I did not post a holiday letter in 2009 or 2010. Both were filled with sorrow, death, and tragedy, and I did not want to sadden folks during the holiday season. Just so you won’t worry too much (and some of you know much of this), in 2009, my car was totaled, back injured, our dog died, AZ friend Craig had motorcycle wreck and became quadriplegic, and my aunt’s cancer spread to her brain.

In 2010 my aunt died as I was flying to see her on Valentine’s Day. Mark, 6 friends and I took a birding trip to Guatemala, we adopted new rescue dog Luke (a bassadorable, ½ basset hound, ½ Labrador), I spent months settling my aunt’s estate, making trips to FL to clear her house of 70 years’ of possessions and have a memorial. Kathleen (our longtime friend whom Mark and I helped for 25 years) died at age 94, my friend Craig died of complications from his quadriplegia, I listed my aunt’s FL house for sale, I was term-limited-out of my judge job, my fabulous former student Willow won an election to succeed me (although her opponent, a totally unqualified, retired nurse with zero law or probate experience, got 87,000 votes), and  right before Thanksgiving vandals in FL pumped 16,000 gallons of water inside my aunt’s house, flooding the entire interior. Just before Xmas the insurance company denied my flood claim. The county made a nice farewell video for me as my judge job ended, and there were several farewell events:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPeyW2AsUUg

I know that life is a combo of good and evil, joy and sorrow, fun and work, gratitude and resentment, yin and yang. Thankfully, I can offer mostly good stories for 2011.

I entered 2011 without the job that I had loved for 10 years. And yet I believe in term limits. I had planned to take 2011 as a sabbatical to figure out what was next. Instead I spent much of January fighting with the FL insurance company, which finally allowed the flood claim. I travelled to see my friend Laura in southern NM the end of January, a solo girls’ trip, and we had fun hiking and dancing there with friends Lonnie and Julie (although Lonnie made me call part of the January dance in Las Cruces). Also drove to Tucson to stay with Jacquie, my fiddler friend and widow of Craig. We had a wonderful time hiking, dancing, eating and laughing. I got back to NM just in time for a visit from college friend Rusti-Ruslyn, who came to NM for adventure and relaxation. We rode the train to Santa Fe, saw the musical WICKED, hiked, ate and laughed. Good therapy to get me through the first month of missing my beloved court and staff.

Things got easier in February, when Mark and I committed to hiking at least once a week. One day we were walking down by the Rio Grande and saw a peregrine falcon eating a small bird in a treetop. The day was sunny and blue, and I turned to Mark and said, “This beats working!” for the first time since my job ended. Also in February, three friends and I drove up to CO for a dance weekend, my first since the car wreck. I danced every day for four days, something I’d not been able to do since the accident. Also saw a bobcat in the snow late one night driving back to the cabin, so close we could see tufts of fur between his paws, and that was the highlight of the weekend, despite the fabulous food, dancing, music and learning to play cribbage.

Mark and I visited my mom in TN in March, which was delightful—tons of flowers blooming and a giant full moon rising near her apartment one night. We also lunched with my longest-time friend (almost 50 years) Roxie and hubby Tommy in Jackson, TN, and stayed with our friend Susan Kevra one night in Nashville. I thought I had sold the FL house in March, but the sale fell through when mold was found all over the house. This triggered another fight with the insurance company about who was responsible for mold cleanup, and eventually they paid for that too, but not without first making my life miserable for months.

Our Maine friends Pam and Gary visited in April, and we enjoyed our eating tour of Albuquerque. Also, I visited college friend Susan in north FL in April and canoed with alligators nearby

© 2011, Merri Rudd, All Rights Reserved

(Susan became a grandma in March!!!), had the mold cleaned up in the FL house, and the house sold again with a May closing. In early May I made a trip to NC to see my friend Ann, and then a 10-day trip to FL to do house repairs and help the buyers get their loan. Alas, that sale also fell through on the day of closing when the buyers didn’t get their loan. But I got my best photo of the year on that trip while walking along the bay, this shot of a very cooperative snowy egret.

