We are proud to announce that Mary Alice Amidon, Peter Amidon, Mary Cay Brass, and Andy Davis are the 2023 recipients of the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award.
Collectively known as the New England Dancing Masters, for the past four decades they have spread the joy of traditional music and dance across North America.
Starting with The Chimes of Dunkirk in 1991, the New England Dancing Masters produced a treasure trove of books, CDs, and DVDs with crystal clear instructions for dances and singing games. Their live performances, workshops, school residencies, and leadership at family dance camps have encouraged and trained countless teachers to bring traditional dance, music, song, and storytelling into schools and communities.
In recent years, the Dancing Masters’ teaching blog and YouTube channel brought resources and inspiration to everyone at home during the pandemic.
Thank you Mary Alice, Peter, Mary Cay, and Andy!
“I just experienced some of the dances in your books Listen to the Mockingbird and Chimes of Dunkirk at a workshop. It was an incredible experience…My students will really enjoy these dances. The movement instructions are the clearest I’ve seen in a resource like this! Thank you!”
“This is hands-down one of the best resources for American folk dances for children. Dances are carefully selected, instructions are easy to follow, and the recordings are delightfully authentic.”
—Elementary Arts Integration
The Country Dance & Song Society is proud to announce that Ed Stern of Minneapolis, MN, is the 2022 recipient of the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award.
Ed’s passionate involvement with dance stretches back to the 1960s with international folk dance and morris dance in Chicago. Ed has lived in the Twin Cities since 1971, and several generations of Midwestern dancers have experienced the joy of dance that Ed infuses into his skilled teaching. He has taught numerous styles of dance, including morris, English country, contra, Scottish, international, ballroom, Scandinavian, Irish ceilidh, and more. Ed is a founder of Minnesota Traditional Morris, and morris dancers from many communities have learned the massed dances for Midwest Morris Ale from Ed.
Ed founded the Saltari Folk Dance Emporium in the late ‘70s and has taught at the Tapestry Folkdance Center in Minneapolis since its early days in the ‘80s. Ed actively recruits and mentors new callers. He happily admits that he became addicted to dance early on and is driven to ensure that dance continues to brighten the lives of future generations. Thank you, Ed!
“Over the past 40 years, Ed has been a steadfast and active member of the teaching leadership for the folk dancing population in the Twin Cities. People of all ages, from the youngest participants in our family folk dance program to those retirees dancing in the English country dance program, have been touched by Ed’s influence. In the morris community, Ed’s teaching of teachers and involvement in Minnesota Traditional Morris and so many programs at Tapestry shows his dedication to the art of folk dance and its continuation in upcoming generations.”
—Lydia McAnerney
“Besides the fact that Ed has been involved in varied dance and song communities for more than 50 years, he continues to joyfully impart his knowledge to those of us of all ages involved in these communities. He is also a patient, yet deliberate and exacting, teacher who has a vast base of knowledge to impart.”
—Hassan Saffouri
“From my perspective, Ed’s involvement in folk dancing could never be separated from his desire for the traditions he is teaching to continue. Actively seeking out and encouraging new dancers and musicians is part of his fabric as a person who deeply loves and enjoys the traditions he teaches.”
—Amy Muldoon
“One of Ed’s greatest attributes is his ability to introduce and teach the joy of dance to any generation. I have witnessed this many times and in many ways, including at my wedding. Ed is the reason I am involved in the dance community. His knowledge and passion for dance is unlimited and has influenced literally thousands of people and I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award.”
—Leif Petersen
“Ed continues to inspire individuals across many demographics, and his legacy will continue for decades to come. I find it hard to think of anyone who has had such a profound impact on traditional dancing as Ed Stern has, and I cannot think of anyone else who is more deserving of a lifetime contribution award than he.”
—Ted Hodapp
“My community, my dear friends, and many of my joyous experiences in life would not exist without Ed Stern’s founding of Minnesota Traditional Morris. He really is the impetus of the Twin Cities Folk Dance community. When I think about all the things Ed has done for our community, it is the most selfless and admirable gift anyone can bestow upon others. I have danced in the street, I have danced at pubs, I have danced down Nicollet Mall in the heart of Minneapolis. I have sung around campfires with Ed and the rest of my Folk Dance Brothers. I have been to England and again danced in the street and danced in pubs. I am very grateful for Ed Stern’s presence and commitment to Folk Dance in the Twin Cities.”
We are proud to announce that Mary Alice Amidon, Peter Amidon, Mary Cay Brass, and Andy Davis are the 2023 recipients of the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award.
Collectively known as the New England Dancing Masters, for the past four decades they have spread the joy of traditional music and dance across North America.
Starting with The Chimes of Dunkirk in 1991, the New England Dancing Masters produced a treasure trove of books, CDs, and DVDs with crystal clear instructions for dances and singing games. Their live performances, workshops, school residencies, and leadership at family dance camps have encouraged and trained countless teachers to bring traditional dance, music, song, and storytelling into schools and communities.
In recent years, the Dancing Masters’ teaching blog and YouTube channel brought resources and inspiration to everyone at home during the pandemic.
Thank you Mary Alice, Peter, Mary Cay, and Andy!
“I just experienced some of the dances in your books Listen to the Mockingbird and Chimes of Dunkirk at a workshop. It was an incredible experience…My students will really enjoy these dances. The movement instructions are the clearest I’ve seen in a resource like this! Thank you!”
“This is hands-down one of the best resources for American folk dances for children. Dances are carefully selected, instructions are easy to follow, and the recordings are delightfully authentic.”
—Elementary Arts Integration
Nominations for Future Lifetime Contribution Awards
Do you know someone who has made a long-term and exceptional contribution to the mission of CDSS? Has this contribution benefited more than one geographical area and/or generation? Has the person worked in conjunction with CDSS for more than 20 years?
If the answer is “yes” to all of these, then you may know a future recipient of the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award (LCA).
Examples of a significant contribution include:
increasing the quality of what we do by inspiration, instruction, or excellent example
bringing what we do to new communities
expanding the repertoire of dance, music and/or song through scholarship or original composition;
working behind the scenes or enabling others to make these contributions
Nominations for the 2025 Lifetime Contribution Award will open in early 2024. Nominations for the 2024 award are closed. The recipient will be announced in late 2023.
The following people were made an Honorary CDSS Member before the origination of the Lifetime Contribution Awards:
1996: Sue Salmons
1992: Kate Van Winkle Keller
1990: Marshall Barron
The Country Dance & Song Society is proud to announce that David Kaynor of Montague Center, MA, is the 2021 recipient of the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award.
David was selected in recognition of more than 50 years of performing and teaching at camps and festivals across the U.S., humbly mentoring an entire generation of contra dance musicians, tirelessly serving as a leader in dance and music communities of Western Massachusetts, generously sharing tune compositions and writings about dance calling, and supporting generations of musicians and dancers in creating warm, inviting, and welcoming communities though music and dance.
David’s award was celebrated at an online event on his birthday, April 17, 2021. Watch the recording:
David’s Acceptance Remarks
I’m delighted and humbled to receive the Lifetime Contribution Award.
I think about the colossal contributions of past recipients, and I ask myself, Why me? Although I enjoyed and believed in what I was doing as a dance caller, fiddle teacher, session host, musician, and graphic artist, I considered myself irrelevant to the lofty circles and activities of the Country Dance and Song Society.
A low point in my musical life came in the spring of 1981, when the president of NEFFA told me that, in their opinion, what we … my cousins, uncle, other Fourgone Conclusions band mates, and I … were doing had nothing to do with New England contra dancing.
My response to numerous real or perceived organizational snubs was to submerge myself in the pleasures of the moment in my core interests and pursuits: Long distance running, cross country skiing, dancing, calling dances, teaching basic Swedish dances, teaching basic fiddling, and playing music. I also became something of a calligrapher and graphic artist.
Eventually, I found a niche as a teacher and caller. This led to countless gigs in which I enjoyed a happy integration of my artistic, spiritual, and political ideals and having to earn enough money to get by.
All these facets of my life came together when I became Music Director of the Vermont Fiddle Orchestra and the Fiddle Orchestra of Western Massachusetts. These groups welcomed all musicians of all skill and experience levels. My tasks included including all. Our practices blended learning and arranging tunes with in-the-moment adventure and fun. I wrote out many harmonies while on AMTRAK’S Vermonter, where the conductors knew me by name and the scenery was sweetly familiar.
I’m grateful to Jay Ungar and Molly Mason at Ashokan, Bob Dalsemer and Annie Fain Liden Barallon at the John C. Campbell Folk School, the Reiner family of Fiddle Hell, Paul Rosenberg and Peter Davis at the Dance Flurry, my colleagues at Northeast Heritage Music Camp, Mike Reddig in Flagstaff, Arizona, Fred Karsch in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Sue Songer and Betsy Branch in Portland and Mark Lewis and Carla Arnold in La Grand, Oregon, Sherry Nevins and Tom and Amy Wimmer in Seattle, Lindon Toney in Olympia, Washington, and numerous other organizers and bandmates in the Pacific Northwest. These folks gave me opportunities to share my developing skills and deep love of music and dancing, not just once, but over and over.
Thanks to all these people, I was able to cultivate relationships with and within their communities. This, in turn, enabled me to not just share tons of fun, but also share experiences of growth and development in many ways. Our skills and repertoire evolved and so did our senses of self, possibility, and purpose.
We didn’t just perform music and dance. We SHARED it. This became a fundamental personal philosophy: There are times and places for performing, but sharing can happen so much more often, and it’s good for us all. Maybe it’s even good for the world.
I’ve struggled to matter for as long as I can remember. This showed itself in a number of ways, including sports and music and dance. I was always dogged by the weight of self doubt. This finally dissipated in the final years of my career, thanks to all of the above who provided opportunities for us to explore mattering together.
David Allen Kaynor passed away on June 1, 2021. We’re so grateful for everything he brought to our world, and for the opportunity we had to honor him with this award.
The Country Dance and Song Society is pleased to announce that Kate Barnes of Greenfield, MA, is the 2020 recipient of the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award. Kate was selected in recognition of many years of performance and teaching at CDSS programs, the international importance of her publications, her generosity of spirit when running music workshops, and her contributions to current and future communities.
The Lifetime Contribution Award Celebration for Kate Barnes was held on September 26, 2021. The award ceremony we originally planned for September 2020 was sadly cancelled due to the pandemic, so we created an online celebration to include as many people as possible, and to make it easy to attend for Kate’s friends, family, and well-wishers from across the continent.
The event included the award presentation, several group musical contributions, photos, videos, personal reminiscences, tributes and much more. We also invited participants to record some pieces of music to share at the event.
See a video of the celebration:
“As a contra dance piano player, Kate pioneered an improvisatory style that brings joy to dancers, and influences musicians directly and through countless workshops. Her decades-long work with Bare Necessities created fresh interpretations of English country dance music to lift our feet, and the three volumes of the Barnes books are the standard reference collections of tunes used by musicians throughout the dance community.”
—David Millstone, Lebanon, NH (caller, former CDSS president)
“Kate has contributed consistently to the scene for more decades than I know. She’s inspired dancers with her music —exquisitely played, full of forward motion and joyful variety, sensitive to the period, tune type and occasion, and in tight teamwork with other musicians. She’s a reason many people like English dancing.”
—Bruce Hamilton, Menlo Park, CA (caller, former CDSS president)
“I’ve had the great fortune to travel the US, Canada and even as far as Denmark with The Latter Day Lizards. Everywhere we go Kate is universally known and respected and admired for her musicianship, warmth and quick-witted humor. I can’t think of a better recipient for next year’s CDSS Lifetime Contribution award!”
—Dave Langford, Arlington, MA (musician, bandmate)
“Since I first heard and started playing with her in the 1970’s, her passionate, creative, traditionally spirited-but-not-stifled playing and composing have been a bottomless wellspring. Kate’s ink-stained (and later electronic) publishing labors of love have saved many musicians from hauling libraries around in order to play for a dances and have encouraged many to learn the underappreciated craft of playing for dancing. I’m grateful for Kate’s strong, courageous commitment to self-expression, and her deep commitment to the much-needed-in-today’s-world, affirming values of our dance community.”
—Jaqueline Schwab, Cambridge, MA (musician, bandmate)
Kate Barnes Biography
September, 2021
Kate Barnes has been playing piano, flute, whistles and guitar (along with other assorted instruments: banjo, harmonica, bass (acoustic and electric), oboe, English horn, sousaphone, mandolin, fiddle and alto saxophone for traditional dancing since 1971.
She’s been invited to most major contra, square, British Isles, and vintage dance events throughout the United States, performing for dances and concerts, leading ensemble workshops, and generally acting in a crazy and often undignified manner. Averaging over 250 engagements per year since 1980, she is arguably one of New England’s busiest and most sought-after musicians.
She has played for festivals and tours in Canada, England, Ireland, France, Denmark, Shetland, Scotland, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Africa, Peru, Ecuador, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Hawaii, Alaska, Egypt and St. Croix.
She has been a member of the bands The Latter-Day Lizards, Bare Necessities, Yankee Ingenuity, Les Z Boys, Kestral, Big Bandemonium, Cilantrio, Dark Carnival, Childsplay, BLT, Panel of Experts, Crazy Quilt, The Dactyls, Tulluchgorum, Airplang, Trio Picante, Culchullan, Third String Trio, Trio Con Brio, Foregone Conclusions, The Fitzwilliam Dance Band, The Cathie Ryan Band, The Old Found Country Stay At Homes (not the New Lost Country City Ramblers), Corporal Rockies Mystery, Richard Power’s Vintage Orchestra and has played with countless musicians in pick up bands. She has performed with many traditional greats including Seamus Connolly, Joe Derrane, Cathie Ryan, Chris Norman, Alasdair Fraser, Rodney Miller, Joe Cormier and yes, Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block.
Her recordings include Sleeping on a Rock and Rainy Night in Montague with the Latter-Day Lizards; Kitchen Junket and Heatin’ Up the Hall with Yankee Ingenuity; Bare Necessities, Take a Dance, Nightcap and 15 CDs in the CDS Boston Centre Dance Series with Bare Necessities; Airplang and Airplang II with Rodney Miller; BLT (Barnes, Lea & Tomczak); Soir et Matin with Kerry Elkin, Yankee Dreams and Moxie with Frank Ferrell; Shape Shifting and Impulse of the Heart with Jeanne Morrill; Cascata de Lagrimas, Between Two Worlds, and Gypsy Wine with Mary Lea; Twelve-Gated City, The Great Waltz, and Childsplay with Childsplay; At Rainbows End (The Corona Sessions) solely with Kate Barnes; Gary Roodman’s Calculated Figures; several CD’s with various musicians; Sous le Ciel de Paris and Al Fresco with Third String Trio; and 2 CDs with the Scottish band Tullochgorum. She has made guest appearances on recordings with Anisa Angarola, Bob Abrams, Bob Dalsemer, Dave Nieman & Beverly Woods, Donna Hebert, Frank Ferrell, Jan Maier, The Keltic Kids, Kim Wallach, Leo Kretzner, Larry Unger, Mary Lea, Matt Glaser, Ruthie Dornfeld, The Boston Christmas Revels, Timothy Abell, “Waltzing for the Grange,” Nat Hewitt, The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society of Boston and many others.
Books: She has done the dance world a great service by compiling three volumes of English Country Dance Tunes which are widely used by English country dance musicians and many others throughout the US and in Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, Belgium, and Germany. She has also compiled a book of couple dance music called A Little Couple Dance Musik and has written a tutorial for playing contra dance music called Interview with a Vamper.
Below is a small sampling of concerts, dance festivals, special events and overseas engagements.
Concerts: The Ark (MI), The Bread & Roses Heritage Festival (MA), Caffe Lena (NY), Club Passim (MA), The Colonial Inn Concert Series (MA), The Crosscurrents Fold & Classical Concert (MA), El Tremedal Coffeehouse (MA), The Fiddle and Bow Society (NC), Gaelic Roots (Boston College, MA), The Hallockville Folklife Center (NY), The Iron Horse (Northampton, MA), The Irish-American Heritage Society (GA), The Irish Cultural Center (NY), Johnny D’s Uptown (MA), The New Hampshire Highland Games, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors (NY), The Lowell Folk Festival (MA), Massasoit College Concerts (MA), The New England Conservatory Select Series (MA), Music of the Americas Festival (NY), The Pittsburgh Irish Festival (PA), The Provincetown Muse Series (MA), The Smithsonian Institute (DC), The Stonehill College Irish Festival (MA), The University of Vermont Lane Series (VT), The WGBH Acoustic Music Festival (MA), The Wolftrap Folk Masters Series (MD)
Dance Festivals & Special Events: Alta Sierra Dance Weekend (CA), Ashokan Fiddle & Dance Camp (NY), Augusta Folk Heritage Camp (WV), Black Mountain Folk Festival (NC), Boxwood Wooden Flute Week (Nova Scotia, CANADA), Bay Area Country Dance Society Events (CA), Brandywine Old Time Music Festival (PA), Berea Dance Camp (KY), Buffalo Gap Dance Camp (WV), California Traditional Music Society Summer Solstice Festival (CA), Chesapeake Spring Dance Weekend (MD), Cream of the Crop Dance Series (NY), Commonwealth Vintage Dancers Events (MA), Dancing Bears Events (AL), Down East Folk Festival (ME), Eisteddfod Festival (MA), First Night (Boston, Worcester, Quincy, MA), The Feet Retreat (NC), Flying Cloud Academy Vintage Dance (OH), Folk Arts Center of Boston (MA), Folklore Village Farm (WI), Fox Hollow Folk Festival (NY), Harvest Moon Dance Festival (CA), Gaelic Roots Festival (Boston College, Boston, MA), Hands-Four Spring and Fall Weekend (NH), Hudson Guild Dance Camp (NJ), John C. Campbell Folk School (NC), Lady of the Lake Dance Events (ID), Lavender Country & Folk Dancers (MA), Long Island Traditional Music Association (LITMA) Events (NY), Lost Pines Dance Weekend (TX), Louisville, KY Dance Weekend (KY), The Lowell Banjo and Fiddle Contests (Staff, MA), Mariposa Folk Festival (Toronto, Canada), Mendocino Dance Camp (CA), Hay Days (CA), Mohonk Mountain House Dance Weekend (NY), Muskeg Festival (NH), New England Folk Festival (NEFFA, MA), Old Songs Folk Festival & Old Songs Winter Dance Festival (NY), Pigtown Fling (OH), Pinewoods Dance Camp (1976 – 2021, MA), Playford Balls (Boston MA, Providence RI, Pittsburgh PA, Philadelphia PA, New York (NY), Cleveland OH, Nashville TN, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Alaska, Vermont), Port Townsend Fiddle Tunes Festival (WA), Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (MA), Slugs at Sunrise (WA), Spring Dance Romance (NC), Spring Dance Weekend at Circle Lodge (NY), Summer Soiree (NC), Seattle Lake (OR), Tapestry Folk Dance Center (MN), Toronto Dance Weekend (CN), Vernal’s All-Night Equinox (FL) Victoria’s Revenge Dancefest (Cape May, NJ), Vintage Dance Society Events (CN), Wild Weekend (NY), Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp (CO), Ogontz CDSS Family Weeks (NH), Across the Lake Weekend (VT).
