New England Folk Festival

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The New England Folk Festival is an annual festival of traditional dance and music which takes place in the Boston, Massachusetts area each spring. It is conducted by the New England Folk Festival Association. Both the festival and the association are colloquially known by the abbreviation NEFFA. NEFFA is a participatory festival; attendees are encouraged to participate in dancing, singing, jam sessions, and other activities. It is run by volunteers and all the performers are volunteers as well.

The festival has for more than 60 years celebrated the many living traditions of folk dance and music in New England, introducing thousands to the varied communities of traditional social dance. Numerous New England folk dance callers, leaders and musicians have had formative experiences at the festival, and in turn have inspired and influenced thousands more through their performances, workshops, and enthusiastic participation. As a social dance festival, it is a community experience, the largest in New England of its kind, and the inspiration for other similar traditional dance and music festivals throughout the United States. For dance leaders throughout the United States, the festival has been a annual place to gather, share experiences and insights. The association also furthers its mission by conducting weekly and monthly social dance series, and holds another annual winter festival called the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, in honor of one of the organization's founders; it has also published books about traditional dance and choreography.

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[edit] History

The idea for NEFFA came about in the summer of 1944, in a discussion over coffee after a square dance at the Boston, Massachusetts YWCA. The participants were Grace Palmer, director of the Y; Mary Gillette, head of its physical education program; and Ralph Page, the popular New Hampshire caller who presided at the square dances. The series had been running for little more than a year, but was already drawing over two hundred people every week, most of them college students.

As Ralph Page later recalled the conversation, they were discussing a recent attempt at a "New England Folk Festival" at the Boston Garden which had left them unimpressed: "Mary said: 'Why don't we have a real folk festival?' and so the idea was born -- as simple as that!" [1] Mary Gillette envisioned a festival where New England's many ethnic groups could share their song, dances, and crafts and present them to a wider audience, in a simple, honest, straightforward manner.

Grace Palmer offered the facilities of the Boston YWCA. Philip Sharples, who in 1940 had founded the Belmont Country Dance Group (one of the first square and contra dance series in the Boston area), joined with Mary Gillette and Ralph Page in calling local leaders to meet and talk it over. Many recreation agencies and ethnic groups sent representatives. From the start, the Festival Committee agreed to maintain an atmosphere of non-commercialism and high standards of performance and authenticity. The first festival took place on 28 October-29 October 1944 and attracted 200 attendees, mainly to watch performances of local ethnic dance performing groups.

The festival continued at the Boston YWCA five more times. From 1951 onward, it was held in a variety of places in or near Boston, also visiting Worcester MA several times, and once each Exeter NH, Manchester NH, North Kingston RI, Brockton MA and Lowell MA. It was held in Natick MA High School for the four years ending in 1970, then returned to Natick in 1974 where it has been held annually since then. (The plan for 2007 is to hold the festival in Mansfield MA High and Middle Schools.)

Over the course of those years, the festival has grown to a three-day affair, with about 5,000 admissions.

[edit] The program

Participatory dancing occurs simultaneously in three halls, most prominently contra dance, international folk dance, and English country dance, in addition to other genres of dance. Concerts, discussions and other more intimate performances take place in five other rooms. Family-oriented events occur during daylight hours on Saturday and Sunday. A courtyard outside is devoted to Morris dancing, Rapper Sword and Longsword dancing. Sunday afternnoons typically schedule dance and music demonstrations of a variety of ethnic dances, by local dance groups, in the main hall.

[edit] Performers

The hundreds of performers are mainly from New England, and a few from distant parts of North America usually appear. The performers apply in the fall, and the program is announced in the spring.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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