© 2011, Merri Rudd, All Rights Reserved

A few days later Mark and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary at a dog-friendly B&B in Taos, hiking at snow level each day and dining at very tasty restaurants by night. We’ve actually been a couple for almost 30 years, shocking, I know!

I decided to rehab the FL house and then relist it, so I made a trip to FL in June to oversee the rehab, spending 18 hours steaming wallpaper from the bathroom and kitchen and going to Home Depot with the awesome contractor every few days. All in all, I’ve made 14 trips to FL since my aunt’s diagnosis of metastases in April 2008. After the rehab was finished, I relisted the house, got yet another offer, and that one actually closed on August 26.  “Before and after” photos of the rehab are at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/merridancing/FLHouseRehab#

In between all the FL fiascoes (I have written the first 700 words of my novel THE FLORIDA FIASCO), Mark, Luke and I camped in CO in late June with our friend Dave and his two dogs. Mark and I and Luke camped again in CO the end of July and beginning of August. We sold our old camper in an hour on craigslist after that trip (while it was still in decent shape) and sold the 16-year-old Toyota Tacoma truck too. We’ll look for another camper in 2012, but at least we don’t have to worry about storing the camper this winter.

So essentially my sabbatical started in September, since FL business ate up the first 8 months of it! Mark and I continued to hike each week. In September I flew to Houston with my Albuquerque friend for a second opinion about her upcoming double mastectomy for recurrent breast cancer (I am her health care power of attorney). The facility in TX was amazing, but we got the same advice from the doctor: do it sooner rather than later.

Our friends Robert Coontz and his beautiful bride Jolene Jesse visited us for a week in September, and we had fun playing tour guide, hiking, going to Taos, and to the hot air balloon fiesta. Robert introduced Mark and me 30 years ago. He and Jolene got married in 2010, so this was their first anniversary trip. They both declared it “their best trip ever!”

I called Boo Camp, a dance weekend in Jemez Springs, NM with the well-loved Privy Tippers from Tucson the end of October. You can view Peter Esherick’s Boo Camp Photos (click on a photo to get the large version, then use gray arrows to right and left of photos to move to next or previous photo) to see the merriment that ensued. My college friend “Big Bob” Chess, a former center on the Vanderbilt basketball team, visited in November. We enjoyed hiking, hearing a Czechoslovakian bluegrass band, and hanging out with him. A few weeks later our birding friends Melissa, Lew, Dave and Kathleen shared a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner with us. This week we all head down to Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge for our 9th annual birding/gourmet eating outing.

Mark and I had been planning a kitchen remodel of our own house for a long time. Destruction began November 30 and it was mostly finished last week (see Mark’s blog entry for details:  http://www.edgewiseblog.com/mjh/uncategorized/kitchen-remodeling-for-dummies/). We do LOVE the beautiful, functional results! Our contractors, Two Dads Construction, were great. The floating cork floor, cabinets made by a local guy (who lined up the grains of wood on the drawers), and engineered quartz counters are the stars.

In December I celebrated my 20th anniversary as a dance caller by calling two dances in Albuquerque; one was affected by snow and ice, but the other was magical. In the middle of kitchen remodeling, my friend had her mastectomy and they sent her home 4 hours after she emerged from the 3-hour surgery! She was sitting at her dining table eating soup soon after, kind of hard to believe. She is doing great and the pathology indicates she is now cancer-free.

Mark, Luke and I spent Christmas day with our friends Kit and Mary in the south valley of Albuquerque. We hiked near the river, saw hawks, cranes, towhees, llamas, goats, and geese, then shared a fabulous meal of leg of lamb with tasty side dishes.

As 2011 wraps up, I am grateful for good family and friends, good music and dance, good food, and the natural beauty in the world all around us. I hope that 2012 is kind to us all and that the Mayan calendar merely signifies an evolution to more peaceful times.