Overseas Engagements: Shetland Folk Festival (Shetland Isles -1985,1987), Festival du Maurienne, St. Jean du Maurienne, France (1980), The Tonder Folk & Jazz Festival, Denmark (1986), Tour of Scotland with Tulluchgorum, 1992 & 94, Tour of England with Bare Necessities (6x), on George Marshall trips to Hawaii with Bare Necessities (9x) and St. Croix with Bare Necessities (12x), on tour with Cathie Ryan to Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy & Switzerland, and on Ken McFarland trips to Hawaii, Ecuador, Peru, Egypt, Scotland, England, Greece, Africa, France, Australia and Ireland.
Her musical compositions include Fair Jenny’s Jig, A Solstice Snow, The Invitation, Mendocino Morning, Middle of Night, Intrigas, Cappricio, Findeborgin, Sleeping on a Rock, March for Warren (for Warren Argo), The Dogs of North Dunans, and countless commissions and other tunes.
When Sue Songer started learning contra dance tunes in 1989, she had no idea of the forces she would set in motion in Portland—and beyond. She only knew that she found it personally useful to transcribe tunes that she had learned in order to keep them in her head. Before long, others started asking her for her transcriptions. As word spread of her growing collection of tunes, she was approached frequently by strangers asking for copies of her collection. From this, the Portland Collection music products were born, with Clyde Curley as her collaborator. The three books and four CDs have become staple resources for contra dance musicians around the world. Sue never would have imagined in 1989 that her transcriptions would travel as far as Australia!
In 1996, Sue—inspired by the large contra dance band Rum and Onions—decided to try leading a large contra dance band in Portland. She thought that maybe it would last a year or two. 25 people signed up the first year, and they liked it so much they asked to do it again. The Portland Megaband now has about 75 members, a wide variety of levels and instrumentation, and plays for an annual dance for 500 dancers. The dance raises money for a scholarship fund for community members to continue their music and dance education. Sue’s positive leadership has made the Megaband a community favorite. Furthermore, the Megaband dance in March gave rise to a 5-day long event known as the Cascade Promenade, capped by an all-day contra dance featuring regional bands and callers on the Sunday after the Megaband dance. People come from far and wide for this annual celebration of music and dance—all sparked by Sue’s idea in 1996.
Sue is also active as a dance musician and teacher. She currently plays with two contra dance bands, Joyride and The Stage Crew, plus she collaborates with many other musicians for contra and English dances. She has led large contra dance bands in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Coos Bay, Oregon, and was a teacher and musician in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for CDSS’s Centennial Tour. She has tutored piano numerous times at the American Festival of Fiddle Tunes, and she teaches every July for Contra Dance Musicians Week at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina.
Furthermore, Sue has been active on boards and committees of many organizations, including Northwest Folklife Festival, Portland Country Dance Community, CDSS, and Northwest Passage Dance Weekend.
Sue approaches all of her work with dedication, passion and—most of all—kindness. She is always supportive of musicians, no matter what their playing ability is. She has inspired so many, more than she could ever imagine. She graciously thanks the members of the Megaband every year for their hard work and dedication, and tells them how proud she is of them. In return, everyone who has worked with Sue is proud of her achievements and appreciative of her invaluable contributions to music and dance.
The Country Dance and Song Society is pleased to announce that Bill Alkire of Wooster, Ohio is the 2018 recipient of the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award. Bill has positively impacted the world of American traditional dance for over 70 years as a dance leader, organizer, choreographer, and mentor.
The following letter was written by Susan English, who organized Bill’s award celebration on February 25, 2018. Read on to learn more about Bill’s remarkable contributions to traditional dance throughout his life.
At age 15, Bill was leading play party dances for his Methodist Youth Fellowship in central Ohio. When they danced in the barn of Lynn Rorbaugh, Bill learned more about dance leadership. He called his first public square dances while still in high school and worked his way through Ohio State University by teaching dance throughout the Columbus area. He served on the committee of the Ohio Folk Festival for several years, serving as General Chairman in 1950, when over 3,000 people participated.
Attending Berea Christmas Dance School for the first time in 1948, Bill discovered new dance forms, including contra dance, English country dance, and Appalachian clogging, which he subsequently introduced to dance communities across Northeast Ohio and beyond. Bill returned to Berea Christmas Dance School multiple years on staff, teaching traditional squares, Appalachian clogging, beginning English, and dance leadership.
After a 1979 visit to Black Mountain, North Carolina, he founded the Cedar Valley Cloggers of Wooster, Ohio, a black-shoe traditional performance group that continues today. As artistic director, Bill adapted a broad range of traditional figure dances to clogging performances.
Bill has served on staff at Pinewoods, Mendocino, Dancing Bears of Alaska, Michigan Dance Heritage, Kentucky Summer Dance School, Cumberland Lakes, and, in 1994, the Silkeborg Festival in Denmark. From Kentucky Summer Dance School he received an appreciation award for his service from 1982-1986. Bill was the American dance leader for many years at Oglebay and Maine Folk Dance Camps, Folklore Village, and at various Recreation Leaders’ Labs–Great Lakes, Chatco, Black Hills, Northland, Laurel Highlands, and Buckeye. For his lifetime service to Buckeye Leadership Workshop, he received an Emeritus Award in 1998.
At home in Wooster, Ohio, Bill prepared a generation of youth for square dance and square dance calling competitions at the Ohio State Fair. He called contra dances starting in the 1950s, and his monthly old-time square dance ran continuously for 50 years. After 2000, Bill co-founded the intergenerational program at Terpsichore’s Holiday and performed “Minuet to Macarena,” a revue of couple dance 1800 to present, from the Wheatland Music Festival to the Atlanta Waltz Society.
As a former mental health professional, Bill sees cooperative group dance as a key to healthy relationships and vibrant communities. Over the years, aspiring dance leaders have turned to him not only for his expertise but also for his philosophy of dance. Though currently not in good health at near 90 years old, he was still passing it on to the next generation well into his 80s.
Postscript: Sadly, Bill passed away on September 12th, 2018. He was a true treasure and will be missed by all whose lives he touched.
Note: Photos on this page courtesy of Susan English.
Sandy Bradley of Raymond, WA, was the 2017 recipient of the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award.
Sandy exemplifies the power of inclusion and collaboration in developing and nurturing dance communities and high-quality musical talent. She, along with stellar old time musicians, brought about Seattle’s trad square dance revival, and she developed a welcoming, supportive and appreciative dance culture that still characterizes the Northwest scene today. A superb caller of squares and a superb old time musician, she greatly influenced many callers across the U.S. through her tours, teaching at camps, and her weekly live radio program.
She was honored at the Award celebration on Saturday, September 16, 2017 in Seattle, WA.
Read more about Sandy in the Summer issue of the CDSS News. And check out Stickerville, the web home for the recording, graphics, MP3s, liner, notes and all the calls for Sandy’s calling recording: Potluck and Dance Tonite. Also of interest is an interview with Sandy conducted by Bob Dalsemer at the 2009 Dare to Be Square event in Seattle.
The Country Dance and Song Society presented the 2016 CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award to Jeff Warner of Portsmouth, NH. Jeff is one of the nation’s foremost performers and interpreters of traditional music and an advocate for bringing folk music to people of all ages, through his deep knowledge and love of American and English folk songs. His warmth and encouragement of singers, both experienced and new, young and old, has enriched many lives.
Jeff grew up in New York City, listening to the songs and stories of his father, Frank Warner, and the traditional singers his parents met during folksong collecting trips through rural America. When traveling with his parents, he listened while they recorded the locals who remembered the old songs of their region and community. (These recordings are preserved in the Library of Congress.)
In the 1960s, after receiving a BA in English at Duke University, and after a two-year stint in the Navy, Jeff was editor-in-training at Doubleday Bookclubs, heading, it seemed, toward a literary career until a friend asked if he would help run a nonprofit music school, the Guitar Workshop, in Roslyn, Long Island. He stayed with the school for nine years, working as administrator, guitar teacher, grant writer, and community program coordinator, and learning music theory and arrangement by teaching. His position also helped put him in touch with the significant people involved in the post-WW II folk revival movement that was embraced by both the commercial and academic worlds. In the ’70s, he left to carve out a career for himself in historical music. Because of the US Bicentennial there was an increased demand for American songs in schools and Jeff filled that need with outreach programs into the schools.
He says that he is not a traditional singer in the academic sense-someone who has acquired the traditions either through ethnicity or family ties-but refers to himself as a singer of traditional songs taking an historical approach to the music.
“I teach American history and culture through traditional song and” (borrowing a phrase from historian David McCullough) “making history as interesting as it really was.” For Jeff, old songs are like archaeological objects which teach about history — “they’re living historical artifacts that serve as evidence about the people who used them and the times they lived in.”
In 1997, he moved to Portsmouth and began performing in New Hampshire schools as a Roster Artist through the State Arts Council. He has recorded for Flying Fish/Rounder, WildGoose (UK), and other labels. His first solo compact disc, recorded in 2005, is Jolly Tinker on Gumstump Records. His 1995 recording (with Jeff Davis), Two Little Boys, received a Parents’ Choice Award. He is the editor of his mother’s book, Traditional American Folksongs from the Frank and Anne Warner Collection (Syracuse University Press, 1984), and producer of the CD set Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still: The Warner Collection (Appleseed Recordings, 2000), which is comprised of his parents’ field recordings. He appears on the NH State Arts Council’s 2003 compact disc Songs of the Seasons, for which he also co-wrote the liner notes.
From 1979 to 1993, Jeff toured nationally for the Smithsonian Institution. He continues to travel extensively in the US, Canada, and the UK, performing at museums and historical societies, folk clubs and folk festivals. In addition to singing and storytelling, he plays concertina, banjo, guitar, and several “pocket” instruments, including bones, spoons, and the jig doll/limberjack.
He is past president of the Country Dance and Song Society, and a past officer and founding member of the North American Folk Alliance (now Folk Alliance International). He has been an artist for Virginia and Ohio Arts Councils, is a speaker for New Hampshire Humanities, and is a producer of the Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival. In 2007, he was named a NH State Arts Council Fellow.
The award was presented in Ashland, OR, on Saturday, October 22, 2016.
We’re thrilled to honor the many accomplishments of Jeff Warner.
Videos
The following videos are from the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award ceremony for Brad Foster held on October 24, 2015, at the Orange Town Hall, Orange, MA.
David Millstone speaks at LCA Ceremony for Brad Foster:
Ellen Judson speaks at LCA Ceremony for Brad Foster:
Tom Kruskal speaks at LCA Ceremony for Brad Foster:
Robin Hayden speaks at LCA Ceremony for Brad Foster:
Laurie Anders & Andy Davis perform a musical tribute to Brad:
Gene Murrow speaks at LCA Ceremony for Brad Foster:
Sharon Green speaks at LCA Ceremony for Brad Foster:
Presentation of the LCA to Brad Foster:
Brad Foster accepts the LCA from CDSS:
Andy Davis leads a song at the LCA ceremony for Brad Foster:
Brad Foster: A Calling Career—Interview by Tom Kruskal
Brad Foster, CDSS’s Executive and Artistic Director Emeritus, is a 2015 recipient of the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award. He was interviewed by musician, dance teacher and longtime friend Tom Kruskal who himself was a recipient in 2010. Their conversation was held on June 27, 2015, at Brad’s home in Shutesbury, Massachusetts.
Getting Started in Dance—The Mary Judson Years
TK: Why don’t we go through your dance career chronologically. I know remarkably little about your time in Southern California with Mary Judson1, before Berkeley, so I would just love to hear how you got connected with her, and with your peers who were around, like Lydee Scudder2, and Mary’s kids Molly and Ellen. How did that happen?
BF: When I was in middle school, just before I went into high school, I was in a high school play, and at the end of the play some of the cast invited me to go to “The Museum.” I thought they were crazy because I thought they were talking about going to an art museum, and it was already after 9:00 PM when a museum would have been closed. The Museum turned out to be a folk dance café, and I fell in love with that.
The Museum also was where Mary Judson taught. Through folk dancing I met Lydee and then her sister Alice, and Mary’s daughter Ellen, all of whom were in my high school. Through Ellen and The Museum, I then met Mary, who taught English country dancing there and around town. I started dancing regularly, rode my bike to all the events that I could go to. And I did a little bit of dancing in school too. I remember Ellen teaching me some morris dance figures out in the courtyard of our high school. I even got assigned the role of calling a dance for a school performance. It wasn’t really calling because everybody knew the dance; calling was just part of the performance. But I think that assignment set the stage for my calling later on. So through the four years of high school I did English country and international folk dance, and a group of us always went to the Southern California Renaissance Faire and performed. Sometime during those years I met you, Tom, but I can’t remember where or when. I know I was up in Berkeley once or twice, but you also came down to do a workshop at one time. Then in 1971, just before my senior year in high school, I wandered across the country and ended up at Pinewoods3 on visiting day! I came as a visitor, but somebody (I assume it was Mary Judson) had made arrangements for me to stay, and so I stayed the rest of the week.
TK: But you’d heard about Pinewoods. Mary had been coming with her kids.
BF: Yeah, Mary had been coming with her kids. Ellen had told me all sorts of stories about Pinewoods, about May Gadd 4, and the bush patrol. [Here Brad puts on a high pitched “May Gadd” voice:] “Rumpety tump!” 5 I’d been visiting Alice and Lydee Scudder at their grandparents’ house in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, where I first ran across Duke Miller6 and that style of contra dancing. Alice was heading down to the Cape to visit relatives so she drove me to Pinewoods and dropped me off. That was an unusual summer—there I was from this private high school in Pasadena, with three of my school friends—Ellen, Patty [Haymond], and Pam [McGrill]—also there.
College Years in Santa Cruz and Berkeley
TK: So then, what about college?
BF: Like most of my friends in Pasadena, when I finished high school I wanted to escape and go somewhere else. I looked at Prescott College in Arizona and some other places but ended up choosing U. C. Santa Cruz. I wanted to study natural history, but they also had an international dance program. I saw you in that period, too, because Santa Cruz was close enough for me to occasionally get to your dance in San Francisco.
In Santa Cruz I took dance classes and I also, rather quickly, got a job teaching folk dancing. The regular folk dance teacher, Marcel Vinokur7, who came over the hill from Palo Alto to teach, took a sabbatical soon after I arrived—so in his absence I stepped in and taught. My first class was in international folk dance, but it quickly got turned into an English country dance class. I would come up to San Francisco to go to your dances and record the music and bring it back. There was also a square dance caller who I knew as “John the bass player.” I never learned his last name. He had learned his square dances from the pastor of a church in Oakland, who had learned them somewhere in the Midwest. John called squares with a bluegrass band, but then he graduated and left, and so I filled his gap too. That was the beginning of my square dance calling.
TK: So did you have any contact at all with CDSS National during that time?
BF: Well, I certainly knew about CDSS. I’d been to Pinewoods already, and they were the source of dance books and records. I also remember getting big scholarships—this was later on, when I was coming as a camper in 1975—to come to camp, and I ended up spending about as much as I would have on the camp fees buying books because I had no dance library. I may have first met Jim Morrison8 at Pinewoods; I know that I saw him there in 1971, because that was the summer he and Marney got together. Jim was from Oakland; I can’t remember if I met him in California before I went to Pinewoods, but by the time I knew him, he was working in the CDSS office. In 1974, I wrote to him at the office, hoping to come to camp. That was the year Pat Shaw9 came, but my letter to Jim got lost, and by the time I figured out what had happened, camp was full and there was no way for me to get in, so I went to Stockton Folk Dance Camp 10 instead. You had been to Stockton.
TK: Yes. I left California in 1974; I’d taught at Stockton maybe in 1972, and Nibs Matthews11 had been there the year before me.
BF: And Nibs was supposed to come back in 1974, but he cancelled, and Bob Parker12 came and basically took all of Nibs’s notes and tried to figure out what Nibs meant so he could teach from Nibs’s material. (Laughs)
TK: Yeah, I came the year after Nibs, sort of as a follow up to Nibs. Not a particularly successful gig for me.
BF: That’s when you were using Chuck Ward’s13 double-tracked harpsichord recordings, the 45s?
TK: Yes, right. Chuck set all that up for me.
BF: He said he’d been supposed to record the tunes with Lea Brilmayer14, but right when the recording was supposed to happen she went off to Mexico. So the recording was double tracked with harpsichord and harpsichord.
TK: At Stockton we had to provide a set curriculum with recorded music and printed sheet music, and we had to have discs to sell. When I left California in 1974, Chuck and I decided you should teach, and we asked you. Where were you at that point?
