The portal contains a vast range of resources by and for the dance, music, and song community. From expert tips from fellow organizers and callers, to databases of dances and songs, find what you need to help engage with the traditions you love!
Resources added before 2022 do not all have explicit permission from the authors. If your resource is in the portal and you’d like it removed, please email us.
Search the Portal
Use the search box and filters below to find resources.
Tip: Selecting multiple checkboxes will give you more specific results. For example, to see specific resources for contra dance callers, select both Callers and Contra Dance.
287 Results
Contra Dance Calling: A Basic Text
The comprehensive entry-level book on contra dance calling by Tony Parkes. Every aspect of the caller’s work is dealt with clearly and thoroughly, including how to get started as a caller; music as it relates to the dance; timing and phrasing; voice technique; fitting the calls to the music; dance notation; teaching and walkthroughs; choosing material; calling for special groups; working with live or recorded music; buying and using a sound system; and running a dance series. In addition, the book includes an in-depth discussion of the basic movements; a selection of easy-to-call dances; a complete glossary of terms; an extensive list of resources; and information on how to use other dance books. In short, this is your guide to the entire world of contra dance calling, teaching, and organizing.
View the first chapter for free above—or purchase the complete book.
From Tony Parkes and Hands Four Productions
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
Nearly 50 new contra dances from Isaac Banner, along with tips for running a workshop, glossary, and index by figure and dance type. A great resource for new callers, as well as experienced callers looking for new dances.
From Isaac Banner
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
Example Codes of Conduct
Here are some of our favorite codes of conduct from other dance and music organizations to use as inspiration for your own!
Chicagoland English Country Dance
Chicago, IL; English country dance
Olympia Contra Dance
Olympia, WA; contra dance
(links in the “Community” paragraph under “The Details”)
DanceFlurry Organization
Albany/Saratoga Springs, NY (and surrounding areas); several types of monthly dance series and workshops, educational programs in schools and other organizations
Portland Country Dance Community
Portland, OR; contra dance, English country dance, music sessions
Code of Conduct
Community Standards
Guidelines for Event Coordinators Addressing Incidents
Ottawa Contra Dance
Ottawa, ON; contra dance
John C. Campbell Folk School
Brasstown, NC; contra dance, English country dance, community/family dance, many other music and craft workshops
Raise the Rafters
Rhododendron, OR; singing
Have a great policy you’d like to share? Submit it here!
Categories: Community/Family Dance, Contra Dance, English Country Dance, Organizers
Women/Black/Indigenous/POC/LGBTQIA+/People with Disabilities Music Instructor Nominee Directory
This spreadsheet shows a list of recommended music teachers from marginalized communities. The list is the result of a survey form created in 2019 by A’yen Tran with the intention of making it publicly available, particularly to music camp directors. The goal is to increase representation for women, people of color, people with disabilities, and gender-diverse people in music camps and other musical learning opportunities.
Categories: Experienced Participants, Musicians, Novices, Organizers, Singers
A Google map with many local dances in the US and Canada. Also searchable by zip code, for special events, and for dances using non-gendered calling. Created by Jeff Kaufman.
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Dancers, Musicians
Colin Hume presents descriptions and commentary on all of the 200+ square dances in Northern Junket, a magazine published by Ralph Page from 1949 to 1985.
Categories: Callers, Square Dance
Communities in Conflict
May 30, 2023
An online discussion to support organizers of dance, music, and song groups
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?
CDSS Executive Director Katy German joined Jenny Beer, Dana Dwinell-Yardley, Sue Songer, and Kathy Story for a conversation about working through conflict as a community.
Categories: Organizers, Web Chats
Lesson Plans for Educators
The CDSS Educators Task Group presents lesson plans on a variety of topics in traditional music and dance.
Categories: Community/Family Dance, Educators, Resources, Youth
New England Dancing Masters Teaching Blog
A blog for teachers wanting to teach traditional dance, including videos of dances suitable for classrooms.
Categories: Community/Family Dance, Educators
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?
