The Country Dance and Song Society publishes a variety of books, booklets, CDs and CD-ROMs (see our current catalog below). Our publications program is guided by our mission to preserve English and American traditional dance, music and song, to promote their new expression and support the communities where they continue to thrive.
We welcome suggestions and inquiries. Please contact Pat MacPherson, Editor and Director of the CDSS Education Department.
Books and Booklets
How-To for Leaders & Callers
| Pat MacPherson, editor | Dances for a Crowded Hall: Self-Contained English Dances |
| Pat MacPherson, editor | Dancing in Schools |
| Pat MacPherson, editor | Family and Community Dances |
| Judy Chaves | Don't Stop Calling: A Guide to Leading English Country Dance Classes for Older Adults |
| Nils Fredland, editor | New River Train: Singing Squares from the Collection of Keith Blackmon |
| Bruce Hamilton | Notes on Teaching Country Dance |
| Larry Jennings, Dan Pearl & Ted Sannella | The Contra Connection and Basically for Callers |
| Ted Sannella | Calling Traditional New England Squares ;(with CD) |
See also the extensive collection of How-To free resources here on our website.
Collected Dances: American
| Nils Fredland, editor | New River Train: Singing Squares from the Collection of Keith Blackmon |
| Allison Thompson, editor | Legacy: 50 Years of Dance and Song |
| Nils Fredland and Pat MacPherson, editors | Syllabus: Dare to Be Square ;(CD-ROM) |
| Kate Van Winkle Keller & Ralph Sweet | A Choice Selection of American Country Dances of the Revolutionary Era |
| James Morrison | Twenty-four Early American Country Dances: Cotillions and Reels for the Year 1976 |
| Ted Sannella | Balance and Swing |
| David Smukler & David Millstone | Cracking Chestnuts: The Living Tradition of Classic American Contra Dances |
| Ralph Sweet & Nils Fredland | On the Beat with Ralph Sweet (if you have the 1st printing, we have since made the following corrections) |
Collected Dances: English
Recorded Music
Music Collections: American
| Nils Fredland and Pat MacPherson, editors | Syllabus: Dare to Be Square | Syllabus: Dare to Be Square CD-ROM |
| Playford Consort | Sweet Richard | cassette |
| Playford Consort | Young Widow | cassette |
Music Collections: English
| Pat MacPherson, editor | Classic English Country Dances (with booklet) | CD |
| Pat MacPherson, editor | 21 Easy English Country Dances (with booklet) | CD |
| Marshall Barron, Eric Leber, Chuck Ward | Step Stately: Two and Three Couple Dances from 17th and 18th Century England | cassette |
| Claremont Country Dance Band | Juice of Barley | cassette |
| Claremont Country Dance Band | Popular English Country Dances of the 17th and 18th Centuries | cassette |
| Phil Merrill & Marshall Barron | By Popular Demand | cassette |
Genevieve Shimer Publications Fund
Genevieve Shimer (1913-1990) devoted a large portion of her life to teaching English country dancing. She was a leading teacher of the English dance series in New York City and at Pinewoods Camp for over 40 years, taught workshops throughout the USA and Canada, and regularly led sessions at Berea College's Christmas Country Dance School and at John C. Campbell Folk School. She did a great deal of work for CDSS, serving in time as National Director, Vice President, and President, and was coauthor, with Kate Van Winkle Keller, of The Playford Ball.
Because our publications were especially important to Genny, we created the Genevieve Shimer Publications Fund in 1990 to honor her. The Fund is set up as a permanent revolving fund to pay the production costs of our books and recordings; income from their sale goes back into the Fund to be used for further projects.