BF: Well, I started at U. C. Santa Cruz in 1972, and I lasted about a year and a half, and then started a long process of transferring to U. C. Berkeley. I stayed in Santa Cruz and taught dance and did carpentry and gardening, and then in 1975 I transferred up to Berkeley, just after you left. I finished Santa Cruz, moved to Berkeley, and took over your dance. A couple of years later Nick Harris, who had been running the Stanford contra, graduated and left, so I took over his contra dance too.
TK: Tell me something about the Bay Area Country Dance Society. It’s gotten all built up now, but what was it like then? How much of that growth were you there for?
BF: When I came on the scene, you had your dance. The story I tell is—this is one of those stories that I’m not sure is true—but what I remember hearing is that you met every week on Sunday, with a very tiny crowd, and the dance stayed like that until the crowd finally got big enough, and then you switched to once a month.
TK: Is that right? I don’t remember that.
BF: And then you moved it from San Francisco across the Bay to Berkeley because Chuck found a different hall. Then I came in and switched the dance to twice a month, and it has stayed pretty much like that ever since. Your dance, which later became my dance, was the only English dance for a while. At some point before 1975 Nick Harris started the contra dance at Stanford, and a few people did traditional style squares as well. At some point I met a fellow whose grandmother was connected to the dance department at Stanford University. He told me that May Gadd used to come out once in a while to teach at Stanford . But as far as I can tell, her visits had no lasting impact; nothing grew out of them.
So, in 1975 I took over your English dance, and I started a short-lived contra in Berkeley; I later started another contra in Berkeley and an English dance at Ashkenaz15 that didn’t last very long. I started something in an art center on a pier in San Francisco. Meanwhile, Bruce Hamilton16 moved to Palo Alto and started an English dance in San Jose. Bob Fraley moved to the Bay Area and started the first English dance in Palo Alto. So, things started cropping up. Kirston Koths moved in and started a Berkeley contra that kept going, unlike mine. When my contra in San Francisco failed to keep going, Charlie Fenton started another one in California Hall—that dance moved out to St. Paul’s on the West End and has been going for a long time. It just felt as if a couple years after you left everything exploded, and suddenly there were all sorts of new people. The same thing happened when I left—as soon as the vacuum was there, all these people filled it, and lots more stuff happened.
Founding the Mendocino Country Dance Camp and the Bay Area Country Dance Society
TK: I assume the Bay Area group now has a board of directors and an organizational structure that wasn’t there when you left, or had that started?
BF: I feel like I created that. You had a single English country dance in San Francisco, run by you, Chuck Ward, and Nora Hughes, and that was the English Folk Dance Society of San Francisco (or some similar title).
TK: Yeah, we had some official structure. We might have even been a CDSS Center.
BF: Yes, you were a Center17, and you were very early in getting onto the nonprofit group exemption. I learned all that later when I became CDSS Director. But I think you had no appreciable organization, no bank account then.
Then, in 1979, I was hired to teach English country dancing at the Mendocino Folklore Camp, an international folk dance camp held at the Woodlands in Mendocino. I loved it so much that, with my first wife Jenny, in 1980 we created the English dance camp at Mendocino. In 1981 we added the American week. After the first year began, we started thinking that there should be an organization. That’s when we created BACDS, and we merged the earlier organization, the English Folkdance Society of San Francisco, into it, and also brought in any of the contra and English dances that wanted to join us.
Some people thought I was crazy to create BACDS. They said, “You created this camp. Why are you giving it to BACDS?” Even though at that time I had no intention of leaving California, I thought the camps and dances should have permanence, should be more than me, and so I created the board and all that.
I remember very early on talking the board into hiring me as the part-time paid administrator of BACDS. It was about a one-tenth time job. My first task was to learn how to do accounting, then to create an accounting system, and finally to figure out how we stood financially. A couple of months later, I came to a board meeting and said, “Well, I have two things to report. The first one is that I finished that task of putting a financial system in place, and I can tell you your financial standing. The second one is, ‘I quit,’ because I can show you that you can’t afford to hire me.” And it went back to being a volunteer organization. Even that little bit of time was more than BACDS could afford back in those days.
TK: Before we move on and launch into CDSS, is there anything else about your early career that you wanted to get in?
BF: I had learned morris dancing in high school before getting to Pinewoods, and learned more at Pinewoods. I think you taught some morris or sword at the dance weekends, too. When I moved to Berkeley, I started a morris team, the Berkeley Morris. We first met in what was then the Ho Chi Minh Park. I wanted to be the Ho Chi Morris Men but no one else would agree to that.
Then, starting around 1977, I began doing some small calling tours, and by 1980 I was doing bigger tours. In those days it was primarily contras and squares—English groups couldn’t afford to pay enough to cover travel costs. My first tours were on the East Coast, in New England, and then I started touring in northern California, plus a little bit of Oregon and Washington.
Moving East — Joining the Country Dance and Song Society
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TK: So tell me about moving east, and how that happened. Jim Morrison had stopped working for CDSS and moved [to Virginia]. CDSS was struggling with a series of short-term Executive Directors.
BF: Gay [May Gadd] had been National Director for decades; I don’t remember exactly when she stopped. 1974-ish? Then Genny Shimer18 came in; she wanted to do it for only a year, but stayed maybe a year and a half. Next Jim Morrison stepped in for a couple of years, at which point he moved from New York City to Virginia but stayed on as Artistic Director, and Nancy White-Kurzman served as Executive Director for a couple of years. After Nancy, Bertha Hatvary came in as Interim Director and then was hired as Executive Director for a while. Bertha’s biggest strength was the newsletter and publicity. At some point they started looking for somebody new, and approached me. By then I had already been organizing lots of weekends, and had started and run Mendocino for a few years.
Then someone asked me if I’d like to work for CDSS. At first, I didn’t take it seriously. Meanwhile Jenny received a job offer from a school in Greenwich, Connecticut. I had graduated a few years earlier with a BA in Architecture from U. C. Berkeley, and was working as a draftsman in an architect’s office. In late 1982 a recession hit, and my architecture boss kept telling me he was going to lay me off. With the job at CDSS as a possibility, and Jenny’s solid job offer, we moved east. After we moved, I interviewed with CDSS, was offered the job, and began as the National Director on February 1, 1983. The job title was later changed to Executive and Artistic Director.
TK: Tell me about the scene at CDSS when you came into it, what your reaction was, who the mentors were there. I know Sue Salmons and Genny Shimer were there. John Hodgkin was Treasurer, right?
BF: Yes, John was Treasurer, Sue was Chair of the Executive Committee 19.
Sue worked so hard. In later years I realized she quietly had served as interim Executive Director in the many months between when Bertha Hatvary left and I came in. Sue never had the title, she never asked for recognition, but she came in every week and just made the office run. She was always there, working the phone all the time. I had a lot of respect for her energy and for what she wanted to do, even if I didn’t agree with all of her decisions or the methods.
So Sue was there, and Kit Campbell was office manager. Genny Shimer was also around; she was the quiet person on the artistic side. I had such reverence for Genny, for her teaching, and for her sense of where CDSS ought to go artistically. If I had a question on artistic matters I would go to Genny or possibly to Jim. I knew Jim better, but he lived a lot farther away.
[And] John was Treasurer. I learned an awful lot of nonprofit accounting from John. He also had a philosophy. When he was a young man getting into accounting, one of his bosses gave him a financial leg up and said don’t pay me back, just pass it on—give a similar gift to someone else when you can. That became a model for us at CDSS, one we couldn’t always follow. The idea was that we would support you now in the hopes that you would support someone else later, and we would just keep lifting people up.
TK: So by the time you’d been there three years or so, you were developing your own opinions about what things were working and weren’t, what the vision was or wasn’t, and what your vision might be. Tell more about that.
BF: I remember very early on, I told somebody that I was the director of CDSS, and he said, “Oh, you’re the New York Society.” That was this CDSS member’s image of what CDSS National did—it focused on New York City. And there was some truth to that. There was also Pinewoods, and some others might have said, “You’re the Pinewoods organization.” So there was Pinewoods, and then there were NYDAC (New York Dance Activities Committee20) and the Folk Music Club21, and also weekends at Hudson Guild in New Jersey, but the main focus was on New York City activities as a showcase for the nation. In my interview before I got the job, someone asked me what I thought of NYDAC and the Folk Music Club. I had already heard some mutterings and disagreements about what was going on with them, and I said, “Well, we’re a national organization. The local organizations should make their own decisions.” And I heard back “You can’t say that.” And I took that literally—I stopped saying it, but I didn’t stop thinking it.
When I came into the job, some people expected me to revitalize the English dance in New York City because I was a teacher as well as an administrator. But my focus for CDSS was national, and in my first ten years I used my contra touring, which I was doing quite extensively then, to get myself all over the country and to build up CDSS’s visibility and membership. The membership of CDSS grew rapidly, and perhaps doubled, in those years. CDSS went from an organization that had been largely English dance based, with some folk music and some contra dance, to one that grew particularly on the contra dance side, partly because I was all over the country calling contras but also because we were riding the wave of contra dancing that was sweeping the country.
Then our rent in New York doubled—our rent in this grungy top floor space in the garment district. So we looked all over New York City and found that, even at double the old cost, it was still the most reasonable place we could rent in NYC. Bertha Hatvary, who was still involved, said, “You should move Sales to New Jersey to save money because it’s cheaper.” She didn’t mean move the whole office out of New York City, just the sales department. Then, someone at our Leadership Conference in the South said, “This is crazy. Your rent is so high, come to where we are.” That started the whole brouhaha about whether we should move or not, which lasted a while. Eventually we did move [to Massachusetts]. I looked at it as a question of where we could find something we could afford that was close enough to serve Pinewoods, our major program. It was a big political hassle, moving.
TK: So it was an economic decision at its core. I remember you were interested in living somewhere else, and I know that Jim Morrison wanted to live somewhere else when he worked for CDSS. Back when he wanted to move, he had suggested moving the Society, but there was no question then that a move was going to happen. How much of the Society’s move from New York do you think was prompted by your wanting to move it out?
BF: I’m not sure what would have happened if Jim had not already tried to get CDSS to move [in the 1970s]. Jim tried and failed, but his attempt set the stage for another try. I wanted to move because my salary was so low compared to New York City costs. I had gone looking for a place around New York where I could afford to buy a house, and the closest was an hour and a half drive from the city. Everything was very expensive. So I wanted the move in a personal sense. I remember saying to Sue Salmons and Mary Judson that I couldn’t afford to keep being Executive and Artistic Director in New York and would happily help them find a new ED if CDSS preferred to stay in the city. So I was looking both for a cheaper place for CDSS and a cheaper place for me and for the staff, a place where the current salaries wouldn’t be so far out of line. They would be low instead of abysmal.
TK: The other aspect, of course, was that to make CDSS more of a national organization—a move from New York City to almost anywhere would potentially help.
BF: That’s true. Even though that wasn’t the main thing on my mind, I thought it wasn’t a bad idea either. CDSS had become ingrown and it needed to grow and change. Moving was one of the biggest ways to grow and change. We lost a number of members in New York City, but we gained many more new members elsewhere after the move.
CDSS Leaves New York City
TK: So let’s talk about the move to Northampton [in 1987], and the early years there.
BF: One funny story about the move. Steve Howe wasn’t working in the office yet. He’d started working for me at camp part-time, and he had been doing stage management for the Theater for the Deaf and knew a lot about packing trucks from his tours with them. When it came time to move, we offered to help move the office staff who were going with us by putting their personal belongings in the same truck with the office gear. So we had this tour where we went to various people’s houses. Steve walked into the first one, looked at the pile of stuff, and said, “Two feet.” I didn’t know what that meant. Then we went to someone else’s house with more stuff, and Steve said, “Four feet,” and I still didn’t know what that meant. Then he looked at the office and he figured out the size of truck we needed. “Two feet” meant two feet of floor depth in the truck from floor to ceiling and wall-to-wall. And he was right! He knew how to estimate from his job as stage manager.
TK: So Steve was quite involved in the move, then, getting the truck?
BF: He was involved in the move; he didn’t join our year-round office staff until about a year after we moved up there. He was just summer help before that. Caroline Batson and Aithne Bialo-Padin moved with the office; they and I were the only ones who moved with the office to Northampton. Steve joined us a little later. Aithne stayed a couple of years, and then moved on to other things.
BF: Several years after the move we wrote new bylaws—Genny [Shimer] felt the Society needed a clearer structure—and we incorporated in Massachusetts, merged that organization with the New York corporation, and went through all sorts of legal this-and-that.
Around that time, we started [our programs at] Buffalo Gap. People down in West Virginia were saying. “There’s this great camp. Why don’t you come down here?” We did it partly because Pinewoods was so full. The English and American Week and the Family Week that started then still go on, because Timber Ridge is really the continuation of the Buffalo Gap programs. But just about when we started Buffalo Gap, we suddenly hit a downturn at Pinewoods. I remember when we started the Finance Committee meetings at your place, we had a couple of years of losing what seemed a lot of money in our terms.
TK: In my first meeting [as Treasurer ] there was a big blowup about our losing money and our need for financial controls. That’s why we created the Finance Committee.
BF: We did lose money for a couple of years and then we essentially regained everything we’d lost within a few years after that. It’s funny looking back at that, because we worked really hard at our finances, but it’s hard to say whether the improvement was due to our work or simply due to other factors bringing the campers back.
TK: Well, maybe the financial controls helped; they at least let us know what was going on.
Major Achievements at CDSS
TK: I wanted to get your sense of what you feel your major achievements have been, from moving the Society out of New York and making it more national. I think that clearly happened, to some extent.
BF: I agree; I think it happened as well. Later on, people had a different idea of what they wanted “national” to mean, but considering that I started with an organization that was focused on New York City and Pinewoods, I feel that we were very successful in becoming visible in a larger part of the country. A lot of what I did was to push support for groups—grants, liability insurance—to groups all over the country to help them grow. Encouraging the Family Week in California to get started, supporting it financially for several years to get it off the ground. Growing membership, becoming less ingrown. Those were the things I worked on. Also expanding camps. At its peak, we went from seven weeks at Pinewoods, when I started, to nine with the addition of two weeks at Buffalo Gap, plus three more at Ogontz, including a storytelling week. Then we went back to two at Ogontz, then one at Ogontz, and then [a combined] one at Timber Ridge. And now six at Pinewoods—that happened after my time.
TK: When you first started in Northampton you had a small staff, essentially no committees. So how did things change?
BF: In the move from New York, the old committees disbanded and only some were reformed immediately. The first committee that came up was Bylaws. The next was Finance, because we had the short term financial loss. Staff slowly grew. The office work grew. In New York we had one computer. Gene and Susan Murrow brought in the first CDSS computer, and we used that for a long time. It was a CPM Vector Graphics machine. Then, around the time we moved to Northampton, we migrated to a single DOS based PC. But it was just one computer. A board member from Michigan asked, “How can you get by with only one computer?” I hadn’t thought about it, we all just struggled to get computer time. But soon after we added one more, and one more….
TK: From the outside, it seemed like a slow, steady building. It’s interesting to me how organizations grow. In some ways it’s easy to grow, and it’s harder to shrink, or stop growing, because it feels like failure. But things can end up changing in ways that actually don’t work.
BF: There were times when I thought my role was to be a “brake.” Ideas would come through that were often good ideas, but their timing was wrong, or the speed at which people wanted to carry them out was wrong.
Berea Christmas Country Dance School
TK: I want you to talk about [the Christmas Country Dance School in] Berea [Kentucky] a little bit. You’ve been going there for a long time, and it’s an important part of your connection to the dance world. And it’s a different world.
BF: Yes, it’s a different world. So, Berea. In 1977 I got a ride across country with Stan Kramer22. My trip to Pinewoods that summer took me from California to Port Townsend, Washington for the first Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, then wandering back toward California and heading with Stan to Brasstown, North Carolina. Stan took me to the John C. Campbell Folk School and then up to Berea.
I got to Berea just in time to help tear down the Dodge Gym, which I never saw in operation. I don’t think I got back there again until I was Executive and Artistic Director. Berea had a tradition of having CDSS’s Director come on staff if he or she was a teacher. I think Jim had been there on staff, but the directors between Jim and me, who weren’t teachers, hadn’t. Genny had been teaching there, but she said that it was time for me to take over, and then she kept going anyway. In those early years, the ‘80s, I tended to do Berea for one or two years, then Brasstown’s Winter Week one or two years. Sometimes I’d do neither, so I wasn’t constant. Now things have changed—for the last ten years, or longer, I’ve been to Berea almost every year.
Berea reminds me of the [CDSS] dance weeks back in the ‘70s. It’s old home week: it’s a part of your family life and tradition to do it. Ogontz has turned into that for [my family] too; we go to CDSS’s Ogontz Family Week because it’s our family vacation.
TK: It’s interesting. CDSS has a lot of groups that are very different from each other. It’s not as if there’s a single model for anything. In a way, that makes it hard for the national organization to have a clear focus, because there are all these different groups doing all these very different things, and with very different needs.
BF: This is partly based on the stories I’ve heard about Gay (May Gadd), but I felt like she had an iron hand and made people do things the “right way,” her “right way.” There was an advantage to this in consistency, but its existence also meant it was harder for the groups that were different. When I came in as Director, one of my goals was not to have that iron fist. It wasn’t what the Society needed at that time; we needed to help all the different groups in their different ways, rather than to apply a single model.
Calling Career
TK: Let’s go back to your non-CDSS calling career. How did you get your gigs? Did you go out and seek them actively, or did people get your name through the grapevine?
BF: When I first started calling, I taught at community colleges, and I went looking for community groups that wanted dances. I also taught the class at U. C. Santa Cruz mentioned earlier. There weren’t many dance groups around hiring callers. I got involved in the international scene early on, and then, by the ‘80s, more dance groups existed, and I was able to start putting tours together. By the time I did my first tours of the Northwest, Penn Fix had moved back to Spokane, and had created this great newsletter in which he kept track of all the old-timey little dances up North. This gave me a list of contacts that I could use to set up a string of gigs. So I would put together a tour that would take me from Seattle to Spokane and out to Idaho and back again.
