CDSS Governing Board

David Chandler

David Chandler (Metuchen, NJ) is an example of the value of recycling within CDSS. Secretary of the CDSS Executive Committee for a number of years back when the organization was headquartered in New York City, he brings both an insider's and outsider's perspective to today's CDSS governance. He first did country dancing at Antioch College in the early 1960s and then took it seriously starting in the early '70s when he moved to New Jersey. He was an early member of the Greenwich Morris Men (long retired), a member of the American Country Dance Ensemble (CDSS's bicentennial dance performance group), called English and contras in New York and Princeton (where he planted the small seed that grew into an amazing organization under the skillful care of many others), was a member of an early Long Range Planning Committee for CDSS, was a longtime member of the Gadd/Merrill Fund Committee, served as a CDSS representative to the Pinewoods Camp Board, was Treasurer of Country Dance New York, and is now its President-Elect. He recently retired after many years as Director of the Rutgers College Counseling Center. Since joining the Board in 2008 he has been on the Ends Task Group, the Bylaws Revision Task Group, the Governance Task Group, and the Long Range Plan Task Group and is a member of the Personnel Committee. His wife, Beverly Francis, is a well-known caller, Jane Austen-ite, and school librarian. In addition to doing the work of secretary, he brings a continuing concern for the necessity of supporting the transition to new generations of dancers and musicians, and the usefulness of looking both ahead and behind.

Jill Allen

Jill Allen (Lawrence, KS) learned to love dance in college. She began taking nursing classes but much preferred spending time at the university dance studio. She eventually ended up with a bachelor’s degree in dance performance in 1979. She came upon her first local contra dance in the early 80s, oblivious to what it was or how deeply it would change her life. It was love at first step, and she never looked back. Her tap dancing became clogging, and soon she learned to call for dances. With experience in dance education, Jill was a natural boss on the dance floor. Soon after that she met a fiddler, got married and quit her day job to pursue a career in calling, along with motherhood. Some early piano training came in handy and she also began playing for dances. Jill has been on the organizing board for local dances and chief organizer for dance weekends. She has been the force behind the Lawrence Family Dance for nearly 14 years. Recently she co-created the Lawrence English Dance, and a new community dance series called the Uptown Hoedown. She has been a regular at CDSS camps, partly because of her two children who have also caught the dance and music bug, and partly because of the many ideas and the material she brings home to her community each year. She is a member of the band Fox on the Run with her husband Greg. She loves to see people of all ages moving to music and loves to be a part of making it happen.

Nancy Boyd

Nancy Boyd (South Hadley, MA) started country dancing in 1989 in New York City, and later also danced on “New World Sword” and “Chelsea Country Dancers,” Christine Helwig’s performance group. Nancy served as secretary to the CD*NY board for two terms, chaired and volunteered at various balls and events, and served on numerous committees. English dance is her favorite, but she likes the opportunities that camps and special events provide for trying new dance and song forms, and improving skills. She and husband Art Munisteri both enthusiastically serve on local dance committees and regularly attend English dances and informal sings. Apart from a passion for country dance, Nancy brings to the board a career of experience in government and business. When she retired in 2008, she was the Deputy Director of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s New York District Office where she oversaw operations, programs and staff of four offices. She also designed and delivered employee training in federal and state anti-discrimination laws, participated in negotiations of complex cases, and conducted outreach to encourage employer compliance with the anti-discrimination laws. Nancy joined the CDSS Board in 2010 and is currently serving on the personnel committee and leadership transition task group. Her priorities for CDSS include:

• continuous encouragement of existing and upcoming generations of participants, leaders and group organizers through camp, leadership conferences, and other hands-on and on-line opportunities, to ensure a healthy future for the activities we love;
• balanced support of old and new traditions to maintain and expand our current base of participants and communities;
• establishment and maintenance of strategic and financial development plans and an efficient model of governance so that CDSS has clear goals and the leadership and resources to achieve them.

Nan Evans

Nan Evans (Portland, OR) is a dance organizer and leader of English country and contra dances who brings a commitment to the joy of dance and the magic of community. She is well known throughout the Northwest and beyond for her clear teaching and a warm and welcoming style -- characteristics that have served the Portland English dance community well, especially during its developing years when she organized and led the regular English dances and, with a team, created the popular Portland English Country Ball. Nan lives in a co-housing community where decisions that affect the community are made by consensus and where she and her cellist husband, Fred Nussbaum, hold informal dances and concerts in the community building great room. In her work life, Nan retired from the State of Oregon, where she was the Director of the Department of Land Conservation and Development, and is now the Director of Government Relations at the Oregon chapter of The Nature Conservancy.

Brian Gallagher

Brian Gallagher (Indianapolis, IN) did some asking around and found that, after visiting all of the various local contras and contra dance weekends, the most commonly used name to refer to him was "Pajama Boy." Upon further research, he remembered that he usually wears "pajama pants" -- loose fitting and relaxed pants --when he dances. Since starting contra dancing in Greenfield, MA in 2001, shape note singing at NEFFA 2006, and English country dancing at Pinewoods 2007, Brian, who considers himself to be a very new participant in many folk traditions, has danced from Maine to South Carolina, and from Washington, DC, to St. Louis, MO. He thoroughly enjoys different types of music, dances, and dancers. More recently, Brian has been very involved encouraging the next generation of contra dancers -- that is, younger dancers -- to become involved in their local communities. He started the Facebook group Contra Dancers, which has over 1,400 members across the country. On this national forum, he has helped to drive many discussions geared towards encouraging younger folks to dance, to become involved in their communities, and to ask for help in attracting younger dancers to their community. Brian co-led a workshop at NEFFA 2007 titled "Contra Dancing: The NEXT Generation," where participants discussed techniques to expand local dance communities to younger dancers. He serves on the CDSS Youth Task Force.

