The Country Dance and Song Society of Pittsburgh holds several monthly dances to live music, plus monthly callers practices and interest group dances to which all are welcome. Our public calendar is available to view at the CDSSPGH Calendar and in the schedule on this website.
English country dance groups revive the dances earlier centuries from the various dancing master publication from 1651 on, and create modern dances using the same figures and formations. We are part of the national Country Dance and Song Society which promotes English Country Dance and it’s many related traditional dances forms, such as contra and square dancing.
We sponsor annual weekends of English Country Dancing call Pitt’s Maggots after the 18th century usage of the word maggot to refer to a wild brainstorm (jokingly caused by a brain maggot) that was used in many dance titles of the time, such as the popular Mr. Beveridge’s Maggot and Mr. Isaac’s Maggot.
CDSSP is one of the oldest English folk dance groups in the U.S. and is a branch of the Country Dance & Song Society founed in 1915, with Pittsburgh as one of the original five branches.
We organize social English country dancing for all and yearly English country dance weekends (see the schedule tab for information about our current scheduled dances). We also have a performance team, and are willing to collaborate with interested people and organizations to bring English dancing to a wider audience. For more information email cdsspgh@gmail.com.
Membership
For a mere $15/year ($25 for two people at the same address) receive discounted admission to our dances and the satisfaction of supporting your local English dance organization. Dues may be mailed to Irene Finke, 4123 Haldane St., Pittsburgh PA 15207-1110. Checks should be made payable to CDSSP. If you have had a change of address, telephone number, or e-mail address, please pass that information along. New memberships are welcome.
To become a member of CDSSP, download and mail our form at https://cdssp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CDSSP-Membership-Form.doc.
Organization
The Country Dance and Song Society of Pittsburgh is governed by a board that meets monthly. Members are invited to attend board meetings. Contact cdsspgh@gmail.com for information.
Mailing List
Send an email to cdsspgh@gmail.com to be added to our mailing list for events.