presented by Dudley Laufman
Saturday, June 7 at 1:30 p.m.
New Ipswich Library (6 Main Street)
Since the late 1600s, the lively tradition of contra dancing has kept people of all ages swinging and sashaying in barns, town halls, and schools around the state.
Contra dancing came to New Hampshire by way of the English colonists and remains popular in many communities, particularly here in the Monadnock Region.
Dudley Laufman brings this tradition to life with stories, poems and recordings of callers, musicians, and dancers, past and present. Live music, always integral to this dance form, will be played on the fiddle and melodeon.
In a career that spans over seven decades, Dudley Laufman is recognized around the country for his artistry as a folk musician and dance caller. While working on a NH dairy farm in the late 1940s, he was introduced to contra dancing and immediately smitten. Mentored by Ralph Page, a master caller from Keene, Dudley called his first dance in 1948. By 1965, he was known throughout New England and was invited to perform at the Newport Folk Festival. In 1999, Laufman performed at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in Washington, DC. Other awards soon followed, including the NH Governor’s Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement (2001) and the Country Dance and Song Society of American Lifetime Achievement Award (2007). In 2009, he earned the National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor for traditional artists. A poet and song writer as well, he co-authored Traditional Barn Dances and has recorded several CDs. A resident of Canterbury, Laufman regularly performs with the Canterbury Orchestra, which under his leadership has produced five recordings.
Generously supported by the Stearns-Burton Lecture Fund, this program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
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