TK: You would write the organizers and say, “I’m going to be in the area. If you’re interested, I would love to put a tour together?”
BF: Yes. And I also started getting hired for weeks and weekends. Creating Mendocino English Week made me much more visible. First I started the Mendocino Camp and taught there. Soon thereafter, I got hired to teach at Family Week and English & American Week at Pinewoods. Just before I became CDSS Director I was asked to be Program Director for Family Week. Once I started with CDSS, I programmed about one week a summer, sometimes two. But programming was a big part of my job. When Buffalo Gap started, I was already scheduled to run a week at Pinewoods, and I also ran the first English & American Week at Buffalo Gap.
TK: One unusual aspect of your success with this career is your ability to handle both the artistic and the administrative sides of the job.
BF: Sometimes it was hard to juggle the two.
TK: And of course, doing Pinewoods was part of the job. That was Gay’s model.
BF: It was Jim’s model too. Back then the [NYC] office would shut down [during the summer]. Gloria Berchielli and some others would come by to pick up the mail, but no sales took place unless they were handled from Pinewoods. In my early days it was easy for me to leave my administrative tasks and go off on tour without having to think about CDSS while I was gone. Ten years later, CDSS work came with me on the tours.
TK: So, about your parallel career as a caller…
BF: Oh, yes. I feel like the things that brought CDSS to hire me were a mixture of my camp administration experience and my teaching ability. I’m not sure we all agreed on what I was supposed to do with that teaching ability. One board member said that being director would be a big boost for my teaching career. I thought that my teaching career was a big boost to CDSS.
TK: What about your English dance teaching? Presumably there was more of that when you became CDSS Director. And as you said, the number of groups grew, so that there were more groups wanting somebody to come in and teach.
BF: By the time I became CDSS Director I was a fairly accomplished English caller and contra caller, good enough to teach the advanced dance in NYC and to be on staff at CDSS adult dance weeks, but there were fewer places that would hire someone calling English. So I did more contra dance calling than English calling, but often did it with people who played English, like Laurie Andres and Cathy Whitesides. Of all the people I toured with, I toured with Laurie and Cathy more than with anybody else. Sometimes we’d be booked for an English dance and sometimes it would be a contra. As time went on, I got hired more for English. There had been an explosion of contra dance callers, and there weren’t nearly as many English callers available.
TK: That’s still true.
BF: Now I do primarily English country calling and the odd, rare, contra. It feels like the whole thing is just totally the opposite of what it was when I started. And when I call contras, it tends to be at community events with both English and contra.
TK: In the early years, did you ever consider that calling might be a way to make a living?
BF: Yes, I called for my living for a while in Santa Cruz. What that meant was that I lived really cheaply. I lived incredibly cheaply, and I earned very little from teaching. That’s when I had my international class and my English class on the UC campus and I taught at a community college and did the odd dance, but it’s hard to call that a living. By the time I was up in the Bay Area, I was teaching a lot all over the place. I would call at Berkeley and Stanford twice a month each, and I would do these private parties. I realized that I could have turned that into a livelihood, but it would have meant being on the road constantly. Even then I didn’t want to do that.
TK: When I started in the dance world, I did notice the big explosion in the ‘70s, and the increased number of people who were trying to make a living from both calling and music. I think the musicians were a bit more successful, perhaps, with that than the callers were. There were more venues for the musicians, and they could do concerts as well as dances.
You’re famous for your stories, and I’m wondering if you have some favorite ones you could tell. Does anything come to mind?
BF: We were talking about May Gadd. I had this image, possibly from something Ellen said, of this woman doodling while she taught, and ever since my impression of May Gadd has been “a rumpety tump, a rumpety tump.” Years later I was out canoeing with [my wife] Barbara [Russell] on Long Pond at Pinewoods, and we ran into some middle-school age kids. It turned out they were relatives of Steve Howe’s from across the pond. They asked where we were from and we replied Pinewoods Camp. Their reaction was, “Oh, you’re the “tiddely pommers!” [Both laugh.] The way camp is situated, C# [pavilion] is fairly well sound-isolated from the lake, but there’s a low spot that goes right through to the Point on the Conants’ property, heading right straight toward Ashanti [the Howe family cottage across the pond]. That’s what they’d hear at night, the “rumpety tumps,” but they called them “tiddely poms.”
TK: What about those early square dance days you were talking about?
BF: I learned squares—my western patterns called squares—from that fellow “John the bass player.” He’d call a full night of squares—the Virginia Reel plus four or five squares, a lot of polkas and a lot of gaps in between. People mostly bounced around and didn’t pay much attention to the caller. One of the first calling skills I developed was “patience.” It was the only way to survive that.
Then I went out and visited Duke Miller and fell in love with his sing-songy style of calling contras and singing squares, so I taped them and came home. But in my early days I couldn’t find any bands that would play the music for me. So I started doing just patter-call squares. Later on I shifted, so by the time I became Executive and Artistic Director I was pretty much doing New England squares and very little patter-call anymore. And I would do some singing contras too. Duke Miller sang Petronella and Money Musk and others.
I found out that Kate Barnes23 had also gone to the same dances I did, and had in her head the same Duke Miller sound, and we would set it up to do a duet. It was fun to do. I’d start at the microphone and would teach it and then sing it. A little while later I would still be there standing in front of the microphone, but Kate would start singing and people would think it was still me. Then suddenly we’d shift into harmony. Kate always did the harmony; I couldn’t sing harmony when I was also trying to call. The people were really confused. “Where did that second voice come from?” We did that for a while, especially with Money Musk.
The Present and Future
TK: Tell me what you are doing now.
BF: I’m still quite connected to CDSS—I was in the office just two days ago. In my new work as Executive Director of 1794 Meetinghouse, I organize summer concerts, and CDSS is helping sponsor three of our folk concerts amidst a whole summer of all kinds of music. I recently went to a Centennial fundraising party at Sukey and Rhett Krause’s house—it was really an Ogontz reunion. Because I like what CDSS is doing, and because I wanted to be a good role model, I publically got out my checkbook: I wanted people to know that we give too.
I also run a new dance program called New London Assembly. It’s somewhat ironic. For years CDSS has been putting on an Early Music Week, even though early music is not directly connected to CDSS’s mission. Meanwhile, Amherst Early Music Festival, which is an early music program, now is putting on an English Country Dance Week, even though English country isn’t directly connected to their mission. That’s in part because people on both boards, like Pat Petersen, suggested I lead an English program at their summer festival.
So I’m leading it now, and watching the dancers at New London reminds me of the old days. Back in the ‘70’s at the CDSS dance weeks at Pinewoods, I felt there was a culture of respectful learning, of coming to a dance and being quiet and listening to what the teacher had to say. And people had a fairly long attention span. As time has gone on, there’s been more chatter, less attention paid to the teacher, and it’s become harder to teach style. I realize I’ve contributed to that change, doing things like learning to teach quickly and trying to make English country dance more welcoming to newcomers, but that has also played into the modern culture of short attention spans. New London is different. When I started New London Assembly, it was outside the norm—it just wasn’t a place anyone normally went for English country. By chance, we attracted dancers who were all respectful listeners, and so we have been able to work on style in a way that is often hard to do at other camps. At New London, people come to learn. It’s not just recreation. So I go to New London, and it’s like a blast from the past, and I can teach differently there than I do elsewhere.
And that is my life now. I continue to run New London Assembly, to direct the 1794 Meetinghouse, and I’m doing nonprofit accounting locally for a number of small nonprofits. I also travel to teach, when I can, while also trying not to be gone too much from home—I love being home with my family. We still go to CDSS’s Ogontz Family Week whenever we can, and I’m often on staff. And the same is true with Berea’s Christmas Country Dance School. And we try to get to something at Pinewoods—I’ve been going there almost every summer for the last forty-four years, only missing two so far. All of this is a big part of my past, and a big part of my present and future too.
TK: Okay, this is good. I have my work cut out for me writing this out.
BF: Thank you, Tom.
CDSS thanks Tom Kruskal for interviewing Brad, Nancy Boyd for transcribing, and Sharon Green, Pat MacPherson and Caroline Batson for editing. Also thanks to Deborah Kruskal et al. for creating the Award party for Brad on October 24, 2015, in Athol, Massachusetts.
Footnotes
1 Mary Judson brought English country dancing to Los Angeles in 1967. Her group, The Carol Dancers, became the center for English country dance in Southern California, and fostered the growth of future dance leaders Brad Foster, Bruce Hamilton, Gene Murrow, and Lydee Scudder, among others.
2 Lydee Scudder began dancing at age five at Duke Miller’s Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, square dance. In her Pasadena high school, she persuaded the administration to let her teach folk dance as an alternative to PE, and introduced folk dancing to her fellow student Brad Foster. Lydee, her sister Alice, and Brad danced with teacher Mary Judson and performed at Southern California’s Renaissance Faire.
3 Home to CDSS summer programs since 1933; near Plymouth, Massachusetts.
4 Longtime director of CDSS and before that of the NYC chapter of the English Folk Dance Society which became CDSS; May Gadd died in 1979.
5 See explanation later in the interview.
6 Duke Miller was a high school football coach from upstate New York who called summer dances in southern New Hampshire from the 1950s until the late 1970s. Well known for his singing calls, Miller influenced many callers, including Brad.
7 Marcel Vinokur (1929-2014) was an international folk dancing teacher for over sixty years. A pioneering aeronautical engineer, he contributed to the manned space program, working at NASA Ames Research Center.
8 National Director of CDSS from 1975-1977 and Artistic Director for three years after that, Jim Morrison is a musician, caller, and display dancer. In 2014 he received CDSS’s Lifetime Contribution Award; he lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
9 Choreographer, composer, musician, singer, and caller, Patrick Shuldham-Shaw (1917-1977) started English folk dancing in London at the age of six. In 1971 he was awarded the English Folk Dance and Song Society’s highest honor, its Gold Badge.
10 Founded in 1948, Stockton Folk Dance Camp is located at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and specializes in international folk music and dance.
11 Sidney “Nibs” Matthews (1920-2006) was a morris dancer, caller, and director of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
12 Bob Parker (1929-2012) was a member of London Folk and a teacher of English traditional dance at the Royal Ballet School at White Lodge.
13 Charles “Chuck” Ward, organist and pianist; in the 1970s, he, Tom Kruskal, and Brad Foster laid the foundations for the Bay Area Country Dance Society. Chuck is a 2009 CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award recipient.
14 Lea Brilmayer is the Howard M. Holtzmann Professor of International Law at Yale Law School. While a student at U. C. Berkeley, she frequently played for English country dances.
15 An international folk dance café in Berkeley.
16 Bruce Hamilton is an internationally known English and Scottish country dance teacher. A former president of the CDSS Governing Board, he is programmer of BACDS’s Peninsula English country dance.
17 In the 1970s and ‘80s, there were two levels of group membership in CDSS: Centers, for the larger and more formally organized groups, and Affiliates for the smaller groups. It caused some confusion and the designation was later simplified to the single “Group Affiliate.”
18 Longtime and much loved English country dance teacher who taught in NYC and at workshops and programs around the country; she died in 1990.
19 Jeff Warner was President, Genny Shimer was Vice President, and David Chandler was Secretary; the four officers had comprised the Search Committee for the position of Director. Brad was officially hired after the January 1983 Exec meeting; he was in his second CDSS National Council term, and had programed CDSS’s Family Week the previous summer. His goals for CDSS, stated in his application for the job, were: “increased outreach to and communication with center/associates and members, as well as greater exposure among non-CDSS groups; increasing the membership of the Society by developing new ways to show its value and effectiveness for members; and quality programs at reasonable costs to participants as well as to the Society.” (Source: minutes of the CDSS Executive Committee meeting, January 17, 1983)
20 Now called Country Dance*New York (CDNY)
21 Now called Folk Music Society of New York, a.k.a. New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club
22 An original member of the Bay Area’s Claremont Country Dance Band (which worked closely with Brad Foster in the late 1970s), Stanley Kramer still plays violin with the Nonesuch Country Dance Players, Bangers and Mash, and other bands.
23 Contra and English country dance musician Kate Barnes currently plays in the Latter Day Lizards, Bare Necessities, Big Bandemonium, Dark Carnival and Yankee Ingenuity; she also teaches, records, publishes music books, composes and crafts wooden whistles. She lives in Massachusetts.
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Recent Recipients
The Marley Project
Michigan
archiving the full set of historic Marley family dances, from the Vaudeville era Funded by the Anthony G. Barrand Research Fund
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As a CDSS Affiliate, your group may designate up to two people to receive priority admission to any camp program(s). Priority admission nominations must be submitted before the lottery deadline (March 20, 2023). If a lottery is held for the selected program(s), your designated registrants will automatically be awarded space at the program. Priority admission is available for intensive courses; the registrant must meet any participation requirements noted in the course description (where applicable). The lottery deadline for intensive courses is March 13, 2023. Use this form to make priority admission nominations.
Affiliate Matching Scholarships
CDSS matches contributions made by affiliate groups sending their members to camps. Find more information and the application here on our camp website.
CDSS Bylaws
The following bylaws contain changes approved by the CDSS Membership in September 2021.
1.1 Name. The name of the corporation shall be THE COUNTRY DANCE AND SONG SOCIETY, INC. (hereafter referred to in these Bylaws as “the Society”).
1.2 Purposes. The purposes of the corporation shall be as set forth in the Articles of Organization as they may be amended from time to time and approved by the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (hereafter referred to in these Bylaws as “the Articles of Organization”).
1.3 Offices. The office(s) of the corporation shall be at such place or places within or without the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as the Governing Board of the Society (hereinafter referred to in these Bylaws as “the Board”) may determine or the business of the corporation may require.
1.4 Seal. The seal of the corporation shall be in the form of a circle inscribed with the name of the corporation, the year of its incorporation, and the word “Massachusetts.” When authorized by the Board and to the extent not prohibited by law, a facsimile of the corporate seal may be affixed or reproduced.
1.5 Members. All persons subscribing to the objectives of the Society are eligible to become members. They become members upon payment of dues. Dues and classes of membership shall be set by the Board, but the Board may delegate this power to the Executive Director. Membership in the Society lapses on failure to pay dues after reasonable notice. The Board may, at its discretion, terminate the membership of any person at any time by returning that person’s current dues. The Board may appoint to honorary office or honorary membership persons who have contributed exceptional services to the Society.
1.6 Notice. Whenever notice is required in these Bylaws, it shall be considered sufficient to deliver such notice by any communication protocol, the use of which is reasonably likely to make the intended recipients aware of the proposed action; provided that a record of the content, time and manner of communication is maintained by the Secretary.
1.7 Written Communication. Whenever an action is required in these Bylaws to be “written” or “in writing,” such action may be conveyed through any communication protocol that ensures that the information is legible and that a written record can be recorded and/or stored by the Secretary and by the recipients.
1.8 Meetings by Remote Communication. Whenever these Bylaws provide that a class of people may participate in a meeting, those people are eligible to participate through telephone or video conference or other electronic arrangements by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other at the same time. Participation by such means shall constitute presence in person at a meeting.
1.9 Votes. When conducting any vote or poll of the members authorized by these Bylaws, the procedure employed shall preserve the secrecy of the voting and provide for validation of the voter’s membership. Any ballot not appropriately validated shall be rejected.
Article 2. Meetings of Members
2.1 Place of Meeting. Meetings of members shall be held at the principal office of the corporation or, to the extent permitted by the Articles of Organization, at such other place within or without Massachusetts as the Board may from time to time designate.
2.2 Special Meetings. The President may call a meeting of the general membership of the Society when the President deems it appropriate to report to the membership or to permit the membership to express its views directly to the Board on matters of concern. The President must call a meeting upon vote of a majority of the Board.
The President must call such a meeting, to be held within 90 days, upon written application of five percent of the membership in good standing of the Society stating the purpose of the proposed meeting. The Board must set the date, time, and place of such a meeting.
2.3 Preliminary Agenda. The preliminary agenda of any meeting shall include any item requested in writing by at least ten members in good standing of the Society, received by the Secretary prior to the notice of the meeting as defined in Article 2.4.
2.4 Notice of Meetings. At least 30 days in advance of all meetings the Secretary shall give notice to all members entitled to attend. Such notice shall include a preliminary agenda and proxy forms as needed.
2.5 Quorum. The quorum for the transaction of business is 10% of the membership, present in person or by proxy.
2.6 Voting. At all meetings of members each member shall have one vote. Any such member may vote in person or by proxy dated not more than six months prior to the meeting and filed with the Secretary of the meeting. Every proxy shall be in writing, signed by a member or his or her authorized attorney-in-fact, and dated. No proxy shall be valid after the final adjournment of the meeting. A proxy purporting to be executed by or on behalf of a member shall be deemed valid unless challenged at or prior to its exercise and the burden of proving invalidity shall rest on the challenger. Except as otherwise provided by law, the Articles of Organization, or these Bylaws, at all meetings of members all questions shall be determined by a vote of a majority of the members voting, present in person or represented by proxy.
Article 3. The Governing Board of the Society
3.1 Powers. The Governing Board (referred to as “the Board” in the rest of these bylaws) is elected by the members and is the governing body of the Society. Except as otherwise provided by law, the Articles of Organization, or these Bylaws, the business of the corporation shall be managed by a Board who may exercise all the powers of the corporation.
3.2 Number. The Board shall consist of the following members, each with one vote:
(a) The Officers (see Article 4)
(b) No less than 8 nor more than 21 Members-at-large. Within these bounds, the Board shall determine each year at its annual meeting how many members-at-large are to be elected the following year. If no action is taken, the number shall be the same as the previous year.
