CDSS CAMPS
- There is space available at our summer camps; details and registration form are at www.cdss.org/camp.
- Late breaking news: there is a new Morris Dance Intensive at Pinewoods this summer!.
CHANGES COMING -- Newsletter and Website
- This summer, the CDSS News will go from bimonthly to quarterly, with more pages per issue.
It will continue to include articles, letters and announcements, the sales pages, events listings and ads, plus we'll have space
for dances, tunes, songs, interviews and other good stuff on a regular basis. As part of the transition process, we will not publish
a May/June issue. The next issue to be published will be the Summer one (July-September). Here is the new deadline/publication
schedule.
P.S. We expect to offer both paper and digital versions in 2010.
- We are redesigning our website to include pages that are easily navigable, searchable,
colorful, with photos, music and interesting features. We'll introduce it in phases with each phase bringing new features.
One of those features will be e-commerce: you'll be able to buy goodies from the store, purchase group services, renew your membership,
contribute to the Fund Appeal, and (next year) pay your camp deposit online. An announcement will be sent as soon as Phase 1 is up and running this spring.
EVENTS & OTHER LINKS
- Upcoming Events from around the country.
- Links to the CDSS Group Affiliates.
FUNDRAISING
- The New Leaders, Good Leaders
campaign will be winding up later this year. Don't miss the opportunity to help fund this new resource.
You can learn more about the campaign,
see some of the projects we are funding,
see how far you have helped us get toward our goal,
apply for a grant,
or make a pledge or donation!
2009 LIFETIME CONTRIBUTION AWARD ANNOUNCED
- The CDSS Governing Board is pleased to announce the names of its 2009 Lifetime Contribution Award recipients -- Bob
McQuillen, contra dance musician/composer, and Chuck Ward, English and Scottish country,
contra, square dance pianist.
BOB MCQUILLEN of Peterborough, NH, has been in the New England contra dance scene for more than fifty years.
Although his grandfather and father played music, Bob did not turn seriously to it until he returned from service as
a Marine during World War II when friends took him to a dance. He taught industrial arts at
the local high school, but also began playing accordion and piano for dances throughout the region, working with the
legendary contra dance caller and historian, Ralph Page. In 1973, Bob wrote his first tune, Scotty O'Neil. Since then,
he has written over a thousand dance tunes, many of them national and international classics throughout the expanding
contra dance universe. Still, it appears that his greatest joy comes from what he sometimes modestly calls "boom chucking,"
providing the propulsive rhythms for a contra dance band that set feet and bodies moving on the dance floor. He can be heard on Chasing the New Moon and other recordings; his tunes are in Bob's Note Books (Volumes 1-10).
CHUCK WARD, who lives in California's Bay Area, has been on the country dance scene for about thirty-five years. He was keyboardist for the Berea College Country Dance Troupe in Kentucky and toured widely with this semiprofessional dance team. He has been on the staff of the Berea College Christmas School, John C. Campbell Folk School, Pinewoods Camp, Mendocino International Folklore Camp, BACDS English Week, and numerous weekend camps throughout the United States. He is cofounder of the Bay Area Country Dance Society and is heard on several CDSS recordings.
2008 LIFETIME CONTRIBUTION AWARD
- Our thanks to everyone who spoke at, danced at, and otherwise attended the March 28 event honoring Tony Barrand
as the newest recipient of the CDSS Lifetime Contribution Award.
Our special thanks go to Allen and Alisa Dodson, Susan Leuchter, Kari Smith, and Tony himself, for all their behind-the-scenes
arrangements -- it was a marvelous event.
We've posted photographs from Jeff Bary,
Arthur Ferguson,
Emily Ferguson,
and
Chris Levey, and for people on Facebook,
you can see Marty Stock's pictures;
additional photos and video will be posted as we receive them.
See Allen's interview with Tony,
which appeared earlier this year in the CDSS News, and which now includes a bibliography/discography of Tony's traditional dance
and music work.
(All images posted here are copywrited by the photographers and used by permission.)
ONLINE RESOURCES
- Our Starter Kit resources, put together by Youth Projects Intern Ethan Hazzard-Watkins,
have great ideas for well established groups as well as those just getting started.
See the the latest entry, Recruit Young People!,
or the Index for all the articles.
For more information about resources for young people, and about Ethan's work
as Youth Intern, visit the Youth Desk.
- Contra Dance Choreography: A Reflection of Social Change, Mary Dart's classic study of dance choreography,
is now available online at our E-library site, along with Bob Dalsemer's West Virginia
Square Dances, and more. We'll be adding to the E-library throughout the year.
- For event organizers, Make It Happen! A Manual for Creating Leadership Training Events,
is a step-by-step guide.
OUTREACH
- Read about the new CDSS Mentorship Program.
YOUTH PROJECTS INTERN JOB AVAILABLE
- CDSS is looking for a self-starter to continue and expand the work of Ethan Hazzard-Watkins (YPI 2008-2009).
The ideal candidate will have excellent communication skills and experience in traditional English and American dance,
music or song (display dance experience would be especially helpful). This part-time position will begin in September 2009
and will last for one year. Please contact
if you are interested, or know someone who might be suitable.
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