Dudley Laufman
Dudley Laufman received the highest honor for traditional artists, the National Heritage Fellowship, in 2009. He received the 2001 NH Governor's Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 1999, Laufman presented at the Smithsonian FolkLife Festival in Washington, DC. Laufman has been playing fiddle and calling for contra and square dances for 64 years. He co-authored Traditional Barn Dances and recorded several CDs. Under Laufman's leadership the Canterbury Orchestra produced five recordings.
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Dudley Laufman's Programs
Contra Dancing In New Hampshire: Then and Now
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 in the Monadnock Region. Presenter 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.