Country Dance and Song Society

Celebrating More than 90 Years of Fun

History
The Country Dance and Song Society was founded in 1915 with the help of Englishman Cecil Sharp, a musician who traveled in his own country and in the southern United States collecting folk dances and songs. Four years, earlier, he had helped found the English Folk Dance Society in London, and we began as a branch of that organization.

Dancing in Amherst, Mass 1920s

Amherst, Massachusetts, Late 1920s
Photo Courtesy CDSS Archives

In 1940, with a growing interest in the American versions of the English traditions, we changed our name to the Country Dance Society to honor both countries' traditions. Later, "and Song" was added. The Country Dance Society, Inc. was incorporated in New York State in 1940. That corporation was merged with a new Massachusetts corporation, Country Dance and Song Society, Inc., in 1991.

Early in 1915, Sharp had written home: "The people (in America are) really most enthusiastic." We still are. Today, we have over 3,400 individual and group members and, through them, serve several thousand more in the dance and music community at large.

Join us and celebrate a living tradition of English and Anglo-American folk dance and music.

Mission Statement
The Country Dance and Song Society is a national organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of English and Anglo-American traditional and historical folk dance, music and song. It is composed of individual members and affiliate groups, and it functions both as an international service bureau and as a facilitator in building and maintaining local and regional dance, music and song communities. It exists to meet needs for community-based activity, for active participation, and for sharing and keeping historical and folk traditions alive.

The Society recognizes and responds to needs, opportunities and concerns in these areas by:

Providing information, leadership training, advice and assistance to those who organize dance, music and song activities.
Organizing week-long summer dance and music courses.
Actively seeking newcomers and remaining accessible to new and inexperienced dancers and musicians.
Collecting relevant historical materials, and maintaining access to archives of those materials.
Producing, or encouraging production of dance, music and song resources where these are otherwise unavailable.
Providing programs that include families and children.

In its dealings with individuals or groups, the Society will always, to the maximum extent possible:

Be open, inviting and welcoming to non-members.
Be timely in its responses to appropriate requests for assistance
Recognize the 'doers' within the Society, and seek their advice in developing our vision.
Recognize our members and leaders of long experience who provide us a link between past and present.
Involve our members and affiliate groups in the process of creating and sustaining the vision of the Society.
Give members and affiliate groups 'ownership' of their programs and activities - act more as an enabler than as a doer at the local level.
Provide leadership in the development and distribution of new services, materials and archives.
Seek to bridge the multiple interests of our members by introducing elements of song, early music and various styles of country dance to as many of our national programs as possible.

The core values of the Society include a belief in the importance of maintaining links to the past and in the value of preserving and sustaining Anglo-American folk traditions. We are committed to the creation of enjoyment, recreation (even fun!) within a community framework. We believe that people should be able to enjoy and participate in our programs and activities without being committed to membership or other qualifying requirements. At the same time, we are committed to the maintenance of a high standard of quality in all of the activities, assistance and leadership that we provide.

The Society is assisted in the pursuit of its mission by the following distinctive characteristics:

We attract participants and leaders of the highest quality, and we offer support that draws from many authoritative sources and a long history of successful endeavor.
We provide support and services to autonomous local groups and we actively encourage and promote public participation in our programs, without imposing performance standards or membership qualifications.
We are involved in the promotion, on a national level, of English country, ritual and American community dance and traditional song.
We actively encourage community singing and the preservation of traditional song.
We actively promote the use of live music to accompany dancing.
We provide extensive family-oriented programs.

413-268-7426
FAX: 413-268-7471

Country Dance and Song Society
132 Main St/PO Box 338
Haydenville, MA 01039-0338

Office Hours M-F 9:30am - 5:00pm EST

http://www.cdss.org/