We are honored that Philippe Callens wrote an English country dance for CDSS's hundredth anniversary called The Centennial, which Jonathan Jensen set to music.

Philippe explains:

"In the autumn of 2014 I decided to write a dance for the upcoming centennial celebration of the CDSS. The organisation was founded in 1915 and promotes country dancing in North America. I have been a member since 1987 and have taught with great pleasure at their annual summer dance camps (at Pinewoods and Buffalo Gap) since 1994. It is a great organisation, I think!

For my dance I asked Jonathan Jensen to write the tune. The dance itself was written over the course of some six months, November 2014-May 2015. The opening movement was inspired by Keith Wright's dances 'Diamonds for Medway' and 'Star Now', both written in October 2014. I like to refer to the A-part as 'a study in diamonds'.

I first taught the dance during the 'Yanks meet Limeys' Dance Weekend, Dawlish Warren, Devon, UK, 15-17 May 2015. This video was made there, with five dancers from Britain and three from America performing it."

Dancers:
Helen Battilana & Frank Cserei
Robert Moir & Victoria Yeomans
Mark Weinstein & Maureen Musgrove
Norman Bearon & Lucy Weinstein

Musicians:
Poppy Weatherall, violin
Jacqui Morgenstein, flute
Jonathan Cohen, piano

The Centennial Dance Instructions

Download a PDF of Philippe's instructions for the dance.

Sheet Music

Click here to download a PDF version