Dance Like No One is Watching

South Coast Folk Society

To South Coast Folk SocietyMe

Jul 24 at 11:18 PM

Dear South Coast Folk Society members and friends:

The week of October 4-11, 2015, a “dream team” of expert musicians and dance teachers will visit our area. They’ll help the South Coast Folk Society create a week of events that will share the joy of contra dance, group singing, and traditional music with as many people as possible.

It’s all happening because the Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS) is celebrating its centennial. South Coast Folk Society is an affiliate group of CDSS, a non-profit umbrella organization offering its member organizations education, resources, services and funding. To help celebrate its 100th birthday in 2015, CDSS has chosen seven communities across the United States and Canada as stops on a centennial tour. The tour will bring musicians and dance leaders to these communities.

CDSS chose our community for two reasons: We already have a vibrant contra dance and traditional music community, and we have the potential to introduce our activities to a much larger audience.

In collaboration with CDSS, the South Coast Folk Society will provide activities in Coos Bay and surrounding areas that welcome all comers, developing the skills of local dancers, dance leaders, song leaders, and musicians, and raising public awareness of Folk Society activities.

As members and friends of South Coast Folk Society, you can do several things over the next year to help make the tour a success.

1) If you haven’t done so already, join South Coast Folk Society! You’ll find a membership application and information about the organization at www.southcoastfolksociety.wordpress.com on the "About" page.

2) Keep telling people about the monthly Folk Society activities you enjoy and inviting them to come.

3) Join the South Coast Folk Society speakers’ bureau. We need a few talkative people to visit local service clubs, churches, and other organizations to give a brief presentation about the Folk Society and the CDSS Tour. The goal is to encourage people to participate in our activities and also to increase community awareness of what we do. If you’re interested, contact Stacy Rose at rosecontra@gmail.com.

4) Say “yes” when the Tour Committee calls for volunteers to help with events during the Tour week and before.

You can see the other communities on the tour and learn more about CDSS at http://www.cdss.org/centennial-tour.html

Questions? Ask a Tour Committee member when you see them at Folk Society events, or email the committee chair, Stacy Rose, at rosecontra@gmail.com. Current members of the Tour Committee are Stacy Rose (chair), Karen Olsen (finance), Jennifer Sordyl (outreach), Lynn Danner (tour visitor hospitality), and Gail Elber (publicity).