What’s New

The Summer 2023 CDSS News is now available! See contra dancing through the eyes of a young person; learn to shoot good dance videos with Don Bell; dance the New Jersey Commute with Alex Laursen; and much more.

The slideshows, video, and transcript from our May 2023 Web Chat are now available. CDSS Executive Director Katy German joined Jenny Beer, Dana Dwinell-Yardley, Sue Songer, and Kathy Story for a conversation about working through conflict as a community.

Read more about Web Chats, or email us with questions.

Lea Coryell presents “The Lazy Farmer (Young Man Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn).” Lea writes: “Did the young man fail because of laziness or bad weather? Traditional verses offer conflicting reasons, so perhaps we were meant to wonder. In my shortened version, the farmer has nothing and no one to blame but himself.”

In this episode of From the Mic, Steve Zakon-Anderson shares stories about the people and places that have shaped him as a caller and as a person, as well as some pretty deep thoughts about what this calling thing is all about.

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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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. 

Derek Piotr presents “We’re All Jolly Fellows that Follow the Plough,” a rare tale of hard work well rewarded.

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.

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.

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.

“CDSS Jig” by Bob McQuillen, played by some of the CDSS staff to celebrate moving to our new office and Mac’s centenary this year.

Have you heard about the project to play all of Bob McQuillen’s (nearly 2000!) tunes this year? Learn more in the latest issue of the CDSS News or at mcquillentunes.com.

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The Spring 2023 CDSS News is now available! Meet this year’s Lifetime Contribution Award winners; hear how Jacob Chen passes on traditions to the next generation with Folk Song Fridays; learn how a dance camp in Washington state kept Covid in check; celebrate Bob McQuillen’s centennial at KwackFest; and much more.