May 2007 Folk Enews

Well, Folkies,

If you missed Perla Batalla in concert, you should kick yourself gently in the shins. She was fabulous, sexy, jazzy, melodic, diverse. Those of us who were there know something else: she said she was considering making Albuquerque her home!

The Albuquerque Folk Festival on Saturday, June 16, needs volunteers. Be sure and read the info near the end of this blog entry.

I hesitate to mention this, but at the April 15th English/Contra dance and April 21 contra dance, there were about a dozen extra guys. They were even dancing with each other. (Ladies, don’t faint upon reading this!) So, if I advise the ladies to show up at dances, I hope that creates gender balance instead of extra ladies. I didn’t have to dance as a guy once at either dance–yippee!

Corrales Sing, Friday, May 4
FOLK SONG CIRCLE. Newcomers welcome! They’re meeting in May to sing of Greetings & Farewells, Immigration & Emigration.
FIRST FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH, 8:00 P.M. TO MIDNIGHT
Each participant in the circle may lead a song, do a solo, request a song, or pass. Bring enthusiasm, songbooks, instruments, beverages/snacks, kids, and friends.
Contact: Laurie McPherson 898-6978
Email: lauriemcpherson@hotmail.com or lmcpherson@salud.unm.edu
114 Coronado Road, Corrales, 87048
(Directions: From the intersection of Alameda and Coors, go 1.8 miles north on Corrales Road. Pass the Chevron station, go several blocks. Just past the Horseman’s Supply store, turn left on Coronado Road. Post office is too far. They’re the second house on the right, come in past the barns to park.)

Albuquerque Contra Dance, Saturday, May 5
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo in style with Donna Howell calling and Hey! (Linda Vik, Jane Phillips, Chris Carlson on fiddle, Tim Shaffer on guitar) playing driving dance tunes. 7:30 – 10:30 p.m., acoustic jam at 6:30 p.m. and newcomers class at 7 p.m. Heights Community Center, 823 Buena Vista SE (1 block east of University, south of Lead/Coal). Bring clean dance shoes. No shoes with nails or that leave black scuff marks, please. $6 members, $7 others.

Durango Contra Dance, Saturday, May 5
Caller is Katherine Bueler from Sante Fe with live music by Durango’s Kitchen Jam Band. VFW Hall, 1550 Main Avenue, Beginner instruction is at 7:00 p.m. Dancing is from 7:30 to 10:30. Admission is $10. For further information, call 970-259-6820.

Old Time Music Circle, Albuquerque, Sunday, May 6
Come play your old-time hearts out from 2 PM to 4PM
Covenant Presbyterian Church, 9315 Candelaria NE
Info: Judy Muldawer, inquiry@siliconheights.com

Santa Fe Contra Dance, Saturday, May 12
Donna Howell calling this Mother’s Day weekend, Five-Dog String Band playing (David Margolin on fiddles, Rick Olcott on guitar, and Steve Huestis on banjo). 8 p.m. -11 p.m., IOOF Hall, 1125 Cerrillos Rd. Instruction at 7:30 p.m. $6 members, $7 others.

Second Sunday Dance, Albuquerque, May 13
Celebrate Mother’s Day by dancing with your loved ones. Richard Wilson and Kit French will call elegant English country and zesty contra dances; music by the McPapenhagens with Liz Holm. 7:00 – 9:30 p.m., Heights Community Center, 823 Buena Vista SE (1 block east of University, south of Lead/Coal). Members $6; nonmembers $7. Bring clean dance shoes. No shoes with nails or that leave black scuff marks, please. Clean dance shoes and tennis shoes OK.

Albuquerque Megaband Practice, May 15
Join the Megaband in a jam at the Blue Dragon, 1517 Girard NE, Albuquerque, 7:30-10:30 p.m. More info: Bruce Thomson, 277-4729.

Las Cruces Contra Dance, Friday, May 18
Katherine Bueler from Santa Fe calling this dance with SNMMDS House Band playing. 7:30-10:30 p.m. $5 all. Mesilla Community Center, 2251 Calle de Santiago, Las Cruces. It’s actually the adjacent town of Mesilla, and hall is 2 blocks west of the plaza. For info contact 505-522-2421 or 915-755-7371.

Albuquerque Contra Dance, Saturday, May 19
Katherine Bueler (driving north from Las Cruces, but normally from Santa Fe) calls this dance to the hot old-time tunes of the award-winning Albuquerque Megaband. 7:30-10:30 p.m., Heights Community Center, 823 Buena Vista SE (1 block east of University, south of Lead/Coal). Acoustic jam at 6:30 p.m. and newcomers’ instruction at 7 p.m. Members $6; nonmembers $7.

Taos Contra Dance, Saturday, May 19
Back to the regular location, dance at the San Geronimo Lodge, Witt Road. Starting time 7:00 p.m. Jim Buechler calling, Taos Megaband playing. Five dollars per dancer. Call 776-1580 with any questions about the dance.

Albuquerque Concert, Sunday, May 20
Baroque violinist Stephen Redfield leads the Albuquerque Baroque Orchestra playing music of Handel, Telemann, Zelenka, and Geminiani. 3 p.m., Central United Methodist Church, 1615 Copper NE. FREE admission! More info is at www.unm.edu/~sbpatric.

15th Annual Folkmadness Music & Dance Camp, May 25-28
There is NO Santa Fe Contra Dance, Saturday, May 26 because many will be at the 15th annual Folkmadness Music and Dance Camp in Socorro! The deadline for signing up for camp is approaching. Info is on the FOLKMADS web site, www.folkmads.org.

Albuquerque Folk Festival, Sat., June 16
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the all-day and evening music and workshop festivities. The schedule is now up on the web site. Visit www.abqfolkfest.org for details. The Albuquerque Folk Festival needs Volunteers, so if you do a little work, you can get free parking and admission! Festival is at EXPO New Mexico (aka, state fairgrounds). Volunteers are requested to offer a 3-hour stint, that can be divided to work in your festival favorites. There are jobs to do from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. – admissions at the Main Gate and for evening dances, T-shirt sales, Info table, Setup and/or Tear Down, Gate attendants, sound, CD sales, stage assistants, transportation, and more. They also need a few volunteers for Friday afternoon/eve set-up. Please contact Trylla Esherick, trylla@comcast.net. (home) or volunteers@abqfolkfest.org. What you get: Free admission, parking pass, T-shirt (specify size). Give Trylla your available times, assignment preferences, contact info (name, address, phone, e-mail).

Zoukfest, Santa Fe, June 10-16
Don’t miss this June 10-16th event at the College of Santa Fe. Log onto http://zoukfest.com for information. Class Descriptions for ZoukFest 2007 are also up on the website at http://zoukfest.com/classes/.

Special English Workshop/Dance, ABQ, June 30
Remember that Saturday, June 30 is the fancy dress English ball preceded by an afternoon workshop at Heights Community Center. We just mailed out a flyer with the FOLKMADS newsletter/calendar, and details are also at www.folkmads.org.

Globalquerque World Music Festival, September 2007
The web site for the Globalquerque! 2007 festival on September 21 and 22 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center is up and will be including new information regularly. Early bird tickets are on sale now; visit www.globalquerque.com for details.

Enjoy the rain, flowers, and impending heat.

Merri Rudd
Albuquerque, NM
www.merridancing.com