Dugan Murphy is a contra dance caller performing across North America, whose joyful teaching has the precision of clockwork.

BOOKING

Dugan probably wants to visit you. He’s excited about calling for everything from crowds of experienced contra dancers to community dance events.

You should incorporate community social dance into your next fundraiser, wedding, birthday party, or social group get-together. Dugan can put together an awesome band with their own sound equipment and get your people moving without any prior dance experience.

To find out if he's available to call at your event, simply contact him with details.

Biography

Short

Dugan Murphy is a contra dance caller performing across the U.S. and Canada, whose smooth-voiced and joyful teaching has the precision of clockwork.

Medium

Dugan Murphy's voice is smooth like an evening radio personality and his joy emanates throughout the dance hall. He calls contra dances across the U.S. and Canada, but mostly in the Northeast and Midwest. He is known for facilitating great times and for teaching with the artful precision of clockwork.

Long

Dugan Murphy is a contra dance caller performing across the U.S. and Canada. He always puts on a great party. His voice is smooth like a movie-trailer voice-over and his joyful energy is infectious. He chooses intuitive dances and teaches them with just the right amount of direction, leaving spaciousness for dancers to groove to the music.

He began calling in 2011 while living in Cincinnati, Ohio, and within four months was booked at a local dance weekend. Since returning home to his native Maine, he's called throughout the Northeast and across the country, from local dances to big events like Flurry Festival (Saratoga Springs, New York), Ohh La La dance weekend (Richmond, Quebec), and Contradancers Delight Holiday week (Mogantown, West Virgina).

In 2016, Dugan co-founded Portland Intown Contra Dance, a lively weekly contra dance series in Portland, Maine. At this time he started a program for training new callers through workshops and one-on-one mentoring. More than 8 now-regular callers in New England got their start this way, plus many others who have benefited from his workshops held in other places.

Dugan is also a social historian who leads guided walking tours through his company Portland by the Foot. He is a fantastic storyteller and Maine humorist.