Glossaries & Other Support

The best way to learn to dance, to play music or to sing is to throw yourself into it and just do it. However, we know sometimes people want to watch the dancing first to see what it's like ("Oh, they're doing a do-si-do"), or to listen ("Hmm, sounds like a Celtic tune"), or to read definitions ("What the heck's the difference between contra corners and allemande?").

To help you with this, we're working on articles, links, and comprehensive dance and music glossaries.

Already up is an article called "The Way We Dance" which gives an overview of the general style of English country and contra dance and its music.

If you want to know what kind of music you might hear ar a dance or song event, listen to this month's selections in the Playlist on the homepage.

Also check out the rest of our website for information -- especially the E-Library and Starter Kits under Resources and References, the Newsletter Archives, and the CDSS Store.

You should look, too, at the Internet -- there's a lot of info there about contra, square and English country dance, folk songs, and traditional music, and there are (it seems) a gazillion videos on Google, Facebook and YouTube.Here are a few article links to get you started, and there are some video and slideshow links in the Community part of our website.

Contra dance --

What Is Contra Dance, by Gary Shapiro, Santa Barbara, CA

A Contra Dance Primer, by Les Francey and Farrell Boyce, Hamilton Country Dancers, Hamilton, ON

What Is Contradancing?, by Chattahoochee Country Dancers, Atlanta, GA

Hands Four, by Greg Rohde, St. Louis, MO

Contra Dance, by Wikipedia

English country dance --

English Country Dance and Its American Cousin, by Alan Winston, Redwood City, CA

What Is English Country Dancing?, by Linda Repasky, Amherst, MA

English Country Dancing: Origins and Evolution, by Gene Murrow, New York, NY

English Country Dance, by Wikipedia

Which Way Do I Go? An Animated Perspective of English Country Dance Terms, by Judy Rivkin, Ewing, NJ