PORTSMOUTH — Smiles clearly outnumbered left feet inside the cafetorium at Hathaway Elementary School Friday.

After Canterbury, N.H. musicians Dudley and Jacqueline Laufman spent two days  teaching students in kindergarten through grade 3 about old-timey barn dance steps and the fiddle music that accompanies them, the learning and fun culminated with kids and family members do-si-doing for an hour after school.

“It went great,” said physical education teacher Alison Arruda, who organized the program along with music teacher Karen Anghinetti. “We had two days of workshops with the kids, and then we ended by inviting parents to come to see what their children were doing.”

After demonstrating dance steps they had learned from the Laufmans — the duo calls itself “Two Fiddles,” even though Mr. Laufman played accordion for this event — the kids grabbed their parents and grandparents for a twirl. Mr. Laufman shouted out directions and within minutes most of the grownups had picked up on the steps.

“These dances have been done in New England since the 1600s without a break,” said Mr. Laufman, 84, a renowned contra and barn dance caller who attended his first dance in 1948. “The music is mostly from the British Isles … and a lot from Quebec.”

The program — funded in part by the New England State Touring program of the New England Foundation for the Arts — was multilayered in its educational scope, combining music, exercise and history.

“In the music class we talk about beat, rhythm, phrasing, the whole way to carry yourself musically,” said Ms. Anghinetti. “The kids see that it’s not just exercise but it’s musical, and it’s not just musical, it’s exercise. Some kids on the playground don’t have anyone to play with, so here’s a chance for them to interact with all their peers in a positive way.”

Some students — mainly boys were are really into sports — resisted learning the dance steps at first, said Ms. Arruda. But most of them warmed up to it — even if they didn’t admit it, she said.

“I’d say, ‘How can you tell me you didn’t like dancing when you’re all laughing and smiling and having a great time?’ They go, ‘You’re right, you’re right.’ We talk about trying different things when you’re young,” she said.

“Alison and I complement each other because we both believe in exposing the children to healthy activities and musical genres that are not part of their everyday world,” added Ms. Anghinetti. “No matter how old-fashioned you think it is, when you see the kids in there smiling and cooperating and they’re inviting their parents to do this, it’s worth it.”

Brush with fame

Mr. Laufman, who was made a National Heritage Fellow in 2009, has been described as the “Johnny Appleseed of country dancing” for his efforts in bringing traditional New England dancing to a wider audience. Mr. Laufman experienced an unexpected brush with fame 50 years ago when he and a group of musician buddies drove from New Hampshire to the City by the Sea one July day.

“We were in the Newport Folk Festival, in ’65. We were just going to do a workshop but we ended up performing on the stage. We thought that might be the beginning of the big time. It wasn’t, but still, it was a lot of fun,” said Mr. Laufman, who ended up rubbing elbows with the likes of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and Donovan in Newport.

The band didn’t even have a name before Newport, but came up with one on the spot: The Canterbury Country Dance Orchestra, after his hometown in New Hampshire. In 1972 the “orchestra” released the first-ever album of traditional New England dance music.

Now the Laufmans spread the word of country dance to school children whenever they can — but the gigs are few and far between these days. Mr. Laufman blames No Child Left Behind, whose emphasis on math and reading has, critics say, pushed dance, music, theater and visual arts down the priority ladder.

“One school in Groton, Mass. had us for 18 years with just the second-graders and they had three family dances because everybody came. And then it was gone. We can’t even get our foot in the door,” said Mr. Laufman.

Fortunately, there’s a growing number of younger people who are latching onto roots music and country dancing, he said.

“Right now in New Hampshire and in and around the Boston area, there’s a lot of young college kids contra dancing. They’re doing their own thing, developing it on their own, but they’re doing it,” he said.

Check out more photos from the dance below. All photos by Richard W. Dionne Jr.