Categories: Organizers, Web Chats
Building Cultural Equity in Communities
October 25, 2022
An online discussion to support organizers of dance, music, and song groups
This Web Chat provided firsthand experiences from organizers who have used CDSS grants to provide diversity, equity, and inclusion training for their groups. We heard about ways they have been applying what they’ve learned from these valuable workshops, and what’s next for their groups. We also included plenty of time for Q&A. Our special guests were:
- Cindy Culbert and Rich Dempsey: Country Dancers of Rochester (Rochester, NY)
- Janet Yeracaris and Vince O’Donnell: New England Folk Festival Association (New England region)
- Lauren Keeley: DanceFlurry Organization (Albany, NY)
Categories: Organizers, Web Chats
Ideas for Weathering the Winter Together
During the CDSS Web Chat on November 1, 2021, participants brainstormed ideas for keeping their music, dance, and song groups engaged and connected through the coming months. See below for a compilation of their suggestions for organizers to try out with their communities. We’re happy to continue adding to this list, so please send your thoughts to resources@cdss.org. All ideas welcome!
Categories: Organizers
Reentry Resources for Organizers
Originally published September 2021.
Introduction
One key question that keeps cropping up as we prepare for restarting in-person activities is: How will we know when the time is right? All music, dance, and song groups need to chart their own course based on their location, state and local public health guidance, type of event, and community needs. We hope the following set of resources will help organizers navigate the myriad decisions involved with safely resuming in-person events.
Categories: Organizers, Resources
The CDSS Community Culture and Safety Task Group (CCSTG) aims to support local communities in their efforts to provide a safe environment for music, song, and dance events. We are working to provide advice and resources that will help organizers develop the policies, procedures, and supporting documents needed to understand and facilitate safety in their communities.
CDSS is not prescriptive in regard to what your community ‘should be doing.’ We recognize and value the range of living traditions practiced by our communities.
Categories: Callers, Educators, Musicians, Organizers
Sharing the Vision: Themes and Practical Ideas for Vibrant Dance Communities
A pithy article from Max Newman on the importance of a vision, how to create one and how to share it.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Organizers
Lissa Schneckenburger’s Tune A Week
Sign up to get a free tune delivered to your inbox every week, and join a group practice challenge.
Categories: Musicians, Novices
Square Dance History with David Millstone
Experience the rich history and regional variety of square dancing in this in-depth, three part video series.
With photographs, audio, and video, we’ll travel:
- from 17th century France to Civil War ballrooms
- from New England Grange halls to Texas cowboy balls
- and from Newfoundland to New Mexico
to explore and discuss how this dance form became a staple of American popular culture.
Categories: Square Dance
Shared Weight: Positional Calling Discussion List
This list is for anyone interested in exploring positional calling within traditional dance (contra, squares, ECD, community, family dance, Irish ceili, Scottish ceilidh, etc).
Our goal is to support each other by discussing topics of interest to callers specifically in relation to positional calling. We encourage callers to also join some of the other Shared Weight lists as those communities are valuable resources for other aspects of calling.
Categories: Callers, Dance Tradition, Dancers, Organizers
Shared Weight: Growing Up Trad Discussion List
Growing up Trad! is an email discussion list for caregiving adults who love traditional dance, music and song. The focus of our conversation is around nurturing these traditions within our families and in particular with the children in our care.
Categories: Community/Family Dance, Families
Shared Weight: Dance Organizers Discussion List
This mailing list welcomes organizers and those interested in organizing any form of traditional social dance. This includes contra, English country, traditional squares (e.g., Appalachian, New England, Quebecois, Cape Breton, etc), community/family/barn, ceili, Balfolk, and more!
Categories: Dance Tradition, Dancers, Organizers
Fostering Intergenerational Community
These notes from a session at Youth Traditional Song Weekend 2015 list ways participants promote age inclusivity in their own communities.
