camp place creates a bad feeling.

   Evening party

It is no use giving the students many alternatives, because then they will end up in different places and you can forget about the camp spirit. I quess the organizers want the people to get common experiences.