3.3 Place of Meeting. Meetings of the Board may be held at any place within or without the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
3.4 Annual Meeting. The annual meeting of the Board shall be held in April each year at such a time as may be designated by the Board or at such other time and place as the Board may determine.
3.5 Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Board may be held at such time and place as the Board may determine. Any Board members not present at the time of the determination shall be advised in writing of any such determination.
The President may call special meetings of the Board and shall call a special meeting, to be held within 90 days, on the written request of six or more Board members.
3.6 Notice of Meetings. The Secretary shall give Board members at least 30 days’ notice of the annual meeting and special meetings, except that at least two weeks’ notice shall be given for special meetings held by remote communication or email. Notice may be waived if all Board members agree in writing before the meeting.
3.7 Quorum. The quorum for the transaction of business is a majority of the Board.
3.8 Voting. At any meeting of the Board the vote of a majority of those present shall decide any matter except as otherwise provided by law, the Articles of Organization, or these Bylaws.
3.9 Rules of Order. Meetings of the Board, committees, and task groups shall be conducted in a spirit of cooperation. Should questions or disputes as to procedure arise, they shall be settled by reference to the most recent available edition of Robert’s Rules of Order.
3.10 Executive Session. At any meeting of the Board, where a quorum is present, the Board may, by a majority vote, decide to enter an executive session from which some or all who are not voting members of the Board may be excluded, at the Board’s discretion. The decision to enter executive session shall be recorded in the minutes, and actions taken must be recorded in the minutes. Executive session minutes may be kept separately and confidentially.
3.11 Open Meetings. Except for executive sessions, meetings of the Board and of the Executive Committee are open to attendance by all members of the Society. Such visitors have no votes, and shall not speak except on the express invitation of the chair.
3.12 Acting Without Meeting. Any action which may be taken at any meeting of the Board may be taken without a meeting if every member receives timely notice of the proposal and the forum for discussion, the date for submitting written consents is at least two weeks from the date the proposal is circulated, and all of the Board members consent to the action in writing and the written consents are filed with the records of the meetings of the Board. Such consents shall be treated for all purposes as a vote at a meeting.
3.13 No Compensation for Board Members. Board members may not be paid compensation for their Board service but may be reimbursed for expenses of attendance at meetings. Board members may be paid reasonable compensation for necessary work performed for the organization provided that doing so complies with any restrictions and standards of conduct that the Board adopts.
3.14 Executive Committee.
(a) Between meetings of the Board all of its powers and duties are delegated to the Executive Committee except that the following powers are reserved to the Board:
to set dues for individual members (see Article 1.5);
to terminate individual membership (see Article 1.5) or group affiliation (see Article 9.1(c));
to set the time and place of meetings of the membership (see Articles 2.1-2.3) and Board (see Articles 3.4 and 3.5) and the frequency of Executive Committee meetings (see Article 3.14(e));
to concur in renomination of an incumbent officer (see Article 4.3);
to appoint the Executive Director of the Society who serves at the pleasure of the Board;
to fill, until the next election, vacancies in the positions of officer (see Article 4.6) or member-at-large on the Board (see Article 5.5); or until the next annual meeting vacancies among appointed members on the Executive Committee (see Article 3.14(i));
to appoint honorary officers or honorary members (see Article 1.5);
to appoint members of an Advisory Board (see Article 8);
to appoint the Nominating Committee (see Article 6);
to appoint the Executive Committee (see Article 3.14(b)), and to set conditions for its operation;
to establish categories of group affiliation, and dues and privileges for these; and to modify standards for affiliation, including payment of dues (see Article 9.1);
to propose amendments to the Bylaws (see Article 11.1(a).
to amend or reverse an action of the Board
(b) The Executive Committee shall consist of the following members, each with one vote: the Officers, as set out in Article 4; and other members of the Board for a total of no fewer than seven. The other members shall be appointed at the Annual Meeting of the Board for a one year term.
(c) At each meeting of the Executive Committee fifty percent or more of members present shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
(d) An appointed member may be removed from the Executive Committee, with cause, by vote of a majority of the entire Committee.
(e) The minimum frequency of Executive Committee meetings shall be determined by the Board. A meeting of the Executive Committee must be called at the written request of five Committee members.
(f) Any Board member may attend an Executive Committee meeting and speak, but only officers and appointed members of the Executive Committee may vote.
(g) At any meeting of the Executive Committee the vote of a majority of those present shall decide any matter except as otherwise provided by law, the Articles of Organization, or these Bylaws.
(h) Any appointed member on the Executive Committee may resign from the Executive Committee by giving written notice to the President or the Secretary.
(i) The Board may appoint a member of the Board to fill any vacancy among appointed members on the Executive Committee for any reason until the next annual meeting of the Board. The Board may, at its discretion, leave any such position unfilled for such time as it may determine, provided that vacancies which reduce the Executive Committee below the minimum number of appointed members and all four officers must be filled within 30 days.
3.15 Committees.
(a) Authorization to form committees and task groups. The Board and Executive Committee may form committees and task groups. Task groups cease to exist after a term set by the authorizing body unless renewed by that body, whereas committees are terminated only by explicit action of the Board or Executive Committee. The chair of a committee or task group need not be a Board member.
(b) Definition of Committee. In the remainder of this article, the term “committee” shall refer to committees and task groups constituted by the Board or by these Bylaws.
(c) The Executive Director shall be a non-voting, ex officio member of each committee unless otherwise decided by the Board or Executive Committee or provided for elsewhere in these Bylaws. When the Executive Director is an ex officio member, the Executive Director may designate, in writing to the respective committee chair, other individuals to participate in this role, alongside or in the stead of the Executive Director.
(d) Membership. In these Bylaws, membership in a committee or the full Board includes, without limitation: being entitled to participate in the scheduling of meetings; to receive reasonable notice of their place, time, and medium; to speak at meetings; and to review and comment on minutes.
(e) Quorum and voting thresholds. Unless otherwise specified in these bylaws, fifty percent or more of members present shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Non-voting members of a committee are not counted when determining whether a quorum is present, nor whether a voting threshold, such as one-half or two-thirds, has been met.
(f) Voting. At any meeting of a committee the vote of a majority of voting members present shall decide any matter except as otherwise provided by law, the Articles of Organization, or these Bylaws.
(g) Inclusion of non–Board members. Unless otherwise decided by the Board or Executive Committee, a committee may include people who are not members of the Board. Unless otherwise decided by the Board or Executive Committee, the chair of a committee need not be a Board member.
(h) Removal of members. At its discretion, the Board or the Executive Committee may by a majority vote remove non–ex officio members of a committee.
(i) Executive session. At any meeting of a committee, where a quorum is present, the body may, by a majority vote, decide to enter an executive session from which some or all who are not voting members of the body may be excluded, at the body’s discretion. The decision to enter executive session shall be recorded in the minutes, and actions taken must be recorded in the minutes. Executive session minutes may be kept separately and confidentially.
Article 4. Officers
4.1 Officers. The officers of the Society shall consist of a President, a Treasurer, a Vice President, and a Secretary. Each is responsible for the duties set out in this Section but may delegate the actual performance of said duties, subject to any restrictions stated elsewhere in the Bylaws. No individual shall hold more than one office concurrently.
(a) President. The President presides at meetings of the general membership, of the Board, and of the Executive Committee. The President is the official representative of the Society in conducting its general affairs and promoting its purposes, may serve ex officio on any committee, and reports annually to the members on the state of the Society.
(b) Vice President. The Vice President performs the duties of the President in the absence, or at the request, of the President.
(c) Treasurer. The Treasurer shall be the lead Board member for oversight of the financial condition and affairs of the Society. The Treasurer shall oversee and keep the Board informed of the financial condition of the corporation and of audit or financial review results. The Treasurer shall oversee budget preparation and shall ensure that appropriate financial reports, including an account of major transactions and the financial condition of the corporation, are made available to the Board on a timely basis or as may be required by the Board. The Treasurer may appoint, with approval of the Board, a qualified fiscal agent or member of the staff to assist in performance of all or part of the duties of the Treasurer.
(d) Secretary. The Secretary keeps minutes of all meetings of the general membership, Board, and Executive Committee; circulates notices of meetings; and circulates to the general membership notices of vacancies to be filled and required ballots, and records the returns. The Secretary maintains the list of members of the Society, the Board, the Executive Committee, the Nominating Committee, and all appointed committees.
(e) The Secretary shall be available to receive service of process on the Corporation and shall perform all functions required of clerks under Massachusetts Law. The Secretary shall certify all documents requiring his or her certification, and shall be the keeper of the corporate seal. The Secretary shall be a resident of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts unless a resident agent has been appointed by the Board pursuant to law to accept service of process.
4.2 Election. Except as provided in Article 4.6, the Officers are nominated and elected in accordance with the provisions for nomination and election set out in Article 7 of these Bylaws.
4.3 Term of Office. Officers shall hold office for five years or until their successors are chosen and qualified. Any individual who becomes an officer shall have served as a member-at-large for the year immediately prior, with the additional title of officer-elect; however the Nominating Committee may make exceptions to this requirement. Officers may not serve more than one consecutive full term; however, the Nominating Committee may, in rare and compelling circumstances, request an exception from the Board in order to renominate an incumbent officer. The Nominating Committee shall state in writing why it believes the renomination to be essential for the welfare of the Society; dissenting opinion from the Nominating Committee, if any, shall also be put in writing for the consideration of the Board. The Board must concur in the request to renominate by two-thirds of the votes cast.
4.4 Resignations. Any officer may resign by giving written notice to the President or the Secretary.
4.5 Removal. An officer may be removed from office with or without cause by a vote of two-thirds of the Board orby vote of two-thirds of all members of the Society present at a duly constituted meeting of the membership; or by a vote of two-thirds of those responding to a poll of all members of the Society, providing that a number equal to the quorum for a meeting of the membership cast a vote.
4.6 Vacancies. The Board may appoint a member of the Society to fill any vacancy among the officers for any reason until the next annual election, at which time the appointee or another person may be elected to serve out the remainder of the term. The Board shall fill as soon as is practicable any vacancies in the offices of President, Treasurer, or Secretary.
A person appointed to fill a vacancy until the next annual election, and/or elected to complete the unexpired term of an officer, is then eligible to be nominated and elected to an additional full term. However, they may not be appointed or elected to complete a different unfinished term as an officer until at least one year has elapsed from the end of their last previous interim appointment or elected term.
Article 5. Members-at-large on the Board
5.1 Election. Except as provided in Article 5.5, members-at-large on the Board are nominated and elected in accordance with the provisions for nomination and election set out in Article 7 of these Bylaws.
5.2 Terms.
(a) Members-at-large elected to the Board shall serve on the Board for three-year terms, approximately one-third with terms to expire in each successive year. They may not serve more than two consecutive full terms as Board members, but may be reelected after a lapse of one year.
(b) Members-at-large may be nominated to an officer position. At the discretion of the Nominating Committee the nominee lay serve one year as an officer-elect (see Article 4.3). When a member-at-large assumes the role of the officer they will serve that role for five years.
5.3 Resignations. Any member-at-large may resign from the Board by giving written notice to the President or the Secretary.
5.4 Removal. A member-at-large may be removed from office with or without cause by a vote of two-thirds of the Board, or by vote of two-thirds of all members of the Society present at a duly constituted meeting of the membership; or by a vote of two-thirds of those responding to a poll of all members of the Society, providing that a number equal to the quorum for a meeting of the membership cast a vote.
5.5 Vacancies. The Board may appoint a member of the Society to fill any vacancy among members-at-large for any reason until the next annual election, at which time the appointee or another person may be elected to serve out the remainder of the term. The Board may, at its discretion, leave unfilled for such time as it may determine any member-at-large position.
A person appointed to fill a vacancy until the next annual election, and/or elected to complete the unexpired term of another member-at-large, is then eligible to be nominated and elected to two more terms of their own. However, they may not be appointed or elected to complete a different unfinished term as a member-at- large until at least one year has elapsed from the end of his or her last previous interim appointment or elected term.
Article 6. Nominating Committee
6.1 Members. The Nominating Committee shall have 5 to 6 members, of whom not more than three are members of the Board. Their terms are three years, no more than two to expire in any one year. They may not serve more than two consecutive full terms, but may be reappointed after a lapse of one year. In addition, the Executive Director and President are non-voting, ex officio members. The Executive Director may designate other individuals to participate in this role, alongside or in the stead of the Executive Director.
6.2 Slate of Candidates. A slate of candidates for the Nominating Committee is proposed each year by the Executive Committee and circulated to each member of the Board. Additions to the slate may be made by any member of the Board either in writing or from the floor. On the basis of the slate, the Board appoints the Nominating Committee at its regular annual meeting.
6.3 Vacancies. The President has the power to appoint persons to fill vacancies on the Nominating Committee, such appointees to serve until the next election.
Article 7. Elections
7.1 Nomination.
(a) Each year the Nominating Committee nominates one or more candidates for each position becoming vacant among Officers and Members-at-large on the Board.
(b) Members of the Society may ensure that a specific person is included in the candidates considered by the Nominating Committee by submitting a nomination in writing, signed by ten members of the Society, and sent to the Secretary by April 30.
(c) To be nominated, a person must provide the Nominating Committee with written assent for the nomination.
(d) Candidates for Officers and Board Members-at-large shall be members in good standing when nominated. Those elected must maintain membership in good standing in the Society throughout their term of office.
(e) The slate should reasonably reflect the geographical distribution and variety of activities of the membership of the Society.
(f) The Nominating Committee sends the slate to the Secretary by December 1.
7.2 Election.
(a) If there are no more nominees than vacancies, the nominees are deemed elected and take office at the beginning of the first day of the Annual Meeting of the Board. The Secretary sends to every member by January 15 a listing of nominees selected, along with a description of the procedure for ensuring that a candidate of one’s choice is included for consideration by the Nominating Committee as described in section 7.1(b).
(b) If there are more nominees than vacancies the Secretary sends to every member by January 15 a written ballot containing the names of the nominees and the pertinent positions, together with information about the nominees’ qualifications.
(c) Ballots must reach the Secretary by February 15 to be valid. Electronic balloting, if any, will close at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 15.
(d) Tellers appointed by the President will verify the validity and count of the votes. The Secretary certifies the result to the Executive Committee and the successful candidates take office at the beginning of the first day of the Annual Meeting of the Board. In the case of a tie the Executive Committee decides between the tied candidates.
Article 8. Advisory Board
8.1 The Board may establish one or more Advisory Boards. The Board shall appoint members of any such Advisory Board, who will serve at the pleasure of the Board. Such persons need not be members of the Society. Goals and procedures of any Advisory Board will be set by the Board.
Article 9. Group Affiliation
9.1 Affiliation.
(a) Groups or organizations whose objectives are similar and who wish to support and further the goals of the Society may affiliate with it. Categories and dues of group affiliation are established by the Board, but the Board may delegate this power to the Executive Director.
(b) Affiliation carries the privileges approved by the Board, and carries the responsibility of continuing to meet the established standards. In exceptional circumstances any of the standards, including payment of dues, may be waived or modified by the Board.
(c) Affiliation in any category becomes effective upon payment of dues and acceptance of the application. Affiliation lapses on failure to pay dues after notification and may be terminated for other cause by the Board.
Article 10. Personal Liability
10.1 No officer or director of the corporation shall be personally liable to the corporation or its members for monetary damages for or arising out of a breach of fiduciary duty as an officer or director notwithstanding any provision of law imposing such liability; provided, however, that the foregoing shall not eliminate or limit the liability of an officer or director to the extent that such liability is imposed by applicable law (i) for a breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the corporation or its members, (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of the law, or (iii) for any transaction from which the officer or director derived an improper personal benefit. No provision adopted pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph shall eliminate or limit the liability of an officer or director for any act or omission occurring prior to the date upon which such provision becomes effective.
Article 11. Amendments
11.1 General.
(a) The Board has the authority to amend these Bylaws by a vote of three-fourths of the Board. Notice of proposed Amendments and opportunity to comment on them must be given to the membership at least 60 days before final approval of the Board. The Board will consider all member comments and respond as they deem appropriate and in accordance with the existing Bylaws.
(b) Amendments to these Bylaws may be proposed by five percent of the members of the Society and submitted to the Board for approval.
Joel Bluestein
Treasurer
Joel Bluestein (Arlington, VA) has been involved in traditional music and dance for pretty much his whole life. His father was a folk musician and scholar, so Joel’s exposure started at birth. He later performed in a folk group with his father and three siblings. He first attended a CDSS camp at Pinewoods as a teenager in the early 1970s. He and his family have been part of the CDSS Buffalo Gap/Timber Ridge/Cascade community for the last 20 years, and he and his wife Michal Warshow were Program Directors for the camp for three years.
Joel has been an active member of the Washington, DC area dance community since 1979, dancing and playing for dances. He served on the Board of the Folklore Society of Greater Washington for 8 years including as President and Treasurer. He was a co-founder and organizer of the Chesapeake Dance Weekend for 36 years, and currently helps to organize the Terpsichore’s Holiday program. He serves as a sound technician for dances and festivals in the DC area and elsewhere.
Avia Moore
Avia Moore (Montreal, QC) grew up in the British Columbia folk arts scene; it rubbed off on her and is evident in almost everything she does. Avia has worked extensively as a creative producer with festivals and cultural organizations across North America as well as on individual artistic projects in North America and Europe. Avia is the Artistic Director of KlezKanada.
Avia holds a BA Honors in Drama from the University of Alberta and an MA in Devised Theatre from Dartington College of Arts (England). A PhD candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies at York University (Toronto), she studies heritage cultural practices in/as contemporary performance.
Avia has been making theatre, dancing, and singing her whole life. She has danced with several folk dance performance ensembles and teaches Yiddish dance at festivals and private events around the world. She has been part of organizing committees for contra dances (Brooklyn Contra) and contra weekends (Form the Ocean) and has danced with Ring O’Bells Morris (New York) and Toronto Women’s Sword.
