Hello! You are receiving this email because you are a contact for the CDSS Affiliate *group name unavailable*. If this is incorrect, please email mreyna@cdss.org, and we will update our records. Thank you! | | |
This summer, in addition to serving as Affiliate Coordinator, I took on operations management of our six weeks of camps at Pinewoods Camp in Massachusetts. What an honor to serve during the Pinewoods centennial year!
CDSS is proud of our legacy of fun and engaging camps, and also of our commitment to the dedicated individuals who organize for others—that's you! We are here for you; please let me know how we can best help you.
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Please welcome our newest CDSS Affiliates to our network of 271 (and growing!) partnered organizations across the US and Canada! |
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Cleveland Butterfly Twirl, Lakewood, OH
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Dancing Folk, Inc., Carrboro, NC
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Dancing Well: The Solider Project, Louisville, KY
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FocusMusic, Inc., Rockville, MD
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Friends of Appalachian Music (Williamsburg Contra Dance), Suffolk, VA
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Heartland Dancers, Inc., Joliet, IL
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Lauda Musicam of Atlanta, Marietta, GA
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Noha Coda (North Hall Contra Dance), Harvest, AL
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Take a moment to enjoy this beautiful short film highlighting contra dances across the US (featuring several CDSS Affiliates!) and the callers, musicians, and community members who support them.
Directed and produced by Sierra Walden, Thank Your Partner enthusiastically celebrates the benefits and virtues of social dance.
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Sowing Seeds for Our Future:
Cultivating Contra Dance Talent in Atlanta
by Kimbi Hagen, Atlanta Contra Dance, a CDSS Affiliate
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Contra dances don’t just require dancers; making the magic happen also requires the presence of a deep pool of dance callers, musicians, and sound wizards.
So, when post-pandemic contra dance in Atlanta grew to include TWO weekly dances—the Trolley Barn Dance on Tuesdays and the Atlanta Contra Dance (ACD) on Fridays—our leaders looked into the future and recognized a need to begin widening the base of talent on which the success of our dances rest.
This April, efforts began to bear fruit with the development of “Contra Dance Sound College,” an initiative focusing on identifying and training the next generation of Trolley Barn and ACD sound wizards.
ACD reached out to CDSS, John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC (JCCFS), and members of our local dance community requesting that they collaborate to invest in our future by helping fund the training of an enlarged pool of callers and musicians.
Nine members of our Atlanta dance community benefitted from a combination of
CDSS Community Grants, Atlanta Contra Dance scholarship funds, and organizational and individual donations to attend the Folk School's combined Dance Musicians' and Dance Callers' Week this past July.
The JCCFS Atlanta dance talent pool class of 2025 included Matt Brandenburgh, Logan Duys, and T J Odom (Dance Musicians' Week) and Jeremy Peterson, Amanda Setili, Rob Setili, Sam Whited, Christin Whittington, and Corinne Wilkinson (Dance Callers' Week).
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Online Program:
Unpacking the CDSS Community Culture & Safety Toolkit
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Save the dates! Join us later this fall for a free three-part online workshop on building community culture and safety guidelines for your local dance, music, and song events.
Tuesday evenings
October 28, November 4, November 11
8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT
Using the CDSS Community Culture & Safety Toolkit, we’ll explore how to open and lead discussions with your community to develop and implement community standards, safety policies, and reporting procedures.
Registration will open soon; look for more info via email and our on website!
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Working with CDSS Community Grants
Thank you for your enthusiastic response to the CDSS Board's recent grant funding expansion! CDSS Community Grants have supported more than 35 music, dance, and song projects in 2025, thanks to your generous gifts!
General grants funds are now dispensed for the year, but funding is still available for training and research through two of our special funds:
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The Anthony Barrand Research & Stewardship Fund encourages research and dissemination of cultural or traditional dance and song.
Inspired by the life of Tony Barrand and his numerous contributions to the thriving morris, ritual, and song traditions in the US and Canada, this fund provides financial support to the next generation of song and dance researchers.
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The Chuck Ward Musicians Training Fund supports the development of English country dance musicians at all levels. Established in collaboration with the Bay Area Country Dance Society, this fund celebrates Chuck and his impact on English country dance music across the US.
Just as Chuck reached out to his fellow musicians throughout his career, the funds may be applied to music workshops and other training programs for ECD musicians.
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Join caller Janine Smith (MD) for a rollicking rendition of a seated (sitting) square dance!
This dance format is great for those with limited mobility and can be done with friends or on your own. You can also add your own creative moves for extra fun!
Janine got her inspiration for this form of square dance from caller Fred Wersan (MA). During the pandemic, Janine hosted virtual dances on Zoom, featuring live music from musicians worldwide. She adapted the seated square dance for solo dancers, as many of us were home alone.
Joined here by musicians Ken and Brad Kolodner (MD), Janine's square will get you moving, whatever your ability! Watch here.
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Don't Stop Calling:
A Guide to Leading ECD Classes for Older Adults
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Newly revised in 2025 to include 14 brand new dances and updated advice after two more decades of teaching dance to older adults!
Judy Chaves and Val Medve lead a weekly English dance class at a retirement community in Vermont; this book is a compilation of their experience of what is needed for a dance class with older adults to be a success. The author writes knowledgably about the issues of safety, equipment, tempo, teaching, and starting a class, and includes adaptations of 4 circle dances, 11 set dances, and 31 longways English dances. Many of the issues and their solutions are applicable for other audiences of dancers that might need special adaptations.
Now available in print and digital formats in the CDSS Store.
| | Last Chance!
Dare to Be Square West Scholarships Available | | |
Dare To Be Square West (November 7-9, Berkeley, CA) is a weekend of square dance and music workshops, dancing, jamming, and fun, focused on promoting and preserving traditional square dancing.
Scholarships for full weekend passes are still available! (Travel and lodging are not included.)
Scholarship applications are due by the end of the day on October 7. Apply here!
DTBSW is supported by a CDSS Community Grant.
| | Still Photo from Thank Your Partner by Sierra Walden. John C. Campbell Folk School group photo provided by JCCFS. Tony Barrand photo courtesy of Olivia Barrand. Dare to be Square West poster design by Nina Berry, courtesy of DTBSW. | | | | |
