CDSS Tour Website Home Page Photos of dancing and organizers Tabs: Home CDSS Tour Events: Staff News Register Contact Photos Links Logos (ours and CDSS) Welcome to the home page of Nova Scotia Contra Dance Festival 2015 “A Stop on the Country Dance and Song Society North American Centennial Tour” Calling all dancers, and all those looking for a fun, friendly and musical way to exercise and socialize. Plan to participate in Contra Fest 2015. - Congratulations to the Country Dance and Song Society! Celebrating 100 years of promoting participatory dance, music and song that have roots in the English and North American culture. - Participate in the CDSS Centennial Tour! The contra dance clubs in Halifax, Nova Scotia are proud to have been chosen as one of seven tour stops. - Mark your calendar to save the week of September 27 to October 3, 2015. - We are pleased to announce that five accomplished contra dance callers and musicians will be visiting us during the Festival week. Plans include a combination of educational workshops, outreach, and community dance events. - Explore our website for more details and return often to see the latest updates. Mission Statement: We aspire to providing an inclusive network of fun, friendly and multi-generational Community and Contra Dances in Nova Scotia by: • Developing the skills of dancers, dance leaders and musicians • Sharing our enthusiasm for this social and community building activity • Promoting this healthy recreation as part of an active life style Focus Points: • Community Building between various contra dance organizations • Skill Building of our dance community (callers, dancers, musicians) • Widen Audience (bringing contras to general public, youth and schools) TAB -- EVENTS: This is the tentative schedule (June 2014): Sunday September 27, 2015: Daytime: Musician, Dancer and Caller Workshops Evening: New Dancer Introduction followed by "Contra World" Dance This dance will include a sampling of the various types of dances included in the Contra Dance world. Monday September 28, 2015: Outreach to the Valley Region Daytime: Workshops in the Wolfville area for Musicians and Organizers Evening: Multi-Generational Community Contra Dance in Wolfville Tuesday September 29, 2015: Outreach to the Halifax Schools Daytime: Workshops for Elementary Students Evening: University Dance Wednesday September 30, 2015: Outreach to South of Halifax Daytime: Workshps for Students Evening: Multi-Generational Community Contra Dance (location TBA) Thursday October 1, 2015 Outreach to High School Students and Caller workshops Friday October 2, 2015 Daytime: Callers workshops Evening: New Callers Dance Saturday October 3, 2015 Daytime: Dancer workshops Evening: Potluck Supper and Final Dance Celebration TAB -- CDSS Tour: The contra dance clubs in Halifax, Nova Scotia are one of seven committed groups across the United States and Canada awarded a community residency as part of a Centennial Tour by the arts and education organization the Country Dance & Song Society (CDSS), a national leader in promoting participatory dance, music and song that have roots in English and North American culture. This residency is part of a North American tour of community residencies by CDSS as part of their Centennial in 2015. The two local clubs, Contra Times Dancers and Halifax Contra Dances, are collaborating to organize and host the Halifax stop on the Centennial Tour, which is scheduled to take place September 27 to October 3, 2015. The week-long "Nova Scotia Contra Dance Festival" will include a combination of educational workshops, outreach, and community dance events. The Country Dance and Song Society was founded in 1915 in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York City, and Pittsburgh by Americans inspired by the work of English folk song and dance collector Cecil J. Sharp. Four years earlier Sharp helped found the English Folk Dance Society in London, and CDSS began as a branch of that organization. Sharp wrote home to England: "The people (in America are) really most enthusiastic." Over the next 25 years, CDSS’s interests in the American versions of the English traditions grew and in 1940 the groups in the U.S. merged, and reorganized as the Country Dance Society; in 1967, “and Song” was added to the name. CDSS believes in the joy that participatory dance, music, and song bring to individuals and communities. Within the United States and Canada, they educate, support, and connect participants in these living traditions, and advocate for the vitality and sustainability of these art forms. CDSS has a membership of 3,000 individuals and families and 300 affiliate groups across the U.S., Canada, and 15 other countries. The dance forms CDSS supports include English country, traditional American square and contra, morris and other English ritual dances, and Appalachian and English clogging. Musical forms range from 17th-century dance melodies and traditional Scottish, Irish, and English jigs and reels, to the songs and tunes from Appalachia and the New England regions. “The CDSS Centennial Tour is the first project in the organization’s history implementing the community residency model as a means of connecting with and supporting our members,” said Pat MacPherson, CDSS’s Director of Education. “What we learn through the experience of working with the Tour communities will add to our capacity to better support our communities in the future,” added Nils Fredland, Tour Manager. “It is the hope of CDSS that, through partnering with Tour communities, they will feel the full range of support that we offer, in a very direct and visceral way. As a result, we hope they will feel able to do more than just survive; we hope they will thrive!,” explained Rima Dael, Executive Director of CDSS, “What better way to celebrate CDSS's 100 years of dance, music and song than ensuring that these living traditions continue for future generations.” For more information about the Country Dance & Song Society, visit www.cdss.org or contact Caroline Batson, Director of Communications at caroline@cdss.org or 413-203-5467. TAB - News: Download of Press Release TAB -- Contacts: Festival Coordinators: Contact: Dottie Welch, dwelch@eastlink.ca, 902-435-4544 Or Katherine Kitching, halifaxcontradances@gmail.com, 902-455-1723 TAB -- Links: To learn more about the contra dance clubs in Halifax visit: Contra Time Dancers http://users.eastlink.ca/~dwelch/ContraTimeDancers.html and Halifax Contra Dances https://www.facebook.com/HalifaxContraDances Home page for Square and Round Dance Federation of Nova Scotia