Gaye Fifer
President
Gaye Fifer (Pittsburgh, PA) hasn’t stopped dancing since she found contras in 1979. Introduced to the community in St. Louis, she has found dancing wherever she goes. Gaye learned to call contras in Charlottesville, VA and has been traveling to call and dance for the past 25 years. After 15 years of dancing, she finally realized that someone had to be doing work to make the dances happen. She began serving on her local dance committee, organizing her local dance weekend, serving on the CDSS Board and leading workshops for other organizers. Gaye is also a passionate teacher and dancer of waltz, having led workshops with her partner, Wayne, at numerous dance weekends around the country. She participated in a course at Pinewoods several years ago to learn how to call English Country dances and now includes that in her repertoire of offerings. She now lives in Pittsburgh, PA. where she retired from a 30 year elementary school teaching career.
Gaye believes in the power of our dance and song community and is delighted to be part of the work CDSS does!
Jeremy Carter-Gordon
Jeremy Carter-Gordon (Concord, MA) grew up singing and dancing around Boston and has woven the threads of that upbringing through the rest of his life. Upon graduating college, Jeremy spent a year on a Watson Fellowship studying sword dancing, which led to an MA in Dance Knowledge, Practice, and Heritage from Choreomundus, a multi-university EU initiative. Jeremy currently tours and teaches most of the year with Windborne, an acclaimed vocal ensemble, singing music from the US and countries and cultures around the world, with a focus on songs of social struggle. Jeremy works for Village Harmony as the Strategic Planning Officer and teaches singing camps for teens. The rest of the time, he can be found teaching rapper and longsword, traditional dance from France (Bal Folk) and Sweden, juggling, dancing ECD, waltzing, and dabbling in tango.
Marni Rachmiel
Marni Rachmiel (Cambridge, UK) grew up outside Detroit and studied Music History/Musicology at the University of Michigan, where she played & sang in concert bands, Early Music Ensemble, Javanese Gamelan, and the U-M Gilbert & Sullivan Society. She started dancing and playing for contra and English dances in 1990 in Albuquerque, NM, when she stumbled into a Bare Necessities weekend that totally changed her life. Returning to Michigan, she was active in the Ann Arbor dance and music scenes and became an avid dance-wanderer, including pilgrimages to Buffalo Gap and Pinewoods.
Shifting west in the later ‘90s, Marni danced and played in and around Boulder, CO, while getting her MA in Contemplative Psychotherapy at Naropa University. The siren song of the Northwest Folklife Festival drew her further west to Seattle, where she moved in 2004.
After many years in Seattle playing with bands, including Contra Sutra, Reverie, and The End Effects, among other dance band configurations, serving on the boards of the Seattle Folklore Society and FAR-West (Folk Alliance Region West), and co-hosting Two Pools House Concerts, currently Marni is on a British adventure living in Cambridge, UK, and gradually getting involved in dance music and organizing across the pond. If you’re traveling to England, say hello!
David Smukler
David Smukler (Syracuse, NY) grew up singing folk songs with his mom and began dancing contras in New Hampshire as a teen. In 1981 he was drafted to call for his local dance and has been calling ever since. David calls contras and squares, English country dances, and family and community dances, and is also a choreographer.
David served two previous terms on the CDSS Board and has been a long-time Board member of the Syracuse (New York) Country Dancers. He was involved in creating an innovative Central New York callers gathering, as well as the world’s first Contra Prom.
David is a retired inclusive early childhood and childhood educator who has also taught for years at the college level in a teacher preparation program. He has frequently used dance and song in his teaching, both with children and adults, sometimes to the great surprise of his students. A teacher through and through, David believes that people can always learn and grow. While welcoming change and evolution, David has enormous respect for the value of folk traditions and is the author (with David Millstone) of Cracking Chestnuts: The Living Tradition of Classic American Contra Dances, published in 2008 by CDSS.
Glenn Manuel
Glenn Manuel (Richardson, TX) started contra dancing in the early 1980’s, when a co-worker posted a flyer about the dance on the office bulletin board. When the informal dance group morphed into the CDSS affiliate North Texas Traditional Dance Society, Glenn was a founding member. Over the years, he has served on the Board in every role except Secretary, as well as chairing dance weekends, and doing sound at the dances. He took the Sound Operator’s Course at Pinewoods taught by Warren Argo, so actually helped with sound there.
Glenn is the webmaster for the dance group, and has developed and released a free open-source online registration system that is used by several groups. One of Glenn’s hobbies is photography. Besides dance events, his favorite subjects are landscapes and abstracts. He has won a few awards at local photo shows. Besides enjoying the music and dancing, Glenn loves the community aspect of contra dancing. Walking into a dance in nearby cities, neighboring states, or across the country, it always feels like one big dance family. He is excited to support the dance community by serving on the CDSS board.
Michael Bean
Michael Bean (Ann Arbor, MI) was introduced to the dance community by joining a local back row band and learning to play for contra dances. He was asked to join a local committee to organize a monthly contra and was soon after nominated for the Ann Arbor Community for Traditional Music and Dance’s Board of Directors. Michael was elected to two terms and served two consecutive years as President of the AACTMAD Board.
Michael is active as an organizer and leader in AACTMAD, Michigan Dance Heritage’s Fall Camp, and CDSS’s Dance, Music, and Spice Camp. Michael led the contra dance band Hotline Strings for four years and still actively plays for contra and ECD. When at home, he enjoys making and restoring violins.
Juliette Webb
Juliette Webb (Nashville, TN) started dancing in California after seeing a performance by a demonstration team at the local Scottish Highland Gathering and Games. She and her husband, John Webb, moved away less than a year later. In Tennessee, she enrolled in a class on English country dancing. Seeing the age range of the dancers there made her realize that dancing was an activity that she and her husband could enjoy together throughout their entire lifetimes.
Juliette’s home dance community runs weekly English country dance classes, monthly English dances, and weekly contra dances. The Nashville Country Dancers also hold both an English country dance weekend, the Nashville Playford Ball, and a contra dance weekend, Music City Masquerade, each year, in addition to hosting special dance events when visiting musicians or callers come to town. She feels lucky to have such an amazing, supportive dance community and leadership at home.
Juliette is also fortunate to enjoy dancing regularly in the San Francisco Bay Area. Juliette began calling English as a way of helping to ensure that her home dance community would continue.
Juliette’s earliest memory of dancing is of a Maypole, in a place where May Day baskets of flowers were still left for friends and neighbors. After an early childhood filled with the typical ballet classes, she didn’t dance again for decades, not even in gym class in school. Now, she dances as often as she can.
Justin Morrison
Justin Morrison (he/him, Richmond, VT) has been a part of song and dance communities in Canada and the US for as long as he can remember. He earned his first Pinewoods crew t-shirt around age 7, and has taught Morris classes there in (much) later years. During a tour with the dance collective he co-founded, Maple Morris, Justin won the Best New Entrant prize at the Sidmouth Folkweek Morris jig competition in 2011 and respectfully declines to mention how many other new entrants were performing that year. In 2013, he was an organizer and artistic director of an international Morris stage show for Maple, which brought together dancers from Canada, the US, and the UK. He currently travels various distances to enjoy English, Contra, and song, and dances Morris with the Toronto Morris Men, Pinewoods Morris Men, and Thames Valley International.
He is an educator in his professional life, and seeks to bring singing, music, or dance into the classroom every day. He has been excited to share songs with colleagues to bring into their own classrooms and even teach them to play mandolin.
Justin feels that dance and song can find a chord in all of us, and comprise a natural language understood by young and old alike.
Cultural Equity Advisory Group
Last updated September 29, 2022
The Cultural Equity Advisory Group met from March 2021 to March 2022 to critically analyze our programs, operations, and governance, and to provide recommendations for changes. In recognition of the importance of this work, members were paid an honorarium for their time, energy, and participation.
Click here to view the Executive Summary and Recommended Equity Action Plan from the CDSS Cultural Equity Advisory Group. We are taking these recommendations into consideration as we plan for 2023 and our new strategic plan.
Dena Ross Jennings (she/her) is a human rights activist, musician, instrument-maker, and a medical doctor, and brings over 20 years of experience working on conflict transformation with her organization Imani Works.
Hannah Assefa (she/her) is an elementary educator who has worked with children for most of her life, whether it be through private instruction in traditional fiddle or as an educator in the classroom. She grew up in Northern Vermont playing Scottish and Cape Breton style fiddle. Hannah has taught in various classroom settings from early childhood education to elementary and, in each environment, she has worked to make a classroom community in which each student is celebrated, nurtured, seen, and heard.
Hannah currently teaches kindergarten at Milton Elementary School. She holds a Master of Education degree in curriculum & instruction from Southern New Hampshire University (2016) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music & elementary education from Saint Michael’s College (2013).
Cayley Buckner
Cayley Buckner (she/her or they/them) will be graduating from the University of Florida in May 2021 with a B.A. in English and a B.S. in natural resource conservation and a minor in education. She is passionate about outdoor education. She fell in love with contra dancing in August 2016 at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC.
Cayley is the 2020-2021 president of the Gainesville Oldtime Dance Society, where she has been a strong advocate for gender neutral calling, especially positional calling. She is also the co-founder of the Safety Team (a group of individuals who ensure that all feel welcome and secure) and the I.D.E.A. (inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accessibility) subcommittee (which brings a diverse group of individuals together to address social justice issues within our community).
Rima Dael
Rima (she/her) has over 25 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations in public media, arts, education & the human service sectors. She is currently the general manager at WSHU Public Radio in Fairfield, CT, having previously worked at New England Public Radio in Springfield, MA. Rima is passionate about the essential role of public media in our communities and the transformational power of the arts. Rima was the executive director for the Country Dance & Song Society during its centennial celebration in 2015, transitioning the membership organization to a capacity building, arts service organization through a multi-city community residency model to build resilient dance, music, and song communities and improve skills of dance organizers. Rima was also a founding faculty member in the Nonprofit Management & Philanthropy master’s degree program at Bay Path University. She continues to enjoy teaching online as an adjunct professor in the program.
Originally from the Philippines, Rima spent her early years in Connecticut, and in several Southeast Asian countries with her family attending international schools. Living overseas also exposed Rima to military coups in Thailand, the People’s Revolution in the Philippines, and she participated in the Tiananmen Square protests in Hong Kong as a teenager. These foundational experiences brought forth Rima’s interest in working in mission driven organizations that promote social justice and community advancement.
Rima received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology and theater arts from Mt. Holyoke College. Her master’s degree is in nonprofit management from the Milano School of Management & Urban Policy at the New School University, where she was a Community Development Finance Fellow.
Ezra Fischer
Ezra (he/him) started making the trip from his home in New Jersey to Pinewoods for Campers’ Week 30 years ago. Since then, that trip has become a regular part of his life and much shorter since he moved to the Boston area where he now lives in Arlington, MA. He was particularly thrilled to work for CDSS as a Salesforce admin and consultant over the past few years because of the opportunity to contribute to an organization that has been such a steadily positive influence on his life. Ezra dances with Still River Sword, sings with Boston Harmony, and studiously does not play either the trombone or concertina.
Nadia Gaya
Nadia Gaya (she/her) was the little kid sleeping under the piano at her fiddle-playing parents’ gigs and grew up immersed in the traditional music and dance community of Western New York, where she was raised. Nadia currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, and was on the organizing board of Brooklyn Contra from 2012-2015. Nadia currently dances and plays diatonic button accordion with the Ring O’ Bells Morris team, plays piano for the CDNY in-house band, the Contrapolitans, and plays piano accordion with the scottish-inspired contra dance band, Torrent. When she’s not playing, dancing, singing or crafting, Nadia is a tax attorney/accountant for an advertising technology company and is busy raising her 4-year old daughter in whom she hopes to foster a lifelong love of traditional music, song and dance.
Aravind Natarajan
Aravind Natarajan (he/him) is a contra dancer and identifies as a cis-hetero male from India. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, and is passionate about fostering diversity, equity and inclusion in academic spaces. He founded the Science Blender podcast to capture the experiences of scientists from diverse backgrounds and identities. He loves how music and dance bring people together and is eager to make this joy more widely accessible.
Stephanie Voncannon
Stephanie Marie Voncannon (she/her) is a contra dancer and caller in the Charlotte, NC, area. She has been dancing mostly in North Carolina since 2009 and calling regularly since 2013. Stephanie attended Lisa Greenleaf’s week-long caller class at Pinewoods Camp in summer 2016. She has called at both mainstream and gender-free dances. Stephanie also enjoys helping others discover a love of dancing, whether calling or dancing at home. Stephanie was also very involved in the LGBT community in Charlotte, including planning the Transgender Day of Remembrance from 2008 to 2010.
Bailey Walton
Bailey Walton (she/they) is a community organizer, research ethicist by trade, and banjo player from Missouri. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s in public administration, and currently studies studio art. She is passionate about community-building, growing and sharing food, and connecting people with resources. She is excited to have the opportunity to provide her input in this advisory group as a relative newcomer to the traditional music community.
Earl White
Earl White (he/him) has been a prominent member of the music and dance community for more than 50 years. He is an original and founding member of the famed Green Grass Cloggers. He is one of few Black Americans perpetuating Appalachian music, which was once an important part of Black communities. Now retired from healthcare as a Registered Respiratory Therapist, he continues to play music as a semi-professional, and co-owns and runs the Big Indian Farm sourdough bakery in Floyd County, VA.
Original Job Description
CDSS is convening a Cultural Equity Advisory Group to help us move forward in our commitment to cultural equity. We are asking ourselves: In a CDSS with a fully realized core value of cultural equity, how would things look/feel different? How would we know that we were successful in an ongoing way?
We recognize that our organization and leadership do not currently have the kind of representation—particularly of non-white people—needed for this work. We want to make decisions informed by the voices of the people most affected; however, we don’t want to tokenize anyone by placing the expectation of labor solely on them.
We are asking the Advisory Group to give guidance within the broad framework of our existing mission. We seek to support and promote the living traditions that are dear to us in ways that are actively anti-oppressive. We want to understand the ways that harm was done in the past and work to stop perpetuating that harm. We want to make sure that, in our work and play, we carry out our mission of strengthening and supporting communities in a way that builds more equitable relationships.
We are engaged in the process of analyzing how the ways that we operate – both historically and currently – contribute to inequity. We are re-evaluating our programming, research and scholarship, education, access, marketing, relationships with other organizations, organizational structure, and compensation. We are committed to investing labor and financial resources into this work.
Composition
The Cultural Equity Advisory Group will consist of a contracted facilitator and 6-10 people, drawn from our current communities as well as the larger participatory arts community and beyond. The group will prioritize the voices of those who have been marginalized and/or erased in the history and current practice of North American folkways. The group should also include a diversity of skill sets, including non-profit experience, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) work, and historical scholarship.
Scope and Goals (what are we expecting the CEAG to have done by the end of their term)
The CEAG will be a primarily internally-focused group, evaluating the operations and programs of CDSS.
CEAG will provide CDSS with recommendations to improve cultural equity in these areas:
Help CDSS prioritize these recommendations and suggest action steps.
Reflect on our self-analysis and point us to areas and issues that we have overlooked.
CDSS will publish a report of the group’s recommendations as part of our accountability to the community.
CDSS commits to supporting the CEAG’s work, including in the following ways:
Conducting a critical internal analysis of current operations and programming
Sharing information with openness and transparency
Providing the CEAG with a critical summary of CDSS history
Providing access to staff and board leadership
Being accountable through public reporting and ongoing work informed by the CEAG’s recommendations
Providing opportunities to observe and participate in programs as well as office and board work.
Term of Service
We are asking that Advisors commit to 1 year of service, which will include attending monthly remote group meetings, and some research and preparation between meetings. The Facilitator will work with the Cultural Equity Task Group (staff and board) to create a timeline and benchmarks.
Honorarium
In recognition of the time and labor inherent in a working Advisory Group, CDSS is able to offer the Advisors an honorarium in the amount of $750. The Group Facilitator will receive a consulting fee of $3000.
Charitable Remainder Trust
A CRT is a way to put significant appreciated assets into a trust whose beneficiaries are charities. You get a tax deduction up front by not having to pay taxes on the appreciated values; you get a yearly dividend from the trust, and the charities get the remainder when you die. Ask your financial advisor whether a CRT makes sense for you.
Qualified Charitable Distribution
If you are age 72 or older, IRS rules require you to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) each year from your tax-deferred retirement accounts. A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) is a direct transfer of funds from your IRA, payable directly to a qualified charity, as described in the QCD provision in the Internal Revenue Code.
Amounts distributed as a QCD can be counted toward satisfying your RMD for the year, up to $100,000. The QCD is excluded from your taxable income. This is not the case with a regular withdrawal from an IRA, even if you use the money to make a charitable contribution later on. If you take a withdrawal, the funds would be counted as taxable income even if you later offset that income with the charitable contribution deduction.
Stock Gifts Instructions
Handling Gifts of Securities to CDSS
Transfer of Securities from an Existing Brokerage Account
Deliver to Vanguard DTC Clearing 0062 (there is no additional code number)
Account Name: Country Dance and Song Society
Account Number 37210623
Please send us a letter in reference to this gift (include your name, the name and number of shares of security transferred to us, and the specific purpose); otherwise, we have no way of knowing who the gift is from.
Luanne Stiles
Vice President
Luanne Stiles (Asheville, NC) discovered traditional dance later in life upon spotting an advertisement in the local Amherst, MA, newspaper for a Monday night English country dance. She thought, “‘No experience needed, no partner needed, all dances taught,’ that’s me!” Her love of the variety of dance tempos, amazing musicians, thoughtful teaching, and a generous community had her immediately hooked. For over 15 years, Luanne has danced extensively in communities and at camps throughout the Northeast and Southeast as well as California, Ohio, Illinois, and Canada. Luanne organized dance events in Massachusetts, and, after moving to the Carolinas, she and her husband John lead a biweekly ECD in South Carolina. After moving to Asheville, she continues calling and has joined the Ashegrove Garland team. It was the move south that really drove home the support CDSS provides to its affiliates. She was a community member on the Fund Development Committee for the past two years and is happy to continue to “pay it forward” by contributing as a board member. Luanne believes that her professional experiences within the corporate world of insurance services will serve to assist CDSS’s vision and goals.