I can only say this: those twenty years went quickly! I wrote a long essay in 2000 about calling. Here is a small part of it:

After I started contra dancing in 1981, I sat on the periphery of music, sometimes at a dance, sometimes a concert, sometimes around a fire in the middle of a field, or in a cabin amid piles of snow. I listened to others proliferate wonderful, rowdy, driving music and was unable to participate. I wished fervently to speak the language of music, but I never found the notes, never had any musical ability, never had a role.

Learning to call dances gave me a role. For years I admired musicians and callers and the bridges they created for the dancers. And so I learned to be a bridge. I bridge the music and the dance. I connect the players and dancers. And when it all comes together in a synergistic way, indeed, magic happens.

Getting on stage that first time in April 1991 was the greatest leap of faith I ever made. It took me more than a year to get there, fifteen months after I first attended a calling workshop with Bill "Doc" Litchman one weekend in January 1990. I could not bring myself to get on stage in front of people and interact with dancers and musicians, all alone. I practiced and struggled, and finally I stood on stage, out of excuses.

Even my non-dancing hubby Mark showed up for my debut. I gripped the microphone, I cued the band, and I called Don Armstrong’s "Broken Sixpence." Flawlessly. The dancers and musicians erupted into shouting so loud, so sustained, and so spirited that I tried calling one dance again, a few months later. On December 7, 1991, at the Lloyd Shaw Dance Center with Megaband backing me up, I called my first whole evening of dances. I only knew ten dances, and I called them all.

That first year or two of calling my knuckles stretched white and my hands ached from holding the microphone so tightly. I counted the beats of the music in my head to time my calls correctly, "1, 2, 3, 4, LA-dies CHAIN a-CROSS now…." Several years into it, I realized I knew where I was in the music, which was the second A part or the first B part, or when a tune was irregular. I became not only a dance teacher and leader, but also a band director, choosing dances to complement tunes, setting tempos, cuing the band to switch tunes, speed up, slow down, and finally stop. All of this looks easy when you gain experience. But, believe me, it’s not as easy as it looks.

Once a musician told me, "You are one of the few who thinks the musicians are important. You appreciate us."

"Important?!" I exclaimed, "It is because of you that dance is possible."

And so I became a bridge to what is possible, not a big, commercial, concrete and steel giant spanning a metropolis, but a small, wooden bridge over a babbling, musical creek. Maybe Pan plays his lute on the shore or a Civil War fiddler and banjo player tune up, leaning against an old gnarled tree. And maybe the women are there in gauzy gowns, with flowers in their hair, and the men are bowing to their favorite partner. But there I am, too, figuring out how it all fits together.

Why? Because. Because I finally have a role.

(c) 2011, Merri Rudd, All Rights Reserved

Photo by Peter Esherick, © 2011, All Rights Reserved

Here are two links to some photos that show FOLKMADS’ recent Boo Camp, held October 28-30, 2011 at the beautiful Hummingbird Music Camp in Jemez Springs, NM. The weather and cottonwoods cooperated, and the fantastic tunes of the Privy Tippers gave the dancers much joy (as you can see from the photos).

Peter Esherick posted photos of the entire weekend at :

Boo Camp by Peter Esherick (click on a photo to get the large version, then use gray arrows to right and left of photos to move to next or previous photo)

From Saturday night’s Boo Ball, a costumed event, are Tom Hunter’s photos:

Boo Ball by Tom Hunter (click on a thumbnail to see larger version, then keyboard arrow keys will move you between photos)

Enjoy!

Sunday, September 18, 2011, 3:00 pm

Oddfellows Hall, 1125 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe

Please feel welcome to participate in an open sharing time.

Dress comfortably, and bring a pot luck dish to share.

