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.
286 Results
Rising Contra Dance Callers’ Collective Facebook Group
This Facebook group is an online community of callers who support each other in a wide range of caller topics.
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
Community Dance Facebook Group
This Facebook group was established to share choreography and video links of ‘family friendly’ community dances for dance leaders and callers, and also to provide information about opportunities for caller education.
Categories: Callers, Community/Family Dance
Shared Weight: English Country Dance Discussion List
The Shared Weight ECD listserv (email group) is for discussion of all aspects of modern and historical English Country Dance and related forms as they have relevance to the discussion. (Related forms include contra, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, contradanza, Victorian longways dances, quadrilles, cotillions, etc.). The list is intended for callers, dancers, organizers, and musicians, who are all part of one community. Join the discussion!
Categories: Callers, English Country Dance, Musicians, Organizers
Shared Weight: Contra Callers Discussion List
This mailing list (email group) welcomes contra dance callers and people who are interested in learning about calling for contra dances. List members ask/answer questions, discuss issues that come up for them, and share helpful resources. There are both new and experienced callers from throughout North America and beyond. Join the discussion!
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
Shared Weight: Trad Callers Discussion List
Trad Callers is a discussion list (email group) with wide-ranging interests. The group welcomes callers interested in community dances, dancing for children, one-night stands, traditional squares, and other forms outside the contra dance and ECD realm. List members ask/answer questions, discuss issues that come up for them, and share helpful resources. The list is a great way to talk with trad callers from throughout North America and beyond. Join the discussion!
Categories: Callers, Dancers
This website includes a large collection of English barn dances as well as tips for playing, resources for beginners, descriptions of terms, and more.
From Thomas Green
Categories: Callers, Community/Family Dance, Musicians
A comprehensive description of each of the 50+ basic dance figures in ECD.
from Hugh Stewart
Categories: Callers, Dancers, English Country Dance, Novices
This online collection of approximately 100 English country dances comes from some earlier collections (e.g., Thompson; Wilson; Wright) as well as dances composed by Ken Sheffield. Both the music notation as well as instructions for the dance are provided.
From CDSS
Categories: Callers, English Country Dance, Musicians
Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend Syllabi 1998-2017
This is a very extensive collection of traditional dances from New England as called at each annual dance weekend. A significant portion of the program celebrates the tradition’s roots and includes choreography for traditional contras and quadrilles, triple minor dances, singing squares, and couple dances as part of the program.
From RPDLW and UNH
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, English Country Dance, Square Dance
English Country Dance Video Playlists
The Childgrove channel on YouTube is a repository of over 100 videos of English country dancing and is a source of instruction on how to dance many of the finest dances choreographed by Fried de Metz Herman.
From Paul B Ross
Categories: Callers, Dancers, English Country Dance
This book by Patrick Napier (available online as a PDF) provides a wonderful introduction to Kentucky Mountain Square Dancing. The book includes a bit of history and general calling tips prior to describing many Big Set and Running Set figures. It also includes fillers and closing calls.
From CDSS
Categories: Callers, Square Dance
A useful and informative introduction, plus a variety of figures for big set, square, and two couple formations.
From Hugh Stewart
Categories: Callers, Square Dance
This online collection of Charles Bolton’s work contains both interpretations of 17th and 18th-century English country dances (with music) as well as nine booklets of Charles’ original dances and tunes.
From CDSS
Categories: Callers, English Country Dance
Contra, square, grid square, and mixer dances composed by Rick Mohr.
Categories: Callers, Community/Family Dance, Contra Dance, Square Dance
A collection of square dances for seated dancers. Descriptions of the figures are here.
From Fred Wersan
Categories: Callers, Square Dance
Contra and square dances composed by North Carolina caller Bob Dalsemer.
Categories: Callers, Community/Family Dance, Contra Dance, Square Dance
The Challenge Square Dancing Handbook
This handbook by Clark Baker includes terminology and concepts used in higher levels of modern Western square dance.
Categories: Callers, Experienced Participants, Square Dance
10 Simple English Dances For Beginning Callers and/or Beginning Dancers
From CDSS
Categories: Callers, English Country Dance, Novices
This online version of Bob Dalsemer’s book describes dance figures as done in five rural West Virginia communities in the 1970s and reports on their regular dance events, including programming, type of audience, price and method of admission, and the traditions of figure calling and musical performance.
Categories: Callers, Square Dance
ContraDB is a large online collection of contra dances.
From David Morse
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
English Dance & Song’s Contra and Longways Dances
An archive of the contra and longways dances published in English Dance and Song (EFFDS’s magazine)
From John Sweeney
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
The Old-Time Kentucky Running Set
This article by Stu Jamieson covers variations on the Southern Appalachian big circle/set formation, including descriptions of the dances, calls, and more.