Susan English
Secretary-elect
Susan English (Wooster, OH) taught her first dance class on a rooftop in China in 1980. In 2017, she returned to China with a $50,000 cultural exchange grant from the US State Department featuring the Country Dancers of Berea, KY. With living and working experience also in Europe, West Africa, and the US, Susan brings her enthusiasm for people of every background.
A competitive swing dancer for a year in DC, Susan has called monthly contra and square dances since 1990. With her late husband, Bill Alkire, Susan co-developed the intergenerational program at Terpsichore’s Holiday. Together, they choreographed and performed “Minuet to Macarena: The History of Couple Dance in 20 Minutes.”
At home in Wooster, OH, Susan is artistic director of the Madrigal Dancers, an intergenerational performing group. Since the start of the pandemic, Susan has broadcast weekly Zoom dances from her basement and has called virtual contra dances for Atlanta; Glen Echo; Bloomington, IN; and Lake City, WA. She looks forward to again calling live contra, square, and English country dances, plus weddings and barn dances, homeschool, Civil War, and Jane Austen Balls. With her PhD in higher education and consulting experience with strategic evaluation, Susan cares a lot about quality programs for lifelong growth and learning.
Jenna Barron
Jenna Barron (Easthampton, MA) literally stumbled across contra dancing almost 15 years ago in Washington, DC. Heading to Glen Echo to see a performance, she spied a large group of people in the ballroom holding hands and walking in a circle. After blowing off the performance and spending all night at the Friday Night Dance instead, she was hooked! After dancing contras, squares, waltzes, and English in the DC area for several years, she and her husband moved to the Pioneer Valley, in no small part due to the great music and dance community. She is a founding member of Oxbow Morris and has enjoyed attending programming at Pinewoods and Cascade camp weeks.
After a decade in regional theater as a stage manager, Jenna is now the Director of Communications and Development for a nonprofit focused on equitable clean energy deployment. Jenna also serves on the Board of Directors for her local library, leading their fundraising efforts. She looks forward to using these skills to help CDSS build and sustain vibrant communities through participatory dance, music, and song.
Margaret Bary
Margaret Bary (Brooklyn, NY) is a lifelong dancer and dance educator. She teaches English country dance at Country Dance New York and other dances in the region, founded a family folk dance at her school, and calls community dances at a variety of local venues. Along with her family, she has been a regular participant in CDSS Campers’ Week for many years, leading dances for all ages, teaching sword dance workshops, and serving a stint as Program Director.
Margaret is active on the steering committee of Pourparler, a national gathering of teachers of traditional dance and music in schools and communities. As a member of Half Moon Sword, she hosts the NYC English Sword Dance Ale and performs locally, as well as at festivals such as NEFFA and the Marlboro Ale.
Margaret has a background in modern dance, holds an MFA in Dance Choreography and is a Certified Laban Movement Analyst. She recently retired as Dance Specialist and the Performing Arts Chair at Brooklyn Friends School, where she incorporated folk and sword dances into her creative dance curriculum. Underlying all of her work with children and adults, Margaret believes that participatory dance experiences foster joy, self-expression, and connection between people.
Norman Farrell
Norman Farrell (Ridgefield, WA) discovered community dance by accident in 2006 after years of wondering why the dancing he enjoyed so much at fiddle camp wasn’t happening everywhere. Go figure. Tulsa, OK, and Lawrence, KS, were Norman’s original dance communities, and he soon found himself volunteering at the annual Pilgrims Progression Dance Weekend and playing for a local family dance in Bartlesville, OK.
Now, retired in the Pacific Northwest, Portland, OR, and Vancouver, WA, have become Norman’s dance home where weekly dancing (in the “before times”), paid and volunteer music, and being part of the Vancouver contra dance organization are a vital part of life. Playing in the Portland Megaband horn section has been an annual thrill since 2017.
Norman grew up in Oklahoma as part of a large dairy farming family and has been a lifelong musician since successfully begging for piano lessons at age 10. An omnivorous musical appetite led to performing at local cultural events and festivals and playing for several years with the Amarillo Wind Ensemble. Work-related travel brought a chance to encounter the rich tapestry of community dance and music around the world from Alaska to Australia and life-enriching experiences which Norman hopes to support and grow through direct CDSS participation.
Alice Kenney
Alice Kenney (Leyden, MA) moved to southern Vermont where she was introduced to contra dancing, shape note singing, and the wonderful music and storytelling of Peter and Mary Alice Amidon. She was introduced to CDSS Family Week to help the Amidons care for their (then) toddler, Sam, while they worked. Long before they were married, it was there she met Stuart Kenney, with whom she established a successful dance series at the renowned Guiding Star Grange in Greenfield, MA. In addition to contra dancing, they offered a Quebecois Immersion Weekend intensive for musicians for ten years and produced countless concerts of traditional music.
Alice believes that music and dance are an integral part of her life and others’. In her longtime professional career as a physical therapist, she is known to dance with her clients, using music to facilitate their recovery. For all it has brought and continues to bring to her quality of life and the lives of so many others, Alice is delighted to give back to CDSS!
Robbin Marcus
Robbin Marcus (Stonecrest, GA) is a well-known caller of contras, squares and community dances. Robbin started dancing contra, English and morris in Baltimore, MD after college, and happily attended American Week at Pinewoods for the first time in 1986. As a music educator, Robbin quickly ascertained the importance of accurate traditional music and dance performance styles in the classroom — something she might not have understood were it not for CDSS. Subsequently she has been on staff for numerous CDSS weeks at Pinewoods Camp teaching both adult and kids classes (including a stint as Program Director of Family Week), and has enjoyed several recent opportunities to call contras and teach Alexander Technique at Christmas Country Dance School in Berea, KY.
Robbin teaches graduate level certification courses in Kodály Music Education, Folk Song Research/Analysis, Folk Dance, and Alexander Technique in the summer at George Mason University, where she is the Summer Kodály Program Director Emeritus. She is frequently in demand as a clinician throughout the United States. At home, Robbin teaches piano and Alexander Technique lessons in Atlanta, GA. Robbin plays piano for both contras and English country dances throughout the South, and is greatly enjoying branching out as a musician in bands with her husband Dave Marcus.
Craig Meltzner
Craig Meltzner (Santa Rosa, CA) began contra dancing in the late 1980s. Craig and his wife Elaine met international folk dancing and later took up contra dancing with a passion. They raised their daughters dancing and value how this community embraced their family. Craig began English country dancing 10 years ago and enjoys sharing ECD with his contra dance friends. He is also an avid modern western square dancer.
Craig has been a board member of North Bay Country Dance Society (NBCDS) in California’s Bay Area for about 15 years, serving several terms as president. Pre-COVID, Craig helped program a monthly contra dance series and the two NBCDS contra dance weekends. During the pandemic, Craig has assisted with the popular weekly Saturday Evening Waltz Party on Zoom.
Craig leads a small affordable housing finance group, working extensively with non-profit organizations. He has also worked as a non-profit executive director and senior program director.
Craig previously served on the CDSS Board from 2015-2018, including as Treasurer. “Participation – that’s what’s gonna save the human race,” said Pete Seeger. That’s how Craig sees our local dance and music communities functioning and that’s what CDSS is here to encourage and support. Craig is honored to rejoin the CDSS Board. Let’s spread the joy we share singing, dancing, and making music together!
Diane Silver
Diane Silver (Asheville, NC) is an environmental educator with 20+ years providing environmental outreach and action-taking in the non-profit arena. From work with zoos, residential program centers, the NC Extension Service, and charter schools, she brings extensive experience in program development and management, teaching, team-building, staff supervision and evaluation, budget management, grant writing, and logistics. She also has significant training in conflict resolution and positive communication. She has over 15 years’ experience serving on other boards-of-directors for educational, environmental, and dance organizations, including terms as President.
Diane has been a contra dancer, flatfoot-clogger, caller, teacher, and developing fiddle-player for over 20 years. She has served in many roles in her local dance and music community: booking performers, serving on the board, helping produce the annual dance weekend, and serving on various task forces and committees. She continues to be drawn by the sense of community within and among local dance groups, and the generally welcoming culture of home-grown music and dance. She sees in the dance community the opportunity to discuss, practice, and model the ideals she holds for larger society, facilitating joy and neighborliness from the grass-roots up.
Chris Weiler
Chris Weiler (South Burlington, VT) discovered contra dancing on New Year’s Eve in 1995 after being prodded by a friend for months to give it a try. Even though he didn’t believe he could dance, he had so much fun that he kept going to David Kaynor’s Friday night dances in Greenfield, MA. Eventually learning he was wrong about his abilities, he started dancing ECD, ballroom & swing. In 2004, he attended his first CDSS camp (American D&M Week) and called his first dance at camper’s night. After that first camp, with Seth Seeger, he started Shared Weight, an e-mail list serve where callers, organizers and musicians can exchange ideas. He became a regular caller in the New England area and started the Mill City Dance in Manchester, NH in 2005. He has also choreographed a few contra dances that get called here and there. In 2008 he was one of the founding members of Boston Intergenerational Dance Advocates (BIDA) in Cambridge, MA.
Chris supports his dance habit as a freelance mechanical engineer helping companies design new consumer products. Recently relocated to the Burlington VT area, he and his wife Anne are looking forward to getting involved in local dance events and bringing up their toddler son in the dance community.
A will is the most common way for a person to make a gift at death to charitable organizations. It’s important for a will to be kept up to date and valid, making sure it reflects the person’s wishes and clearly expresses the desired distributions. Since the laws and requirements for wills vary by location and tax laws change frequently, we recommend seeking professional help to create or update your will.
To name CDSS as a beneficiary, the following wording is suggested: “I bequeath to the Country Dance and Song Society, Inc., a nonprofit corporation in Easthampton, Massachusetts, the following…”
What is CDSS’s legal name and address?
Legal name: Country Dance and Song Society, Inc.
Address: 116 Pleasant St., Suite 334, Easthampton, MA 01067
What is CDSS’s corporate and tax status?
CDSS is incorporated in the state of Massachusetts.
CDSS is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, nonprofit educational organization.
Our IRS employer identification number (EIN) is 04-3031125.
Are there tax benefits to including CDSS in my will?
Bequests made through wills do not qualify for a current tax charitable contributions deduction. However, the value of the gift will be deductible for federal estate tax, and possibly state estate tax, purposes. In estates large enough to be subject to the federal estate tax, the savings can be substantial.
What types of bequests may be used?
A specific dollar amount, to be paid out of liquid estate assets.
Named property items, such as specific securities, real estate, or valuable tangible personal property.
The residuary estate, or a percentage of the residual value that remains after all costs have been paid and specific bequests made.
A contingent gift, passing to CDSS only when the named beneficiary dies before the donor.
What options for planned giving are there other than a will?
Establish a living trust with provisions that direct the distribution of estate assets.
Name CDSS as a beneficiary (or one of the beneficiaries) of a life insurance policy. It could be an existing policy that is no longer needed for its original purpose or a new policy purchased specifically to carry out charitable objectives.
Make a “payable on death” (POD) designation on a certificate of deposit or other personal account, naming the CDSS to receive the asset on death of the donor.
Please consult your financial or legal adviser on these and other planned giving options.
How do I share my plans with CDSS?
It is not necessary to share with us your plans for a future gift to CDSS. We understand and respect the personal and confidential nature of such decisions. We do, however, appreciate having the opportunity to personally thank the members and friends who have planned future gifts. When we are informed of such a plan, the information is treated in confidence and with the understanding that the donor’s plans may change in future years.
If you have questions about making a future gift to CDSS, please write or call Robin Hayden, Director of Development: robin@cdss.org, 413-203-5467 x107.
Join the Legacy of Joy Society
Insurance FAQs
How does it work?
CDSS has a single, group policy that Affiliates and callers may join that provides general liability insurance for those Affiliates and callers. The limits on the policy have been calculated to provide enough coverage for all covered groups.
What does the policy cover?
The CDSS policy is a general liability insurance policy, which generally covers the organization, volunteers, employees directors and officers, for their work for the insured entity if there is a claim of liability brought due to their operations. It potentially covers the legal costs, expenses, and settlement. In all cases, a claim would need to be submitted to the underwriter who will assign a council and determine payment. In addition to the $4,000,000 aggregate, $2,000,000 per-occurrence limits on liability coverage, the following is included:
$300,000 Rented To You Limit (any one premises)
$5,000 Medical Expense Limit (any one person)
Is someone breaking a leg, getting food poisoning, or emotional damage covered?
A claim could be submitted for any of these scenarios if an allegation of negligence made against the group. The carrier/adjuster will review the specifics of the incident to determine if coverage applies.
Do we need insurance?
Many venues require groups to have insurance before renting or holding events in their space. The CDSS policy meets and exceeds the minimum coverage amounts required by most venues. Many groups find the peace of mind afforded by the policy to be worth the cost when thinking about the long-term health of their organization.
Do you offer Director and Officers insurance (D&O)?
We are unable to offer D&O insurance because we are under a single policy, which cannot cover multiple directors and officers of different organizations. We’re happy to put you in touch with our insurance agent, who has helped other Affiliates obtain D&O insurance.
Do we need Director and Officers insurance (D&O)? What is the cost?
It’s difficult to give generalized advice on this subject—each organization is unique and has different needs. You’ll need to decide for yourself if the cost of D&O insurance is worthwhile. General Liability and D&O insurance cover separate things. The General Liability policy CDSS has covers directors or officers (or employees, volunteers, etc.) for their work for the insured entity if there is a claim of liability brought due to their operations. A D&O policy covers you as officers/directors of the organization.
This article provides some information on the difference and what D&O covers, but you should speak with a lawyer or insurance agent if you have further questions.
$500-$1000 is a very general estimate of the cost of a D&O policy. The exact amount will depend on the size of the organization and location.
Should we list our venue as Additional Insured?
Only list a venue as Additional Insured if specifically requested by the venue. This is additional coverage for the venue and is not required unless specifically requested.
Do attendees need to sign waivers?
Some insurers require waivers for certain activities; ours does not. A waiver won’t prevent you from being sued, but may provide additional protection if you are. It may be worth consulting with a lawyer to discuss your particular situation if you feel it’s necessary.
If you are sued, is there a requirement to notify the insurer even before there is an outcome?
You are not required to notify the insurer of every incident, but the policy states that the insurer needs to be notified in a timely manner in the event of a claim.
Are board members personally liable in suits against 501(c)(3)s, or just the organization’s assets?
This will probably depend on the details of the suit. Per our agent “The General Liability policy CDSS has covers Directors or Officers (or employees, volunteers, etc) for their work for the insured entity if there is a claim of liability brought due to their operations.” But there are other situations where board members wouldn’t be covered by our General Liability policy, or could be sued separately from the organization.
In a normal year, approximately how many CDSS Affiliates are actually sued? Do you know the total number of cases?
There are usually between 0 and 2 claims under our policy per year.
Is ____ situation covered?
We cannot offer definitive advice on what hypotheticals will or will not be covered by the policy. Each situation is unique and handled individually. Speaking to a lawyer or expert in the area is advised when exploring such hypotheticals. Feel free to contact us with questions and we can forward your question to our insurance agent if necessary.
Does the CDSS Liability Insurance Policy offer coverage for COVID-19-related claims?
Our policy beginning on May 1, 2021, will NOT allow for COVID-19 related claims due to an added virus exclusion—a change from the previous year’s policy. We are not aware of any general liability policy that will do so.
Are virtual events covered?
Yes! As long as they are essentially the same as other events you would be holding (dancing led or taught by an instructor/caller). As usual, filing a claim would require someone who attended your online event to sue and prove your negligence.
Are regular events covered?
Events held at this time are covered by our insurance policy as they usually are, just not for COVID-related claims.
Should we have people sign waiver for in-person dancing post-COVID?
Some insurers require waivers for certain activities; ours does not. A waiver won’t prevent you from being sued, but may provide additional protection if you are. It may be worth consulting with a lawyer to discuss your particular situation if you feel it’s necessary.
Can we review the policy?
Absolutely! Email ben@cdss.org and we’ll be happy to provide a copy of the policy for your review.
Other questions?
Have questions or need more information? Call Ben Williams at 413-203-5467 x106 or email ben@cdss.org.
Submission Guidelines
The CDSS News is published in March, June, September, and December and is distributed to about 2,000 people in print and 10,000 recipients digitally. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis.
We welcome submissions of any of the following, with a focus on contra dance, English country dance, traditional square dance, morris and English sword dance, dance tunes, folksongs, and the dance and music community.
ads
articles
letters
poems
photographs and other visual art
newly-composed dances and tunes
Please email news@cdss.org for more information. We may edit for submissions for length and clarity and to match CDSS’s grammar style. Photos should be 300-600 dpi (print resolution) and should be submitted in color.
CD+S Online Editorial Guidelines
CD+S Online is written in a style that is accessible and engaging. Articles are rigorously researched and analyzed so that scholars are pleased to include the journal on their publications list. Generally speaking, we do not accept opinion pieces. When reviewing articles for publication, we ask reviewers to consider the following points:
Quality of the Piece
Does the submission engage in critical and analytical work or is it merely descriptive? (Note: there will be submissions that are very descriptive of a group’s practice or history, but they should not be merely descriptive; there should be some framing of the practice within the larger context of the transmission of culture or a similar broad idea.)
Does the content meet a high standard in terms of the quality, breadth and depth of research? Are the arguments supported by the research and is the research replicable?
Would the submission require a substantial amount of editing/reworking on our part? Is it engaging and accessible?
Fit for the Journal
Does the content fit with our mission to explore music, song, and dance rooted in England and North America?