For more information: 505-820-3535, will.wfd@gmail.com

Richard Wilson, former postmaster in Glorieta, community  dance leader, and poet, passed away on August 4, 2011 from  metastatic melanoma.  His passing has left a great emptiness in  the lives of those who survive him: his wife of 30 years,  Karolyn; his best friends Scott Crates and son-in-law Justin Perea; his daughters Emily Perea, Karina, Lily, Laurel and Char  Wilson; his grandchildren Elizabeth, Martin, and Beren Perea;  dear friend Merry Crates; mother Anastasia Haley, sister Margaret Woods, and brother Danny Wilson; and his many  friends among his postal patrons and fellow contra dancers. 

He was born on Christmas Eve 1947, in Los Angeles, CA, and  attended the John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun  Valley, CA, graduating in 1966.  He first came to New Mexico in  1968 and lived at the New Buffalo commune in El Rito.  He  served in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970, and was honorably  discharged with a Bronze Star.  He traveled around the world,  spending a year in Australia before returning to the United  States to ride a bicycle from California to New York and back  again, and work as a miner around the Western US.  In 1978, in  the midst of a ladies’ chain, he met the love of his life, and he  and Karolyn were married in 1981.  They moved to Glorieta  with their family in 1991, and he became the postmaster there  in 1992. 

He embraced his life with gentle enthusiasm and joyfulness,  and his gracefulness, warmth, charm, and kindness touched  the hearts of all whom he met.  As postmaster, he became the  heart of the community of Glorieta.  As a community dance  leader he encouraged and supported both beginning and  experienced dancers alike.  His dances, like his spirit, were  lyrical expressions of his zest for life: his poetry given life and  spirit. 

The family would like to express their gratitude to contra  dancers everywhere, especially the communities in Santa Fe,  Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Taos, and Durango, as well as to the  community of Glorieta, especially the La Cueva Share the Care  group.  Individuals are too numerous to mention by name, but  please know that your support, help, prayers, and thoughts are  not only warmly appreciated, but were of critical importance.

Richard Wilson Memorial flyer (pdf)

(photo by Stephen C. Mills)

Richard Wilson, longtime dancer, dance caller and folk community icon, passed away peacefully today, August 4, 2011, at home surrounded by his family, wife Karolyn and daughters Emily, Karina, Lily, Laurel and Charline. Although he fought his melanoma cancer with all of his being, biology triumphed and death prevailed, as it will for each of us. Each year the anniversary of our own death passes us by with nary a blip or acknowledgement, mostly because we don’t know that day yet. Cherish life, dance often, support traditional music and dance, honor Richard’s memory by loving well and living with joy.

I first met Richard and Karolyn Wilson around the fall of 1984 at the Heights Community Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Emily was already born (and probably was snugged to Richard’s chest while he danced). Karolyn was pregnant with Karina and dancing away. Both Richard and Karolyn glowed while dancing together.

Soon after, Richard stepped up to fill a caller void when Pam McKeever left for New York. We were a small group. I think Mimi Stewart and Richard were the main callers back then. Then Richard took a job in California for awhile, and the family moved with him. New Mexico called him and his family back several years later. They’ve lived here ever since.

One vivid memory I have of Richard is from 1991. I was a new caller, terrified of being on stage. So I practiced and practiced and practiced to overcome my fear. I called one dance (out of an evening of dances) in Albuquerque and one dance (out of an evening of dances) in Santa Fe. The Albuquerque caller coordinator then decided I was ready to call my first whole dance—on December 7, 1991 (the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day). I saw Richard at a dance before my gig and reported that I was about to take the plunge. After hearing the date of my first whole dance, he said, with a gleam in his eye, “Well, then, it’s OK if you bomb!” We laughed and laughed, although 19 years later, he claimed to have no memory of this exchange.

Richard believed steadfastly in giving everyone access to the folk community, be it dancers, callers or musicians. No matter what the skill level of callers and dancers, he encouraged them to learn and have fun. Richard was the first caller I ever saw fly off the stage and into the dance line, calling and dancing simultaneously. Eventually, I too learned this instant access to rhythm and community.

