A wealth of information on all aspects of calling for ECD, contras, squares, barn dances, and more.
From Colin Hume
Notes on Teaching Country Dance
These notes are distilled from Bruce Hamilton’s workshops on teaching country dances. If you can’t get to a camp or workshop to experience this respected dance leader’s teaching up close, this is the next best thing. Thoughtful, thought-provoking, and challenging to teachers at all levels.
This resource is free for CDSS members and is available for purchase through the CDSS Online Store.
A concise summary of what to considerations when calling a contra dance from preparation through the dance.
From Peter Amidon
Calling All Callers, Old and New
Some great calling tips from Douglas A. Singleton especially for newer callers.
From CDSS News
Village Green English Country Dancers ECD Manual
This manual describes in detail figures, formations, and steps in English country dancing. It also includes descriptions of common difficulties in executing steps and figures.
From Village Green English Country Dancers
New Mexico Callers Collective Handbook
This resource outlines a number of considerations for callers and callers collectives. This includes having a growth mindset, how to give feedback, how to prepare for calling, teaching a beginner lesson, how to cover when a dance breaks down, rolling starts, and so much more. The resource touches upon calling both contra and square dances although many of the ideas are likely applicable to most calling situations.
From Erik Erhardt
This how-to is for those interested in learning to call contra dances. The resource assumes that you have experience dancing contra dances (i.e. you know the basic figures well enough to explain them to others), but that you are calling for and teaching a group of dancers that includes a sizable portion of beginners.
From CDSS
Early American Secular Music and Its European Sources, 1589-1839: An Index
This is a series of indexes derived from a database of musical information compiled from primary sources covering the 250 years of the initial exploration and settlement of the United States. It consists of over 75,000 entries that are sorted by text (titles, first lines, recitatives, chorus and burden), by music incipits (represented in scale degrees, stressed notes and interval sequences), with additional indexes of names and theater works.
Compiled by Robert M. Keller, Raoul F. Camus, Kate Van Winkle Keller, and Susan Cifaldi
Early American Songsters, 1734-1820: An Index
This resource is an index of all of the known songsters currently available. Lowens defines a songster “as a collection of three or more secular poems intended to be sung.” Most of the songsters do not include music, although many contain references to the names of tunes to which the song could be sung. References to where to find the songsters is provided.
Compiled by Robert M. Keller
GEMS: The Best of The Country Dance and Song Society Diamond Jubilee Music, Dance and Song Contest
This online collection contains American (e.g., contra, mixer, triplet) dances, English dances (with music), tunes, and songs composed by the country dance and song community.
From CDSS
Thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their generous support.