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
5 Benefits of Positional Calling (and one challenge)
Video of a workshop with Louise Siddons, moderated by Brooke Friendly, at Fall Frolick 2021.
From the Bay Area Country Dance Society
Categories: Callers, Dancers
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
Categories: Callers, English Country Dance
Gender-free calling: why does it matter?
Lisa Heywood discusses the importance of gender-free calling and offers some practical tips on how to get started.
From EFDSS
Categories: Callers, Dancers, Organizers
Lisa Heywood’s Gender-Free Dance Page
Lisa offers a variety of resources on gender-free and positional calling and dancing.
From Lisa Heywood
Categories: Callers, Dancers, Organizers
Bruce Hamilton gives some tips on how to give and receive help on the dance floor.
From CDSS News
Categories: Callers, Dancers
Old-time Dance Calling for Weddings, Parties, and One-Night Stands
To assist the caller at those sometimes challenging one-night stands or other special occasions. Includes helpful pointers, sample contract, sample dance program with instructions for several easy dances, and an annotated bibliography. By Erik Hoffman.
This resource is free for CDSS members and is available for purchase through the CDSS Online Store.
Categories: Callers, Dancers
In these three resources, John provides tips on good technique for swinging, allemands, connection, and more. There is a focus on how to improve dancing skills and prevent injuries.
From John Sweeney
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Dancers, Novices
Watch a contra dance beginner lesson in action (YouTube video). These videos are both helpful to callers wanting to learn how to teach beginners AND to beginners wanting to learn how to contra dance.
From Jim Crawford
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
Contra Dance Introductory Session
Watch a video of George Marshall teaching an introductory session before an evening contra begins.
From Ray Sebold
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
Six experienced English dance leaders present programming and hall management suggestions for a crowded hall.
This resource is free for CDSS members and is available for purchase through the CDSS Online Store.
Categories: Callers, English Country Dance
Country Dance & Contra Dance Formations
This website provides images and sample dances for over 100 different formations. Check it out as one way to move beyond longways sets and squares!
From John Sweeney
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Square Dance
Notes on Choreography for Duple Minor Improper Contra Dances
These notes are about the choreography of duple minor (two couple minor sets), improper contra dances, i.e. modern contra dances. For potential and practicing choreographers and callers, assuming they have a working knowledge of contra dancing.
From Cary Ravitz
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
An expansive resource of square dance history, repertoire, and more. Also contains a vast collection of stories, photographs, video, and audio.
Categories: Callers, Dancers, Organizers, Square Dance
Interviews with Beth Molaro about various aspects of calling including working with a band, programming, walkthroughs, calling from memory, squares at a contra dance, and more!
From Dennis Merritt
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Experienced Participants, Novices
Notes From A Contra Calling Workshop
An outlines some of important considerations as a beginning caller calling a guest spot at a dance. Focus on the verbiage used when calling and includes other useful links.
From Jeff Kaufman
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Novices
This webpage includes some ideas on how you might write out your contra dances.
From William Watson
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance
A wealth of information on all aspects of calling for ECD, contras, squares, barn dances, and more.
From Colin Hume
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, English Country Dance, Experienced Participants, Novices, Square Dance
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.
Categories: Callers, English Country Dance, Experienced Participants, Novices
A concise summary of what to considerations when calling a contra dance from preparation through the dance.
From Peter Amidon
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Novices
Calling All Callers, Old and New
Some great calling tips from Douglas A. Singleton especially for newer callers.
From CDSS News
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Novices
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
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Dancers, English Country Dance, Novices
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
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Novices, Square Dance
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
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Novices
All things shape note, provided by the Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association.
Categories: Organizers, Singers
Singalong and Song Circle Locator
Rise Up and Sing provides a list of regular song swap/singalong groups that are open to the general public, organized by geographical location.
From Annie Patterson and Peter Blood
Categories: Singers
Traditional Music Today Facebook Group
This Facebook group “attempts to be a safe(r) space to discuss traditional music, culture and our lives as members of it.”
Categories: Callers, Dancers, Musicians, Organizers, Singers
Sacred Harp Singing Discussion Lists
Two Sacred Harp singing email lists. One focuses on events and individuals while the other focuses on the historical and technical aspects of shape note singing.
From Sacred Harp Musical Heritage Association
Categories: Organizers, Singers
Shared Weight: Song Organizers Discussion List
This mailing list (email group) welcomes anyone interested in organizing song events. List members ask/answer questions, discuss issues that come up for them, and share helpful resources. There are both new and experienced organizers from throughout North America and beyond. Join the discussion!