He and I have different calling styles, but we enjoyed egging each other on. He provided an entertaining evening for all in attendance. Once, in the early 1990’s, a new and unskilled caller stood on stage for 45 minutes trying to teach a difficult dance that he did not understand. After the music started, the dance broke down and people were gathering their bags and leaving the dance hall in frustration. Richard leaped onto the stage from the dance floor, took the microphone, yelled, “Line up for a contra, no walk-through!!” and proceeded to gather everyone back into dance mode. He saved the evening. This was the only time I ever saw him assert control over a floundering individual for the good of the group. Otherwise, he reminded everyone to be kind and patient, go with the flow, and not dwell on our mistakes.

An article called “Gotta Dance!” was published in GQ magazine in December 1998. Elizabeth Gilbert wrote about rediscovering lindy hop expert Frankie Manning and going to a dance workshop taught by Frankie, who was in his 80’s by then. Gilbert wrote, “For Frankie, style, dignity, dance and romance are connected….One of Frankie’s best students said, ‘Here I am, this head-of-the-household single black mother, carrying the world on my shoulders. But when I dance with a man, I have to relax and surrender. I have to trust that, for just two minutes, this man is going to take care of me….’”

The article continued, talking about how Frankie once interrupted a class with this statement: “’Fellas, the lady you are dancing with is a queen.’ The students laughed. Frankie said it again, ‘She is a queen.’ He was serious. ‘She is a queen.’ He was going to keep saying that until we all heard him, until we all understood exactly how serious he was. The room got very quiet.”

“‘And what do you do to a queen?’ he asked. ‘You bow to her. When you’re dancing with a woman, you should be bowing to her, all the time. That’s the feeling you should have. She is letting you dance with her. You should be grateful, fellas.’”

(photo by Stephen C. Mills)

That is exactly how Richard danced and taught dance. He treated each partner as a queen. He took care of her, made her shine, guided her gently and grinned (even if the “she” was a guy dancing the woman’s part!). Then he moved on to the next partner with the same focus and flair. When teaching dance he wanted us to take care of each other. He wanted us to look beautiful. He wanted us to flow gracefully and to create synergy from music and dance. That was Richard’s goal: for us all to embrace the elegance that the marriage of music and dance evokes, to bask in the beauty of the moment.

He wanted us to have fun. He was the “pied piper” of dance leadership, often instigating long swirling, weaving, crisscrossing lines of dancers just to get people on their feet. He was a master of the grand march, directing dancer traffic into two lines of individuals, who reunited as couples, then two couples merged into a line of four, then four couples merged into a line of eight, and so on. Everyone could participate successfully and light-heartedly, as Richard subtly led them all to move effortlessly and delightedly to the music.

I’ve learned a lot from Richard, watching him teach dance, watching him share his love of dance, watching him build community whether it be a one-night-stand wedding gig or a regular dance, watching the twinkle in his eyes as he set things into motion. “Get ‘em up, get ‘em movin’” no matter age, experience, gender. Include everyone.

My most poignant Richard story occurred at New Mexico’s annual Folkmadness Music and Dance weekend in Socorro, New Mexico in 2005. Richard was supposed to teach an early Sunday morning English country dance workshop there. But he was in the middle of treatment for his cancer and was unable to do so. At the last minute, I was asked to teach the workshop instead.

To understand this story one must understand that, for almost 25 years, I disparaged English country dance. I heard birds tweeting in every tune, all of which I thought were silly. I lacked the grace and carriage to dance English well. I lacked the wisdom to understand the dance. I didn’t know it at the time, but I disgraced dance leadership.

Meanwhile, Richard loved English country dance exactly as much as I disliked it. He was the grand master of English country dance in his baby blue silk jacket with his elegance and poise, setting and turning and arming and heying with a proper English attitude. He had danced and called English country dance for years and years. He was the obvious choice to lead this workshop, not me.