Categories: Callers, Square Dance
This is an extensive collection of contra dances (approx 12,000) writen by dozens of callers. It includes the full written dances in addition to information such as the author, formation, and progression. There are even links to videos of many of the dances! The collection covers many (but not all) dances found on other sites.
From Chris Page and Michael Dyck
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
Michael Dyck’s Contra Dance Index
An extensive index of contra dances with the goal of capturing all contras written since 1953. While it doesn’t include the full written dances, it includes information such as the author, formation, and where to find the dance.
From Michael Dyck
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
This is a free software for organizing your collection of dances. It comes with Colin’s collection of over 2000 dances, including English country dance (Playford and traditional style), American squares and contras, Scottish dances, and more.
From Colin Hume
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, English Country Dance, Square Dance
In this blog post, Jeff explores the challenges of phrasing when calling for techno contras.
From Jeff Kaufman
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Musicians
Leading a Contra Dance Role-swapping Workshop
This article by Erik Erhardt and Tina Fields describes one approach to running a workshop where dancers develop familiarity and skill in dancing both dance roles.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Organizers
English Country Dancing During the Pandemic
This site includes an archive of one-person dances for online dancing.
From the Carolina English Country Dancers
Categories: Callers, English Country Dance
Contra Dance Choreography: A Reflection of Social Change
This book (available free online) is based upon Mary McNab Dart’s research into the changing choreography of contra dance, including how dances are composed, what aesthetic principles underlie their composition, and how the evolution of the choreography reflects changes in the preferences and priorities of the people who dance them.
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Organizers
The Origins of English Country Dance
Mary Peralta Railing provides a brief history of how English country dance came to be.
From Colin Hume
Categories: English Country Dance
This blog contains some historical information about square dancing in the US.
From Fred Feild
Categories: Square Dance
A Figure By Any Other Name: Exploring Alternatives to Gypsy
This article by Katy German, Sue Stanton, and Jeff Kaufman explores the use of the term “gypsy” in calling and presents a range of alternative options.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Callers, Dancers, Organizers
Response to: “A Figure by Any Other Name: Exploring Alternatives to Gypsy”
Dragan Gill’s exploration of the term gypsy, both in terms of how it is used in dance as well as in the broader cultural context.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Callers, Dancers, Organizers
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.
Categories: Callers, Community/Family Dance, Contra Dance, Dancers, Musicians, Singers, Square Dance
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
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, English Country Dance, Novices, Organizers
Feedback Tool: Try This at Home Too!
Linda Henry presents an approach to collecting and using feedback that callers might find helpful in improving their own calling.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Callers, Dancers, Novices
Madison’s Tuesday Night Dances: Fostering Talent for More Than 20 Years
This article by Carol Ormond describes Madison’s approach to developing talent through weekly dances that feature newer callers as well as an open band.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Dancers, Musicians, Organizers
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
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Organizers
Training New Contra Callers in Portland, ME
Dugan Murphy describes Portland, Maine’s experience in training new contra callers.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Organizers
Tom’s Contra Page – Choreography
Tom Lehmann’s thoughts on composing contra dances.
Categories: Contra Dance
Cary Ravitz’s Rules on Choreography
Cary Ravitz provides a list of the rules he follows when writing a dance.
Categories: Contra Dance
Writing Dances: A Conversation with Erik Hoffman
Evo Bluestein interviews Erik Hoffman about how Erik started writing dances and his process. Some of Erik’s dances are featured in the article.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Dancers
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
Categories: Callers, English Country Dance, Novices
How to Get Gigs as a Dance Musician
This two-page resource contains a number of great ideas on how to get gigs as a dance musician. Many of the ideas are also applicable to callers as well as other types of musicians.
From CDSS
Categories: Callers, Dancers, Musicians, Novices
In this blog post, Jeff presents a history of Larks/Ravens. The post is followed by a community discussion.
From Jeff Kaufman
Categories: Dancers, Organizers
Larks and Ravens: A Report from the Field
Dela Murphy and Dugan Murphy make a case for gender-free calling and describe how communities can transition to using gender-free terms.
From the CDSS News
Categories: Dancers, Organizers
5 Things… Inside the Dancing Mind of…Global Terminology/Positional Calling with Brooke Friendly
Darlene Hamilton’s discussion with Brooke Friendly focused on teaching with global terminology and positional calling—something Brooke has been doing for years but which is particularly relevant to the current interest in teaching without reference to gender roles.
FromThe Historical Tea and Dance Society
Categories: Callers, Dancers
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
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
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
Categories: Callers, English Country Dance
Thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their generous support.