Categories: Organizers, Singers
An archive of almost 1600 Ozark Mountain folk songs, recorded between 1956 and 1976.
From Missouri State University
Categories: Singers
The MacEdward Leach collection of Songs of Atlantic Canada
This collection includes songs from Cape Breton and Newfoundland.
From Memorial University
Categories: Singers
Juneberry 78s: Early American Roots Music
Collection of recordings from the 1920s and on in an online listening library. Many genres of early US folk as well as Cape Breton, Calypso, Irish, and more.
Categories: Musicians, Singers
Canadian Folk Music is a journal published by the Canadian Society for Traditional Music containing articles, notices, reviews, and commentary on all aspects of Canadian folk music.
Categories: Singers
This collection provides access to digital images for over 3,000 pieces from the collection, published in the United States between 1850 and 1920.
From Duke University Libraries
Categories: Musicians, Singers
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
Categories: Callers, Contra Dance, Dancers, English Country Dance, Musicians, Singers
Digital Library of Appalachia (Music Collection)
A searchable database of several thousand non-commercial sound recordings that document much of Appalachian music’s geographic, ethnic, vocal, and instrumental diversity.
From the Appalachia College Association
Categories: Musicians, Singers
Peter and Mary Alice offer more than 30 (and adding more all the time) free downloads of sheet music of accessible choral arrangements, mostly a cappella SATB, that are steeped in traditional music. Most are Amidon arrangements; there are a few by other old and new composers and arrangers, including a selection of classic American shape note songs.
From Peter and Mary Alice Amidon
Categories: Educators, Singers
The Music Box is an extensive searchable online database of more than 2500 songs that includes information on the song (where it can be found in songbooks, composers, song genre, culture) as well as a way to listen to recordings of the song by various artists.
From Rise Up and Sing
Categories: Singers
Broadside Ballads Online presents a digital collection of English printed ballad sheets from between the 16th and 20th centuries, linked to other resources for the study of the English ballad tradition. The collection includes many primitive woodcut illustrations, and words, but rarely musical notation.
From the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford
Categories: Singers
Jon Boden’s project to record a folk song a day yielded a total of 365 folk songs with introductions and notes. This is a searchable database, or you can scroll through an alphabetical list of the songs.
From Jon Boden
Categories: Singers
The Full English Project is the world’s biggest free digital archive of traditional folk music and dance tunes, and songs.
From EFDSS
Categories: Dancers, Musicians, Singers
The Mudcat Café is an online discussion group and song and tune database, which also includes many other features relating to folk music.
Categories: Musicians, Singers
The Folk Scholarship Roots and Geopolitical Boundaries of Sacred Harp’s Global Twenty-first Century
This article by Jesse P. Karlsberg describes the history of Sacred Harp from its infancy until today.
From CD+S Online
Categories: Singers
This blog post looks at what is a comfortable vocal range for singers – helpful to know when leading songs.
From Jeff Kaufman
Categories: Singers
In this blog post, Amanda writes about how to use a memory prompt as a support when leading a song.
From Amanda Witman
Categories: Singers
Breaking Down the Legacy of Race in Traditional Music in America
This NPR radio piece and the associated article explore the intersection between racism and traditional music & song. Both Jake Blount and the Youth Traditional Song Weekend are featured.
From National Public Radio
Categories: Organizers, Singers
How to Lead Groups in Song In 10 Easy Lessons
Ten tips for leading a successful group sing.
By Peter Blood and Annie Patterson
Categories: Organizers, Singers
Fostering Intergenerational Community
This document is a product of groups discussions in a workshop attended by members of the YTS community. It focuses on what works, what doesn’t, and how individuals can raise intergenerational issues within their community.
From Youth Traditional Song Weekend 2015
Categories: Organizers, Singers
The Mermaid’s Tavern Guide to Zoom Singing
The Mermaid’s Tavern Guide to Zoom Singing is a blog-based website for planning, producing, and participating in community song sessions and concerts online. It includes an extensive resources section of over 25 additional guides to various aspects of online music, dance, and song.
Categories: Organizers, Singers
CDSS Starter Kit for Folk Song Organizers
A comprehensive how-to on starting a sing. Includes sections on vision, finding a venue, publicity, structure, facilitation, and more!
From CDSS
Categories: Organizers, Singers
The North American Morris Dance Organization
The North American Morris Dance Organization is an association with representatives from self-governing morris teams and individuals, which aims to: promote and maintain interest in the practice of morris dancing by women and men of all ages; serve as a hub for morris dance activity; support the preservation of North American morris dance history; and be part of the ongoing development and innovation of morris dance in all its forms.
Categories: Ritual Dance
Thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their generous support.