To that end, the Work Record offers an object-based approach to adapt CCO with other suggestions in current research to propose metadata elements for use in cataloging a contra dance as a cultural object.  The CCO template for Performance Art has been used because of its status as a time-based work; contra dance is a series of programmed movements of the body performed in linear sequence over the course of 64 beats of music (justifying it as a work constituting a performance of timed actions), which will be repeated as a pattern a certain number of iterations—as decided by the caller, in conjunction with the participation of the band—during a particular performance of a named dance.  Furthermore, the components of each dance are also time-based; dancers feel satisfaction from successfully completing each figure’s execution “on time” with the beat of the music, completing a figure over a prescribed number of beats (e.g., 4 beats for a balance, 8 beats for a right and left through, 16 beats for a hey for four).

​

The Performance Art template is a starting point to capture minimal requirements like Work Type, Title/Name, Creator, Subject, and Measurements.  Beyond the CCO template for Performance Art, a few elements have been added to correspond with proposed metadata as suggested by Giannoulakis, Tsapatsoulis, & Grammalidis (2018) for folk dances.  Adapted to CCO guidelines, this includes adding the element Culture to the template, which can further apply the template to other kinds of folk dance traditions (e.g., English country dance, Scottish country dance, traditional squares).  Expanding the elements further, the current plan adds links for Variations of and Related Works to the dance (variant versions of dances or dances related to it through active, intentional quotation or the folk process, either as precursors of the cataloged dance or dances which evolved from the cataloged dance).  Another added element includes Music Motif to provide suggested names of tunes (or in the case of English country dance, assigned tunes) or types of tunes that match well with the dance (e.g., jigs, reels). Dance Notation will catalog the original and actual scripted moves that constitute the figures and instructions for the dance from an authorized source (e.g., as published from a collection of dances by the choreographer, or from a secondary source, like a database or caller’s card, where they have been republished with consent).  Furthermore, two special elements, Formation and Figure, have been added as local rules specifically for contra dance, and the creation of an accompanying Contra Dance Figures, Formations, and Roles Thesaurus (CDFFRT, currently being drafted) will act as a controlled vocabulary for values of these elements.  The CDFFT will also be used as a controlled vocabulary for values of the Dance Notation element, where ambiguities or discrepancies in authorized sources occur.

​

Class and Work Type have been derived from the focus of the work, with values from Library of Congress Subject Headings and the Library of Congress American Folklore Society Ethnographic Thesaurus.  Title/Name is found in physical print and online sources, corroborated by the author’s impetus for naming the dance.

​

Creator information has been verified from physical print and online sources referenced above.  The author of the dance is not included in any Name Authority files, but a name is substantiated in more than one source which is used by the contra dance community.  A new authority record will have to be created based on available sources. Biographical information like birthdate is unknown, and nationality may be inferred but not confirmed by sources, suggesting it not be included.  Creator role value is derived from AAT value.

​

Creation date is documented by sources.  Current location is not applicable in the case of performance art, another time-based work, and this practice has been appropriated here. Creation location has been derived from where the Creator was active and the occasion inspiring the creation, with a value derived from the corresponding listing for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as formatted in TGN to avoid ambiguity with other place names.

​

Measurements and Materials and Techniques have been formatted in accordance with performance art and other ephemeral works, but modified to include a basic unit of movement dancers will accomplish in time with the accompanying music and the nature of the dance form.