Tour Communities can use this press release template to promote their specific tour activities. Download the press release as a PDF.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For Information on [event], contact:
[your contact info]

(Name of Your Organization) Ready for Centennial Celebration and Community Residency Tour

(Your City) – (Name of Organization) is one of seven prestigious groups across the U.S. and Canada awarded a community residency as part of a Centennial Tour by the arts and education organization the Country Dance & Song Society (CDSS). (Name of Tour event) is scheduled for (date) 2015. This residency is part of a North American tour of community residencies by CDSS as part of their Centennial in 2015. They are a national leader in promoting participatory dance, music and song that have roots in English and North American culture.

The Country Dance and Song Society was founded in 1915 in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York City, Pittsburgh and Boston by enthusiastic 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 U.S. 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. Their art forms include English country dance, traditional American squares and New England contra dance, morris, sword, and garland dance, Appalachian and English clogging, and traditional tunes and songs from the British Isles, as well as our own American contributions from Appalachia and the New England regions.

“(Name of Organization) offers our community a place to connect and engage in participatory dance and music,” said (Your Name), from (Name of Organization). “We are excited to have the Country Dance & Song Society come to our community to ensure dance, music and song will be strengthened. The public is invited to participate (include the events date and times).”

“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 as an educational program.” 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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 413-203-5467.

About (Name of Organization):
(Organization’s mission here.)
To learn more about (Name of Organization), visit (Organization)’s website or call or email.

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