Categories: Organizers
New Old Songs: Writing Within the Tradition
Alex Sturbaum shares tips for writing new songs within folk traditions and touches on writing with less-often-mentioned themes in mind.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Singers
Addressing Racism as a Dance Community
In this short overview, the organizers of Portland Intown Contra Dance acknowledge and explain some of the various Black and African influences on American folk dance traditions.
From the Portland Intown Contra Dance
Categories: Organizers
Dinah, Put Down Your Horn: Blackface Minstrel Songs Don’t Belong in Music Class
In this article, the author puts forward the need to remove racist songs from school music programs and discusses a number of songs with racist messaging.
From Dr. Katya Ermolaeva
Categories: Educators
Anti-Racism and the Folk Revival
This article focuses on racism within our traditions, in particular relating to the work of Cecil Sharp and his contemporaries, and on how our history informs our present and should influence our future.
From Ezra Fisher
Categories: Contra Dance, Early American Dance, Square Dance
Dance Weekend 101: Streamlining the organization of weekend dance events
Ever thought of organizing a dance weekend? Come explore the ins and outs of what it takes to streamline a successful event.
From Adam Broome & Jaige Trudel
Puttin’ On The Dance 2015
Categories: Organizers
The Ins and Outs of Cooking for Dancers
An article by Sarah Pilzer with great advice for weekends and camps about cooking for dancers!
From the CDSS News
Categories: Organizers
Putting on “Techno” Contra Dances
This article from Will Loving, with a note from Sue Songer around copyright issues, describes the details of putting on a techno contra including lighting and equipment recommendations.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Contra Dance, Organizers
Let’s Talk About Reentry, Part 7: Singing Together Safely
May 3, 2022
An online discussion to support organizers of song groups
Two organizers offered firsthand experiences about keeping their song groups alive and well through the pandemic by hosting in-person and online singing events. Our third guest provided the latest COVID-19 news from her public health perspective, with suggestions especially pertinent for song group organizers. Q&A with all three guests included:
- Janice Hanson from Golden Link Folk Singing Society in Rochester, NY
- Steve Deering from Vancouver Folk Song Society in Vancouver, BC
- Dr. Kimbi Hagen, public health professor from Atlanta, GA
Categories: Organizers, Singers, Web Chats
This resource provides a number of tips and considerations when looking for a new space to hold a dance or music event.
From CDSS
Categories: Organizers
Sample Budget Sheets
These downloadable Excel sheets are a great start for a sample dance budget and also for reporting income/expenses from a single event.
From Leda Shapiro Southwest Regional Organizers Conference 2014
Categories: Organizers
Fundraising Strategies and Tips for Dance Organizations: Broadening our views for supporting dances
Looking to raise funds for your dance? These workshop notes take a broad view on fundraising to support your dance series, support the hall where you dance, run special events or programming, purchase equipment, or support other causes and affiliated organizations. Includes an overview of philanthropy and fundraising strategies at the macro level, and then share how one local organization raised more than $60,000.
From Rima Dael, Patty Giavara, and Nancy Turner
Puttin’ On The Dance 2015
Categories: Organizers
This article by Dela Murphy provides some great insight into how one dance community effectively ran a fundraising campaign for their series.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Organizers
Downloadable Excel Spreadsheets
Sample spreadsheets to help organizers create a budget for their dance series, weekend, or tour!
From Erik Erhardt, Ron Nieman, and Glenn Manuel, Southwest Regional Organizers Conference 2014
Categories: Organizers
Non-Profit Management: Updating and strengthening our administrative foundation
Non-profit governance and administrative systems require routine updating as organizations evolve. This workshop is designed to help organizers of any committee—old or new—strengthen their administrative platform. Topics include: the pluses and minuses of incorporating and registering as a non-profit; the steps that a group must take to incorporate and/or register as a non-profit; and the roles that bylaws and articles of incorporation play to define the organization’s purpose and how the organization is governed. This workshop will be particularly helpful to groups that are not formalized as incorporated non-profits who are thinking about taking these steps, or for members of formalized committees who want to better understand governance systems. We’ll share some decisions that were addressed at our dances to generate discussion, clarify how CDSS is prepared to assist, and open up the floor to any governance/administrative issues that you might be tackling in your own dance community.
