Northern Junket was a square dance magazine published from 1949 until 1985 by Ralph Page, a renowned figure in New England folk dancing. Each issue contains directions and tunes for squares, contras and folk dances, as well as folk songs, recipes, riddles, tongue-twisters, old wives’ tales, and other folklife traditions.
The Hatchlings—Developing Callers in St. Louis
Martha Edwards describes a model for developing callers that she feels will work in many different community contexts.
From the CDSS News
Dela Murphy describes Portland, Maine’s approach to training and mentoring new callers, including how they source funding for that work.
From the CDSS News
Training New Contra Callers in Portland, ME
Dugan Murphy describes Portland, Maine’s experience in training new contra callers.
From the CDSS News
Tom’s Contra Page – Choreography
Tom Lehmann’s thoughts on composing contra dances.
Cary Ravitz’s Rules on Choreography
Cary Ravitz provides a list of the rules he follows when writing a dance.
Working and Communicating with the Band
A list of nine tips by Nan Evans and Fred Nussbaum for working with bands for English country dance.
From the CDSS News
Positional Calling Workshop for Contra Dance Callers
Louise Siddons’s introductory workshop to help contra callers discover how the calling skills they have already cultivated can be enhanced by positional thinking, teaching, and calling. It also teaches how to use those skills to create a more welcoming, inclusive atmosphere at dances.
From Friends of Cecil Sharp House
Positional Calling Workshop for English Country Dance Callers
The video of this introductory workshop by Louise Siddons will help ECD callers discover how the calling skills they have already cultivated can be enhanced by positional thinking, teaching, and calling. It also teaches how to use those skills to create a more welcoming, inclusive atmosphere at dances.
From Friends of Cecil Sharp House
Get Into Position for Social Dancing
Louise Siddons explains how she uses positional calling for Playford and contra dances—and that positional calling has the potential to make dancing more fun for everyone. Includes choreography for three positionally-called dances.
From EFDSS