Would the submission work in terms of formatting/layout? (For example, we do not want a link to a 30-minute video where the specific material the reader is supposed to view is buried deeply; we prefer snippets.)
Does it come with practical, usable media or media ideas?
Originality
Has this submission been published elsewhere? If so, we cannot accept it for publication in CD+S Online.
Do the arguments seem fresh or have you heard them before?
Permissions
Is the content usable or does it require extensive, expensive, or impossible permissions issues?
Decision-Making
Reviewers are asked to give one of the four following opinions on the submission:
Accept as is.
Accept with revisions (in this case, please indicate ideas, paragraphs or sentences that need work).
Revise and resubmit for review (in this case, please indicate areas or sentences that need work; this would be an extensive rewrite and the results would be submitted to the original reader as well as a second reader).
Reject Please provide some concrete reasoning as to why it should be rejected based on the criteria above. A reviewer may also request that another or an additional reader(s) review the submission.
Note that the General Editor, in consultation with CDSS staff, retains final decision-making authority.
Submissions for CD+S Online
We welcome submissions at any time on topics addressing traditional dance, music, and song rooted in England and North America. Articles in CD+S Online are longer and more detailed than those found in its sister publication, CDSS News, and represent an exploration of the past, a celebration of the present, speculations as to the future, and a means for future generations to mark the status and development of our shared art form at any given point in time.
Generally speaking, we do not accept personal memoirs or group histories unless they can be fitted into a broader theme or argument.
Requirements for publication: Articles should be limited to 2,000 to 3,500 words and conform to the MLA Style Manual, with parenthetical documentation for all sources and with American spelling and punctuation (except for historical quotations, as noted in the style sheet). Place any notes at the end, preceding the Works Cited list.
Submission of a paper to CD+S Online is a representation that it is the author’s original, unpublished work, that it has not been submitted elsewhere, and that the author has secured permission to publish any copyrighted material, including illustrations, and video or audio links. Authors retain the copyright to their essays, but essays accepted for publication in CD+S Online may not be reprinted elsewhere without the permission of CDSS and its journal Editor.
All articles should follow the style guide and editorial guidelines linked from this page. Email your paper as a text file to Allison Thompson at journal@cdss.org.
CD+S Online Style Guide
CD+S Online refers to the MLA Style Manual in matters of grammar, usage, and, especially, documentation; exceptions are described later in these guidelines. Please note that it is the responsibility of the writer to put the manuscript into our preferred style.
I. MLA Style
The essential difference between MLA style and others is its system of parenthetical documentation. This is what we are asking for when we request a conversion to that style: sources noted in parentheses within the text, at the first natural pause.
Sources are cited by author’s name (unless recently mentioned) and page number (unless recently mentioned). The title of the source is included only if more than one source by the author is being used in the article and only if that title has not been clearly and recently mentioned. The aim is to keep the parenthetical reference as clean and brief as possible while still identifying the source clearly. If you have information to add, you may use endnotes. Because of space limitations, however, we encourage careful consideration of their inclusion in your article. Use endnotes for 1) comments, explanations, or information that the text cannot accommodate, or 2) a listing of several sources or comments on the source(s).
The parenthetical references are then keyed to a Works Cited list at the end of the article.
Pointers for the CD+S Online version of MLA Style:
In the parenthetical reference, use only what is needed for readers’ clear understanding of the source. They will refer to the Works Cited section for details.
In the Works Cited section, abbreviate publishers’ names as far as possible. For example, use “Chicago: UCP,” instead of “Chicago: U Chicago P” as MLA recommends. There is no need to state the name of the university if it is clear by the name of the city. Another example: use “Berkeley: UCP” since Berkeley is clearly a reference to a California university press. If the reader can easily deduce the name of the publisher from the city’s name, simply give initials. However, use “Philadelphia: U Pennsylvania P,” etc., for greatest clarity.
When citing an article in an anthology, please remember to include page numbers in the list of works cited.
II. General Style Matters: Frequently encountered style and grammar points, with our preferences
Articles from Country Dance & Song, CD+S Online, The Country Dancer and CDSS News should be cited like any other periodical source, with the author’s name and/or page reference in parentheses, and the full citation in the Works Cited list.
Close up spaces around em-dashes.
Do not use brackets around ellipses, as MLA recommends. For an ellipsis that signifies an omission within a sentence, space three points evenly (one space before/after each period); for an ellipsis that signifies an omission between sentences, use a period, space, and then even spacing.
Spell out all numbers under 10; thereafter use numerals. Use “’s” for singular possessive: e.g., Brian Jenkins’s tunes.
Use “1820s” not “1820’s.”
Use “morris dance” not “Morris dance,” unless the phrase is at the beginning of the sentence.
Use “English country dance,” not “English Country Dance.”
Do not italicize “CD+S Online.”
Use “poussette” not “poucete” or any other variants unless it is in quoted material
When you refer to the Country Dance and Song Society, the English Folk Dance and Song Society or the Royal Scottish Dance Society, use these full titles with the acronym in parentheses (CDSS, EFDSS, RSCDS) and thereafter use the acronym.
In older quotations, please substitute an “s” for the eighteenth-century “long esses,” but leave other spellings, capitalizations and punctuation as in the original.
Please check all quoted material and make sure you have quoted exactly; this step is particularly important as Microsoft Word, for example, thinks it knows better than you and will “correct” spellings without notice!
You do not need to italicize foreign words that describe common dance terms (i.e., révérence, pas de basque, cinque pace) but follow MLA rules for italicizing other foreign words such as “non pareil” or “caro sposo.”
We have a separate set of guidelines for notating dances; write to the Editor for details.
Please use the so-called Oxford or serial comma: (I.e., “CD+S Online publishes articles that explore aspects of traditional music, song, and dance.”
III. Formatting the Document
Format the essay in Times New Roman, font size 12.
Justify the left margin only.
Use one space after a period.
Use the Tab key (rather than the space bar) to indent the beginning of paragraphs.
Double space the entire document including indented quotations, notes, and the Works Cited page.
Number your pages, but please do not include a running head with your name.
To offset a long quotation, adjust the margins by ½ inch on each side. Please do not insert extra hard returns to achieve the same effect.
To indent the items on the Works Cited list, please use the hanging indent function. Please do not insert a hard return and tab in the middle of the entry.
IV. Audio-visual Materials
Images must be submitted as .jpg files.
Musical clips must be submitted as .mp3 files.
Video clips must be submitted as .flv files supported by Adobe’s Flash Player.
Written music may be submitted in .pdf form at the time of first review. If the music is laid out using a musical formatting program, indicate which program. You may be asked to send a copy of the file upon acceptance.
Permission to publish any copyrighted material or to obtain video/audio releases is the author’s responsibility. Copies of the permission releases must be sent to the Editor along with the final draft of the accepted article.
V. Resources
MLA Style Manual (our primary resource)
The Chicago Manual of Style (for points not covered in the MLA; for greater detail)
Webster’s New World Dictionary
The American Heritage Dictionary
The Elements of Style
Fowler’s Modern English Usage
Requirements for Grantees
Before event:
Acknowledge CDSS support in any print and online publicity, including our logo (download a file below) and a link to our website. For example:
“This event (or project) is supported in part by a Community Grant from the Country Dance & Song Society, cdss.org.” Include the CDSS logo (download it just below).
Arrange to have skilled photographers take quality photos during your event/project (and video if possible).
During event:
Make announcements to acknowledge CDSS support.
Make CDSS promotional materials available. (We will mail these to you.)
Have photos (and video) taken.
After event:
Submit follow-up report within one month, including successes, challenges, feedback from participants, financial outcome, etc. Include photos (and video) with corresponding name(s) of photographer(s), so we can provide credits.
Provide a list of anyone helping to organize your event/project, including contact information.
Return the mailing list sign-up sheet included in your promotional materials.
Logo Usage
CDSS grant recipients must use the CDSS logo on their printed materials, website, and/or social media. When included on a web page, blog, or social media site, please link the logo to the CDSS website, cdss.org.
The logo is available in two versions, horizontal and square, in either two colors (2C) or black and white (B/W). It must be produced as shown without alteration.
Instructions for Downloading Files:
Click on the link below the logo you want and the logo will open in another browser window. Then follow the instructions below
PC users: Right-click on the link below the image you desire and select ‘Save Target As’ or ‘Save Link Target As’ to save the file to your desktop or appropriate folder.
Mac users: Control-click on the link below the image you desire and select “Save Link As” to save the file to your desktop or appropriate folder.
Ben Williams grew up in the suburbs of Boston and now lives in Northampton, MA. He began working for CDSS in fall of 2018. He’s responsible for CDSS’s publications, including digital publications and the online library. He also runs the store and coordinates insurance and 501(c)(3) services for Group Affiliates.
Ben has been a life-long singer and began contra dancing in Greenfield while he attended UMass Amherst for journalism and psychology (after a brief stint in chemistry). While not singing and dancing he enjoys playing games (board, card, and otherwise), woodworking, and other craft projects. He also helps run a local meditation center and a Buddhist summer camp for children ages 10-16.
Anne Campbell
Webmaster
Anne lives and works in Orlando, FL. She graduated from Hampshire College in 1995 and has been designing and building websites ever since. In 2019, she joined the CDSS team as webmaster, taking care of updates, maintenance, and design.
Anne’s dance career began and ended at age 4, when the ballet teacher told her parents not to bother sending her back. However, she enjoys singing with the Orlando Gay Chorus, and her time with CDSS has inspired her to dip a toe into contra dance. Her other interests include travel, cooking, needlepoint, and Star Wars.
Nicki Perez
Gifts & Database Coordinator
Nicki Perez is a long-time singer and dancer who grew up performing with Revels North, Village Harmony, and various other local groups in New England. After touring in Europe with Northern Harmony, she moved to Northampton, MA, where she now resides.
Nicki has worked at CDSS since 2016. Most recently, as the Gifts & Database Coordinator, she works with the Finance Team to ensure your gifts are processed quickly and correctly. Outside of work, you can find Nicki reading novels, powerlifting, and learning new languages.
Audrey Jaber (Knuth)
Membership Coordinator
Hailing from Honolulu and now living in San Diego, Audrey cut her folk teeth in the Boston area, attending Berklee College of Music and spending years exploring the thriving New England folk scene and attending her first Pinewoods camp thanks to the CDSS youth scholarship.
You probably know Audrey best as a contra and English country dance fiddle player, having traveled the country with her bands The Free Raisins, The Gaslight Tinkers, Audacious (with Larry Unger), and Wake Up Robin. As the new Membership Coordinator, she’s excited to get to know you more and pay it forward in the community.
Sarah Babbitt Spaeth
Programs Coordinator
Sarah grew up contra dancing near the Washington-Idaho border and now lives in Burlington, VT. She was introduced to English country dance at Oberlin College, where she also studied neuroscience, biology, math, and music. She has served on the board of directors for Pinewoods Camp in Plymouth, MA, and has a professional background in customer service and data management.
Sarah plays viola and violin for English country dances, where she has found her music and dance home. She loves her garden, native bee and bird visitors, and the bike path along Lake Champlain, where she also enjoys cross-country skiing and rollerblading. She appreciates a good word game or jigsaw puzzle and wishes she had more time for weaving and pottery.
Robin Hayden
Director of Development
Robin started dancing when she arrived at Swarthmore College in 1983, and soon after, following only a few years of teaching 4th grade, began working for CDSS as a volunteer when both she and the office (coincidentally) moved to Western MA. What began in 1987 as a volunteer Membership Secretary role grew, as CDSS grew over the next 35 years, into Robin’s deeply fulfilling work as Director of Development, in which she is grateful to be able to offer CDSS’s many friends the opportunity to support our important work through membership and generous giving.
After 22 years of residing and raising her two children in Amherst, MA, she has settled in a quiet house of her own in Greenfield. A widely-traveled English country dancer and leader, she recently retired from 25 years as the organizer of the weekly English dance in Amherst.
Sarah Pilzer
Director of Operations
Sarah is a New England transplant from Takoma Park, MD, now living in Winooski, VT. Her first involvement with CDSS was as a young camper at Family Week. She went on to join the Governing Board as a college student, and then later in 2016, was hired to work in the office in Easthampton. Sarah currently serves as the Director of Operations, guiding the smooth functioning of the organization’s systems and processes.
Sarah grew up in a music & dance family and has been involved in the folk community her entire life. Recently, she has been developing her mellophone chops by playing with The Brass Balagan, an activist street band based in Burlington, VT. Sarah is a graduate of Oberlin College and Boston University and holds a M.A. in Marine Biology (ask her about talking to fish!). Other hobbies/interests include: board games, crochet, flower gardening, and parades.
Joanna Reiner Wilkinson
Director of Programs
Although many people in our community know Joanna as an excellent dance leader, what makes her perfect for this role is her expertise in nonprofit financial management and experience working with cultural organizations on data-driven program design. Joanna joins CDSS from SMU DataArts, where she evaluated cultural organization needs and designed organizational strength trainings for adult learners in the cultural community. She lives in Cheltenham, PA.
Kelsey Wells
Marketing & Communications Manager
Kelsey works for CDSS from her home near Nashville, TN. As Marketing and Communications Manager, she oversees News publications, designs camp promotions, writes social media content, and much more.
Kelsey works with Robin Hayden and Nicki Perez on the Development team and with anyone else in the office who needs art! She joined CDSS in 2019 after having been a primary school music teacher, a university graphic designer, and a guitar builder.
Kelsey plays fiddle and banjo in the dance bands Turnip the Beet and Silver Sail, spending many weekends traveling to dance festivals around the country. She is the founder and co-leader of the Nashville Country Dancers community open band and served as the US delegate to the world folk music project Ethno Flanders in 2017. Outside of playing music, Kelsey enjoys making crankies and hiking with her pup, Isham.
Anna Mach
Accounting Manager
Anna grew up in Canada and went to the University of Manitoba for her B.S. in Accounting and Mathematics. She now lives in West Springfield, MA with her husband and two children. Prior to joining CDSS, she started and ran her own business for 5 years in Canada, and then worked for Girl Scouts of Pioneer Valley as their Accounting/Finance Manager. She joined CDSS in December 2011. As Accounting Manager, she oversees organization accounting activities and processes.
During most of her time off from CDSS, she is busy driving her two kids to their activities and taking care of her mother both remotely and in Canada. She loves traveling and learning about different cultures from the places she visits. She was fortunate enough to be able to give her children their first overseas trip to Asia last summer. She hopes she will be able to continue her travels after the kids are all grown up.
Julie Brodnitzki
Director of Finance
Julie grew up in Barkhamsted, CT and after graduating from the University of Central Florida moved out to Missoula, MT for a brief period before moving back to Barkhamsted to raise her three children. She has a M.S. in Accounting from the University of Connecticut and B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida. Prior to joining CDSS, Julie worked at several nonprofit organizations in CT. She joined CDSS in December of 2019 as the Director of Finance and is responsible for the organization’s finances and human resources.
When Julie is not at the office, she is enjoying the outdoors, running, skiing or hiking with family and friends. She loves traveling and was fortunate to enjoy a month-long RV trip across the United States with her family in 2018. She visited 28 states and drove 9529 miles.
Katy German
Executive Director
A native of Berea, Kentucky, Katy grew up immersed in traditional song, dance, and music. Her first involvement with CDSS was as a camper at CDSS Family Week at Pinewoods as a teenager, where she fell in love with the work of CDSS. Over the years she’s continued to support the organization as a CDSS member, donor, camp instructor, camp program director, and board member.
Before becoming the Executive Director of CDSS in 2017, Katy spent 6 years in clinical trials data management, and 7 years in food banking, where she supervised a remote team that worked with 200 partner agencies to end hunger in western North Carolina. Today Katy is blending her previous professional experiences with her love of traditional dance, music, and song, as she leads CDSS in becoming a high-functioning remote team, rooted in a strong mission, and harnessing today’s technology to bridge geographic distance.
Outside the office you might find Katy paddle-boarding with her family, singing with others, driving her two kids around to any number of activities, working in the yard, reading novels, or planning some big gathering or adventure.
Sue is also active as a dance musician and teacher. She currently plays with two contra dance bands, Joyride and The Stage Crew, plus she collaborates with many other musicians for contra and English dances. She has led large contra dance bands in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Coos Bay, Oregon, and was a teacher and musician in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for CDSS’s Centennial Tour. She has tutored piano numerous times at the American Festival of Fiddle Tunes, and she teaches every July for Contra Dance Musicians Week at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. 
Attending Berea Christmas Dance School for the first time in 1948, Bill discovered new dance forms, including contra dance, English country dance, and Appalachian clogging, which he subsequently introduced to dance communities across Northeast Ohio and beyond. Bill returned to Berea Christmas Dance School multiple years on staff, teaching traditional squares, Appalachian clogging, beginning English, and dance leadership.
At home in Wooster, Ohio, Bill prepared a generation of youth for square dance and square dance calling competitions at the Ohio State Fair. He called contra dances starting in the 1950s, and his monthly old-time square dance ran continuously for 50 years. After 2000, Bill co-founded the intergenerational program at Terpsichore’s Holiday and performed “Minuet to Macarena,” a revue of couple dance 1800 to present, from the Wheatland Music Festival to the Atlanta Waltz Society.
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Thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their generous support.
About
Joel Bluestein
Avia Moore
Gaye Fifer
Jeremy Carter-Gordon
Marni Rachmiel
David Smukler
Glenn Manuel
Michael Bean
Juliette Webb
Justin Morrison
Dena Ross Jennings (Group Facilitator)
Hannah Assefa
Cayley Buckner
Rima Dael
Ezra Fischer
Nadia Gaya
Aravind Natarajan
Stephanie Voncannon
Bailey Walton
Earl White
Luanne Stiles
Susan English
Jenna Barron
Margaret Bary
Norman Farrell
Alice Kenney
Robbin Marcus
Craig Meltzner
Diane Silver
Chris Weiler
