What’s New

The Fall/Winter 2024 issue of CDSS News has arrived! Meet the three recipients of the 2025 Lifetime Contribution Award; dance Mr. Smukler’s Inauguration; solve an ECD emoji puzzle; and much more!

Judy Cook introduces “Waterbound,” a play-party song from Grayson County, Virginia. The earliest known recording was 1929 by the Grayson County Railsplitters, and Judy shares a 1971 version by The New Golden Ring.

We’re excited to make Isaac Banner’s book of contra dances, Free and Open Dancing for All, available in the Resource Portal! This free book includes nearly 50 new dances, along with tips for running a workshop, glossary, and index by figure and dance type. It’s a great resource for new callers, as well as experienced callers looking for new dances. Check it out, as well as dozens of other resources for callers.

Rapper Sword Dance in America, by Rhett Krause, details the 110-year history of rapper in the US, with details of the movements, music, stepping, and major influences, along with how the dance has evolved differently in America than in the UK. All proceeds from this book benefit the Anthony Barrand Research & Stewardship Fund, which provides financial support to the next generation of song and dance researchers.

Check out the new and improved History page, tracing the story of CDSS from the early 20th century to the present.

We’ve added a new article from the CDSS Cultural Equity History Working Group on the hidden history of Black and Indigenous Americans in our dance and song traditions.

The 2023 CDSS Annual Report is now available! Take a look back at our progress last year. 

This episode of From the Mic features George Marshall. George says: “My philosophy as a caller is that I would like to be the enzyme in the reaction between the music and the dancers—help them interact with each other, like the glue that keeps them together.”

This episode of From the Mic features Maia McCormick. Maia says: “Calling feels like a puzzle to solve and a skill to build, and something that can be constantly honed. I’m never going to be done developing as a caller.”

Julie Henigan introduces “The Cuckoo” or “The Coo Coo Bird.” This banjo tune, played for us here by Clarence Ashley, is a cousin of the gambling song “Jack of Diamonds.”

Last fall, we surveyed 18-44 year-olds in the folk community in order to better understand the needs of this demographic and to learn how to best serve our communities in the coming years. Find our preliminary reports and a video recording of our first town hall here.

Harry Tuft introduces “Matty Groves,” an old ballad of an unfaithful wife who shares a sad fate with her lover when they are caught by her returning husband. The song may trace its roots as far back as the fifteenth century.