From Catherine Burns, Rima Dael, & Nancy Turner, Puttin’ On The Dance 2015
Categories: Organizers
Creating a Happy, Healthy Volunteer Base: Ways to engage and retain volunteers to sustain our dances
Volunteers are crucial to the healthy sustainability of our dances, as much to build community as to get the job done. These workshop notes talk about the importance of volunteers, different kinds of volunteers, recruitment, engagement and retention. We’ll also work to address some specific volunteer challenges, useful whether you’re a committee of one or part of a large organizing team.
from Tara Bolker & Maxine Louie, Puttin’ On The Dance 2015
Categories: Organizers
This article by, Tom Siess, including a follow up by Bruce Hamilton explores the role of a board as well as ideas regarding good governance.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Organizers
How to Structure Your Organization
This two page document provides some basic considerations on how to structure your organization
From CDSS
Categories: Organizers
Starring Your Recorder is a free educational video series from GEMS NY. The recorder has been an important instrument worldwide for hundreds of years. It has often been played along with other beautiful instruments that are still played today. With these six videos, students can experience playing easy tunes on recorder accompanied by a Renaissance band.
From Gotham Early Music Scene, Inc.
Categories: Educators, Musicians
Reference Contra Dance Sound System
In this series of blog posts, Jeff Kaufman describes various aspects of sound engineering at a contra dance, from the system itself to mic placement and more.
How Should BIDA Finance a Sound System?
Contra Dance Sound: Microphones
Simple Contra Speaker Placement
Fiddle Clip-on Microphone Placement
Contra Dance Sound: Mic Placement
Categories: Organizers
This resource outlines some basic considerations for doing sound at a dance event.
From CDSS
Categories: Audience
All Mixed Up: A Guide to Sound Production for Folk and Dance Music
All Mixed Up is a comprehensive guide to doing sound for both traditional dance and folk music events. Bob’s guide covers a wide range of topics that are useful to both beginner and experienced sound technicians. The printed version of All Mixed Up is available for sale through CDSS’s online store.
From Bob Mills
Categories: Audience
TradSound is a listserv (email group) that exists to share information, experiences, techniques about people using intelligence, acoustics and audio equipment to optimally reinforce voices and instruments at community trad music events including dances, concerts and festivals. Most of our group members are audio techs, though we also welcome interested musicians, singers, callers, organizers, dancers and listeners. TradSound is a great way to talk to those passionate about sound at trad events. Join the discussion! Special Note: As a member of the group, you can also search the extensive list archives.
Categories: Audience
In this post, Jeff explores some of his thinking behind musician booking for the BIDA dance series. Community discussion follows.
From Jeff Kaufman
Categories: Organizers
Example of a performer info sheet that can be sent to people hired for a dance to clarify any confusion beforehand!
From Nancy Turner, Queen City Contra, Puttin’ On The Dance, 2011
Categories: Organizers
Hiring Dance Camp Staff—Guidelines For Organizers
An excellent set of guidelines and tips from Lisa Greenleaf on hiring staff for a weekend or week, diving into all aspects of hiring and scheduling.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Organizers
This article by Carol Ormond gives excellent tips on how organizers can create a great gig experience for a caller. Much of the advice applies to other hired staff as well.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Callers, Musicians, Organizers
An extensive survey of approximately 400 contra dance callers throughout North America and beyond. Interesting and useful information for organizers and callers alike
From CDSS, 2013
Categories: Callers, Organizers
This resource outlines some basic considerations and tips for organizers who are hiring callers and bands.
From CDSS
Categories: Organizers
An example of family dance schedule including a potluck and sound check that works for the long-standing BIDA family dance which occurs before the regular evening dance
From Jeff Kaufman
Categories: Community/Family Dance, Organizers
Thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their generous support.