Country Dance & Song Society Inc

In addition to supporting local traditional music and dance organizations with organizational, financial, scholarship, publication, and many more types of service, CDSS reaches out across North America and beyond to bring dance and song to underserved communities.

I’ve been involved in music, song, and dance activities supported, influenced, nurtured, and lead by CDSS for nearly 30 years now. They are a hugely important organization in assuring that These sacred (and new!)traditions continue to thrive for future generations.

Music, song and participatory dance creates an opportunity for community. CDSS supports these efforts impacting individuals and group affiliates in so many ways. The result - you should see for yourself by attending a local dance, jam or summer camp. You will not be disappointed and I bet you will return again and again.

In a world where everything from politics to social media divide us, communal dancing and singing brings us together. I have watched CDSS bring this blessing to my kids as they grow up in a world that supports them with dance, song and kindness. I am delighted to donate to support their work.

Participatory arts - where people come together to create something magical - are vital to health and happiness in our communities. CDSS has been nurturing and encouraging these kinds of community organizations for over a hundred years. From great summer camps, to grants allowing communities to fulfill a vision, to the store stocked with hard-to-find items, to providing affordable insurance for dance organizations and callers, CDSS is critical to the success of these local music and dance communities. If your life has been changed for the better by folk music, dance, and song, at least part of the credit goes to the Country Dance and Song Society.

I have benefitted from the existence of CDSS since a very early age. Having grown up in the contra dance community, I was surrounded by excellent role models for multi-generational community and what it means to connect with many people.

CDSS provides so many means of support for these and other tradition American folk arts that would otherwise have to rely on only local knowledge, resource, and community.

CDSS, through its many local affiliates, enriches the lives of thousands of ordinary people, helping them participate in the arts- specifically Music and Dance. There are no "try outs", and the cost is usually cheaper than a movie. As a result they create places where all ages, all walks of life fill these dance spaces.

At at time when lives are jam packed with stress and responsibilities, CDSS provides a venue for joy and artistic expression. Local Contra, English, Morris, Sword, Song groups organize under this spectacular umbrella, providing live music and hours of dance and music leadership. Human beings need music and dance. CDSS helps us fill our lives with it.

CDSS (cdss.org) plays many roles in the folk world. Most obvious, perhaps: summer dance and music camps for grown-ups and families in Plymouth, MA and elsewhere. Known for being friendly and having spectacular staff and programs, these are great get-aways for beginning to expert dancers and singers. Come as a stranger, you'll leave with many new friends. Less well-known, but equally important: training around the country and at camps, for musicians, callers, organizers, and mainstream classroom teachers. Staff and members share their treasure-trove of expertise, knowledge and talents in communities across North America. I have joined the Board because the organization has played such a large, happy role in my life.

CDSS is a critical support for English and Anglo-American dancing, music and song in the US and Canada. My personal experience is that its camps provide an exhilarating and instructive chance to connect with other dancers and new material. More broadly, its workshops for leaders and musicians; sales of materials useful for callers and musicians; newsletter and other communications that help far-flung dancers and musicians stay in touch with the wider world of dancing; and useful tools for groups like liability insurance for groups and callers and group tax-exemption make a tremendous difference in making it possible for many groups to continue dancing and making music. Behind the scenes for many dancers, CDSS helps make it all possible.

Great organization run by dancers, for dancers. A treasure trove of historical information about American and English Country dance, CDSS is forward-looking, involving youth in dance and music. Fabulous summer camps are run by CDSS at various locations, inspiring new generations of dancers, musicians, and callers. Monies are allocated for workshops for member groups and scholarships for youth and needy individuals. CDSS continues to spread the joy and fascinating story of traditional dance.