Contra dancers at the 2023 Lifetime Contribution Award ceremony

Country Dance & Song Society

Individuals nourished and communities strengthened by dancing, singing, and making music together

We connect and support people in building and sustaining vibrant communities through participatory dance, music, and song. We steward the living traditions of English country dance, contra and square dance, morris and sword dance, and the music that is an integral part of these traditions. Learn more

What’s New

Pack & Wrap Session with Countercurrent!
We’re delighted to welcome Countercurrent (Brian Lindsay and Alex Sturbaum) to CDSS for the first episode of our new Pack & Wrap Sessions! Named for the store room where it’s filmed, the Pack & Wrap Sessions is a not-so-often web series featuring very short interviews and concerts with dance musicians. In this episode, Alex and Brian talk about the silly things they always have in their instrument cases and play a set of favorite contra dance tunes.

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From the Mic Episode 13: Louise Siddons
In this episode of From the Mic, Mary interviews Louise Siddons about her involvement with communities in Michigan and Oklahoma, and across the pond in the UK. We’ll also learn about her work developing and teaching the practice of “positional calling” for social dance, which has recently culminated in a new book, published through CDSS, called Dancing the Whole Dance: Positional Calling for Contra.
May 2023 Song of the Month
Derek Piotr presents “We’re All Jolly Fellows that Follow the Plough,” a rare tale of hard work well rewarded.
Lesson Plans for Educators
The CDSS Educators Task Group presents a new set of Lesson Plans to introduce students to a variety of topics in traditional music and dance. Check out the sample plans, and contribute your own at education@cdss.org.
From the Mic Episode 12: Wendy Graham
In episode 12 of From the Mic, Wendy Graham tells Mary, “My only job is to help people have fun. Fun, F-U-N, three letter word. That’s it!” Wendy’s passion for music, song and dance caught fire in 1991 on a Danish-American Exchange (DAE) youth dance tour to Denmark. Today, Wendy leads English and American community folk dances and teaches social couples dance across the country and around the world.
April 2023 Song of the Month
Denise and Stuart Savage present “Reynardine,” an English ballad in which a young woman is led astray by a stranger who may or may not be a tricky fox.