- Anonymous Major Gift Received
- 2019 Fall News is now online!
- Introducing our new Marketing & Communications Manager!
- Published Study Shows Dance Helps Veterans with PTSD
- The CDSS Affiliate Network Speaks: A preliminary look at the 1st annual CDSS Affiliate Survey
- Call for Articles!
Experience our 2020 summer dance, music, and song camps
Get ready to reserve your spot at one of our MAGICAL camps today. Mark your calendar-registration opens in January!
Choose from nine weeks and four locations! Scholarships available!
Anonymous Major Gift Received
by CDSS Executive Director Katy German
"It is with immense gratitude that CDSS announces the receipt of an anonymous $250,000 gift dedicated to furthering CDSS’s mission and work across the continent. The donors, a couple who met through dance, have seen first-hand the power of dancing, singing, and making music together. Through their dance communities, they’ve forged lifelong friendships and witnessed people rally to support one another when times are hard. Their communities have warmly welcomed new folks seeking haven from loneliness and isolation and supported those seeking fun and recreation."
2019 Fall News is now online!
Catch up on all the latest news and articles from CDSS. Not a member? Join today and receive the entire news delivered to your door along with other great benefits.
Introducing our new Marketing & Communications Manager!
Kelsey Wells of Murfreesboro, TN, will join the CDSS team on November 4th! She will be a remote employee ready for action having previously coordinated the Marketing at Middle Tennessee State University. Kelsey is a dancer and musician with connections in the Southeast and beyond.
Published Study Shows Dance Helps Veterans with PTSD
by Deborah Denenfeld
Dancing Well: The Soldier Project is thrilled to announce that our scientific study has been published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Veterans Studies. Results show the program of traditional dance, live music, and community significantly improved the wellness of veterans with PTSD. Family members and loved ones also showed improvement in wellness. The wellness score was a composite of multiple psychological surveys, specifically, showing improvements in feelings of connectedness, feelings of optimism, and a reduction in isolation. This is important because people with PTSD tend to isolate, which often leads to increased depression, substance abuse, and suicide. To our knowledge, Dancing Well is the only program in the world utilizing traditional dance and community to help veterans and their loved ones affected by PTSD.
The CDSS Affiliate Network Speaks: A preliminary look at the 1st annual CDSS Affiliate Survey
by Emily Addison & Katy German
We are thrilled to report some of the findings from CDSS’s recent Affiliate member survey! Yes… we (Katy & Emily) confess to being data geeks. An impressive 48% of CDSS Affiliates participated in the survey, and 94% of respondents continued through to the final few questions.
Call for Articles!
CD+S Online, CDSS's peer-reviewed scholarly journal, is seeking articles that explore how Anglo-American dance and song traditions continue to be relevant in the age of the internet and the cell phone. What's your passion? Check out our past articles and submit your paper or proposal to Allison Thompson, General Editor, by February 1, 2020.