One of the oddest experiences of being a Camp Champions director is running torchlight on dance night.

Virtually everyone is in costume. [Note: multiple yellows can really clash, but it still makes for a fun photo.] Energy levels are incredibly high. Campers laugh louder and cheer louder. When Susie Ma’am and introduce the girl and boy torchlighters, I truly believe that people hear our cheers for a couple of miles down the lake.

Once the dance starts, some of the campers choose to play games nearby (it is OK to be a non-dancer), but most decide to join the fray and boogie. These dances are not like the ones we had in middle school or high school. In those events, people danced in pairs. At camp, more often than not we have entire groups dancing. I regularly see an entire cabin of boys or girls trying silly moves with their counselors.

The dance typically starts with two long lines that people can dance, walk or skip through. I have seen conga lines with over 100 people. Last night we had a huge group do a line-dance to “Footloose”. I have no idea where everyone learns the correct dance moves.  I suspect it is a cognitive skill that erodes when one becomes a full adult.  [Similarly, it seems that most campers know most of the words to most of the songs - even those that were big when I was a teen.  I am regularly amazed at the amount of music knowledge the average camper seems to have.] I have never posted a video before, so I hope this works for you.

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We saw a few really good costumes. The girls’ leadership team came strong. [Note: I think Susie Ma’am might not be smiling in this photo. She is in the chicken suit. She reports to me that “it doesn’t really breath”.]

Here is one of the best.

I look forward to reporting on all there events of July 4th!

Steve Sir