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Stockton Folk Dance Camp, formerly known as the College of the Pacific Folk Dance Camp, is a two-week summer camp dedicated to teaching folk dances. It takes place in Stockton, California.

History
Stockton Folk Dance Camp was founded in 1940 as the College of the Pacific Folk Dance Camp. Its founders include Lawton Harris, who is considered the driving force behind the foundation, and Walter Grothe, Vera Holleuffer, Mildred Buhler, Lucille Czarnowski, Buzz Glass, Sally Harris, and Ace Smith. Harris had specific goals he wanted to reach with his camp, including spreading folk dances to more people, allowing the best teachers a chance to teach more people, a chance for dancers to meet each other, and a place for people to grow interculturally.

Master teachers in its earliest years include Vytautas Beliajus, John Filcich, Buzz Glass, Michael and Mary Ann Herman, and Grace West.

The College of the Pacific, being a religious college, required a dress code in the earliest days of the camp. This loosened slightly when an Episcopal priest decided that the heat of Stockton was too much, and walked into the dining hall with shorts and his religious collar on, and does not exist today. There was also a curfew and a ban on alcoholic drinks, neither of which still exist today.

The camp has always been known as a place where many pranks are played on each other. In its earliest days, people hid others' clothing, stole furniture, and even rode a laundry cart down the hallway.

Before the late night dancing happened on property rented by the camp, many dancers went to a restaurant called the Numbers Club to dance until dawn. This was eventually replaced by the After Party, which is an on-campus late night dance every night of the camp.

Events no longer held at camp include the lawn party, the Fickle Foot Award, the folk costume workshop, "sitz sessions", organized trips off-campus on Sundays, and large swimming events at the pool.

In 1995, the Callison Hall, which had been used by Stockton Folk Dance Camp, burned down. Another hall is used today.

Overall, the amount of dances taught at Stockton Folk Dance Camp has exceeded 5,800, and the amount of teachers has exceeded 210.

Format
The current format for a week at Stockton Folk Dance Camp goes like so:
 * Mondays and Tuesdays have teaching sessions from after breakfast, then a free period, dinner, the review session known as Once Over Lightly, and then request dancing.
 * Wednesdays go similarly to Mondays and Tuesdays, but with every teaching session being a review of the dances from Monday and Tuesday.
 * Thursdays and Fridays go much the same as Mondays and Tuesdays.
 * Saturdays are a review day, and the banquet replaces dinner.
 * Sundays are either a check in day with dancing in the evening or a packing day.

Days can include other special events such as Culture Corners (presentations on a piece of culture), sing alongs, the Candlelight Ceremony to welcome new campers, theme parties, Dances For All Ages (a session where easy dances are taught by other campers, not the main teachers), the live and silent auctions, the talent show, or other dance or culture related events.

Early life
Yves Moreau was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. As a twelve-year-old Boy Scout, his troop introduced him to international folk dance. He finished high school and went on a tour of Europe in 1966, on which he met many famous Bulgarian folklorists such as Filip Kutev, Stojan Djudjiev, and Maria Veleva. He danced with the troupe Feux-Follets and Sjavjan, both based in the Montreal area, from 1960 to 1965.

International folk dance
In 1967, Dennis Boxell invited the young Yves Moreau to Seattle, where they co-directed the ensemble KOLEDA for a year. The summer of that year, he also taught at Stockton Folk Dance Camp. John Filcich invited him to teach at the 1967 Kolo Festival, where he made his teaching debut as a "Balkan specialist" in particular.

In 1969, the government of Bulgaria awarded him a scholarship. He traveled to Bulgaria as a guest of the Bulgarian Committee for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, and took many tapes of dances from various parts of the country.

From 1970 to 1971, he took a tour around the U.S. and Canada, teaching at places such as Stockton Folk Dance Camp, San Diego State University Folk Dance Conference, Maine Dance Camp, and Mendocino Folklore Camp.

He has received various awards for his work, including the Order of Kiril and Metodi (1st degree) from the Bulgarian government in honor of his efforts in teaching about Bulgarian culture, and the "Preserving Our Legacy" award from the National Folk Organization in recognition of his lifetime of effort preserving Bulgarian dance.