Scott Higgs

Scott Higgs (Wayne, PA) fell head-over-heels in love with dancing in 1975, taking up English, Scottish, contra, and morris all at once. Since then, he has led contras and English country dances in 26 states, three Canadian provinces, and five foreign countries. These travels connect him with enthusiastic dancers and organizers in all corners of the dance world -- from whom he learns an amazing range of perspectives on dancing and community. Scott has been program director or staff member for several of CDSS's summer camp programs and has led dancing at over 100 weekend and other weeklong programs. At home, he participates actively in many dance groups as board member, organizer, caller, dancer, and (occasional) musician. As the leader of a dance series that stretches back 55 years, Scott understands and respects tradition, and knows how to sustain the vital energy of a group that evolves over time. As co-founder of a one-year old morris team, Scott knows how to collaborate with others to develop something dynamic and new. As a board member, he applies his experience and creative energy to help CDSS flourish, now and in the years ahead. In the few hours that he is not dancing, Scott is a computer consultant, focusing primarily on database management.

Linda Lieberman

Linda Lieberman (Ames, IA) began dancing in the late 1980s when a friend wanted to start a dance group at the art center where she worked as a potter. She volunteered to be responsible for the door and was immediately drawn into dancing. She has been part of a flatfoot clogging team, called at barn dances and community dances, led dancing in schools and English and Scottish country dance groups. During several visits to Australia, Linda called at bush dances and played at the Australian National Folk Festival. She plays in the Onion Creek Band, Cecil's Harp, and Widdershins at various venues around the Midwest and in Australia. She and her husband, Gary, who are avid participants at dance events on both coasts and beyond, have created three books of their original dance tunes and are in the process of putting together a fourth book. Linda is one of the organizers of the Central Iowa Traditional Dance and Music Festival, now in its 12th year, and has organized balls, concerts, leadership workshops, music workshops, and various other social events since the early 1990s. She has been on the boards of local Arts Centers and other nonprofit organizations. She has been instrumental in getting grant monies for various dance events in Iowa. Ames High School in the mathematics department is where you will find her most days during the school year, where one of her favorite subjects to teach is hands-on geometry.

John Mayberry

John Mayberry (Toronto, ON) grew up in a family full of music and dance. The story is that he was first taken to a dance in a basket at two weeks old, and early home movies show him at 6 in full Swedish costume at a Swedish dance festival in Tokyo. Early exposure to the Weavers, etc. led to a life-long love of traditional song, which combined with a teen-aged infatuation with mime and juggling resulting in several years working with the Poculi Ludique Societas, a scholarly medieval theatre group. This experience also developed three other life-long vocations: carpentry, leading to building scenery and props for theatres and then to teaching undergraduates in university theatre programs; Morris dancing, leading to his dancing with The Toronto Morris Men as the Fool, and mummers’ plays, leading to writing, performing and studying them.

He is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and also Academic Advisor of Winters College, at York University in Toronto. He and his wife Laurie Cumming have been on staff at CDSS Family Week, Campers’ Week, English Week, and Ogontz Family Week where they have also been Program Directors. They have been on staff at Boston Centre July Fourth Weekend and English and Scottish Session at Pinewoods, as well as Berea Christmas Dance School and Algoma Traditional Music and Dance Family Camp. John has served on the Board of Directors of The Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology and also that of Theatre Ontario, a not-for-profit association supporting all aspects of theatrical activity in the province. He is Vice-Chair (and former Chair) of the Technology Commission of OISTAT (Organisation Internationale des Scénographes, Techniciens et Architectes de Théâtre). He currently dances Irish sets, contra and English as often as possible. A 2005 trip with the Toronto Morris Men, invited to dance in the carnival parade in Santiago de Cuba, sparked his current passion, Afro-Cuban dance, especially the dances of Ellegua the trickster.

Pat Petersen

Pat Petersen (Durham, NC) first encountered English country dance in the 1970s in Chicago, where her hopelessness with Hole in the Wall did not deter her enthusiasm and her love of the combination of music and movement. After moving to New York, utter confusion with her first triple minor still left her undaunted, and she plunged into English, sword and morris classes with eagerness. Before long, she began teaching and playing for ECD at early music workshops. Pat has been dancing, teaching and playing for ECD for more than 25 years, on both coasts and as far afield as Australia. Her love of teaching includes making dances fun and accessible to nervous newcomers as well as challenging more experienced dancers. As a longtime member of and teacher for Sun Assembly, a gender-neutral ECD group, she believes strongly in dance as a builder of community, respect, connection and awareness. In her work life, Pat is a recorder and early music performer and teacher. She directed an early music vocal ensemble for 20 years, and has been known to play a mean banjo-uke with an old-time band. She has served on the boards of many organizations, including the American Recorder Society and local dance and recorder groups. She was for many years the assistant director of Amherst Early Music, and continues to serve on its Executive Committee. Pat is the Director Emerita of the Mountain Collegium early and traditional music workshop.