In June 2018, CDSS began a new Web Chat series to support organizers of dance, music, and song communities across the continent and beyond. For each Web Chat, a pertinent topic is chosen and guest organizers from communities having success with that topic are invited to share their valuable experiences and suggestions (Q&A included).
Join us for our next Web Chat:
Communities in Conflict
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT)
From disagreements about COVID protocols to strong feelings about role terms on the dance floor, dance leaders and organizers have been in the middle of passionate community discussions the past few years. As an organizer, what approaches and techniques can you use to help your group through these rough patches? And what can you do to keep your own balance along the way?
Join CDSS Executive Director Katy German with Jenny Beer, Dana Dwinell-Yardley, Sue Songer, and Kathy Story for a conversation about working through conflict as a community.
This Web Chat will be recorded and available to watch a few days after the event.
Web Chat Guests
Jenny Beer, Philadelphia, PA
Many of you know Jenny as a (very) longtime English country dancer and dance choreographer. In her other life, she is both an anthropologist and a professional mediator and facilitator, with much experience teaching college students and adults about conflict resolution, negotiation, and mediation, especially in mixed-culture situations. If you find yourself informally mediating in your dance organization (or elsewhere), you can find lots of down-to-details advice, in her Mediator’s Handbook, which has gone through many editions since 1982.
Dana Dwinell-Yardley, Montpelier, VT
Dana has been contra dancing since 2004, and has served on the Montpelier dance organizing committee since 2010. She’s proud of Montpelier’s reputation as a friendly, inclusive, and high-caliber dance. She’s also been proud and humbled to work alongside her committee members and dance community as they’ve navigated a lot of growth and change together, from gender-neutral role terms, to sliding scale admission, to restarting the dance safely during COVID times. Dana is a freelance graphic designer by day, as well as a climate justice activist, community singing organizer, and lover of mountains in any weather.
Sue Songer, Portland, OR
Sue Songer has been a contra and English dancer and musician for more than 30 years. She plays piano and fiddle, beginning in her hometown of Portland, OR, and eventually performing across the US. Her specialty is piano accompaniment, which she has provided for a great many fiddlers and a number of contra dance bands.
Sue is also deeply involved with community (all-comer) contra dance bands. She has organized and directed the 75-member Portland Megaband since 1996. She has worked with smaller open bands in many different contexts and locations, sometimes conducting intensive weekend workshops aimed at coalescing the sound of these groups of disparate musicians and expanding their repertoire.
Over the years, Sue has served twice on the PCDC board of directors and on almost every PCDC committee and task group. She has twice been the president of the board of directors, most recently from June 2021 to June 2023. Her professional experiences as a public-school teacher and as a licensed psychologist have helped her guide the Portland dance community through some difficult times.
Kathy Story, Portland, OR
Kathy began contra dancing in Memphis in 2005 and was soon dancing at contra weekends throughout the Southeast and helping organize the Memphis dance weekend. When she moved to Portland, Oregon, she was delighted to discover the vibrant contra and ECD community there. Her first Raindance, Portland Megaband, and Northwest Passage were highlights of her dancing life. Kathy also plays fiddle (very badly, she says) and loves playing the contra and ECD repertoire at slow jams and at open band.
Kathy joined the Portland Contra Committee in early 2020 and was elected chair just as the world shut down from Covid. Like so many, she was devastated, but the important work of the committee and the friendships she developed with other members over Zoom sustained her. For three years, the committee worked diligently to further a welcoming, safe, inclusive, and fun community. Kathy was also privileged to be the face of the Portland Live concerts, through which she met many dancers and organizers on the West Coast and beyond.
Questions? Contact camp@cdss.org
Latest Web Chat:
Recruiting and Keeping Volunteers!
March 7, 2023
An online discussion to support organizers of dance, music, and song groups
In our mostly volunteer-powered community, we’ve long faced challenges when it comes to finding and keeping the people who make our organization’s dance, music, and song activities possible. The COVID pandemic exacerbated those challenges and impacted both our organizations and the environment in which we work.
CDSS Executive Director Katy German hosted this Web Chat to discuss volunteer management and address key volunteer-related questions, such as:
- Where do we find new volunteers?
- How do we appreciate the volunteers we have and help them avoid burn-out?
- How do we create processes for training volunteers and planning for position turn-over?
Previous Web Chats
- Building Cultural Equity in Communities October 26, 2022
- Let’s Talk About Reentry, Part 7: Singing Together Safely May 4, 2022
- Let’s Talk About Reentry, Part 6: Prioritizing Safety at In-person Dances February 28, 2022
- Weathering the Winter Together November 1, 2021
- Let’s Talk About Reentry, Part 5: News from Groups That Have Resumed In-person Events August 12, 2021
- Let’s Talk About Reentry, Part 4: Addressing Legal and Other Burning Questions May 19, 2021
- Let’s Talk About Reentry, Part 3: An MD Discusses Vaccines, and We Discuss Our Sector’s Needs March 1, 2021
- Singing and Playing Music in REAL TIME! An online discussion for organizers of song communities and open bands January 13, 2021
- Let’s Talk About Reentry: Working Together Now for a Strong Return to Dancing October 21, 2020
- Supporting Song Communities Across the Continent September 16, 2020
- Let’s Talk About Reentry: Recommendations and Q&A for Organizers July 8, 2020
- Yes we CAN keep in touch! Connecting Our Communities During the Pandemic April 29, 2020
- Diversifying Income: Thinking Outside the Money Basket February 12, 2020
- Connecting Community Sing Organizers October 16, 2019
- Building Safe Dance Communities July 11, 2019
- Family/Community Dance Organizers Unite! April 4, 2019
- Increasing Youth Involvement January 16, 2019
- Creating a Thriving Open Band September 20, 2018
- Boosting AttenDANCE June 21, 2018