Richard wasn’t a heavy-handed or judgmental leader. He was gentle. He let you make mistakes, he didn’t lecture. Maybe he believed you’d figure it out eventually on your own. I did.

In April 2004 I abruptly corrected the error of my viewpoint. I was in Nashville, TN staying with Susan Kevra and Russ Barenberg. Susan took me (apologetically, knowing my lack of enthusiasm) to a small English dance in a hot gymnasium with recorded music. She taught Jacques Latin, and I danced it with about 20 others. At the end I said to her, “That was fun!” She looked at me in disbelief, and I clapped my hand over my mouth in shock. I was suddenly inexplicably smitten by the joy, verve, grace, and fun of English country dance. I started my English dance collection that weekend, poring over Susan’s dance collection with her humming tunes to me.

I share these details so that readers appreciate the supreme irony of me substituting for Richard Wilson in leading an English country dance workshop only a year after my conversion.

So it was May 2005 at Folkmadness, and I was emergency-subbing for Richard. I was working with a band called The Cantrells (Emily and Al, more serendipity, from Nashville, TN) who used to play English tunes 20 years ago. We weren’t at all sure about our workshop, so we had a band practice, complete with dancers, under the spreading sycamore tree the day before. The Cantrells brushed up on their English tunes rather quickly; they were great musicians. I figured the workshop was early Sunday morning; usually only 20 or 30 people showed up.

There were 100 people at my workshop, including Nils Fredland, one of our guest callers for the weekend.

And it was the first time I’d ever taught English country dance. I started with Well Hall, not the best choice for a beginner’s workshop. But I had come to love that tune and dance, the many “moments” of discovery and interaction throughout the dance sequence. The music started and I was observing from the stage many flailing contra dancers trying to master a new dance style. It looked AWFUL until unexpectedly, an amazing thing happened: the music took the dancers to where they needed to be. They settled down, started floating above the floor and leading with their hearts, maximizing the moments. The transformation was beautiful to behold.

This was the only time in 20 years that I have cried on stage.

The dancers (many of whom were startled to see me teaching English) were touched that I was touched. We carried on, not flawlessly, but exuberantly, playfully, and truly in the spirit of English dance. And certainly in honor of Richard Wilson, whose name I invoked more than once.

Richard and Karolyn showed up later for lunch, and Richard sought me out to ask how my workshop went. I cried again, relating the details to him, and he seemed bemused by my emotion.

I went on to teach other English dance workshops at several weekend gigs with a mix of English and contra dance. I reminded the dancers that the great moments found in English dance could be found in other dance forms. Several reluctant contra dancers reported to me (with some surprise) that they “now love English country dance.”

In Colorado in 2008 when I called the Stellar weekend with Notorious and Hands Five, a retired schoolteacher approached me at the end of the English workshop. She said she enjoyed how I captured the dancers’ attention with my enthusiasm and love for English country dance, which she felt was strongly evident. I stood silently for a moment, with tears filling my eyes (I was off-stage). I said, “For twenty+ years, I set a bad example on the dance floor with my disdain for English country dance. And one day about five years ago, I ‘got’ it. I LOVE English country dance now and I’m trying to make up for all the harm I did before.” “Well,” she said, “don’t worry. You’re more than making up for it now.”

I partly credit Richard for this lesson, which took me so many years to learn. He had been quietly leading English dance for years. I think he taught me, just by his example and without me even knowing it, how to be a better dance leader.

Perhaps the greatest gifts that Richard and Karolyn have given to the folk community are their five daughters, Emily, Karina, Lily, Laurel and Charline. Watching Richard dance with each of his daughters through the years is a treasured memory. I suppose those girls had no choice but to grow up lovely, graceful, accomplished in music and/or dance. Karolyn is the matriarch of the family, raising five girls with love, warmth, strength, dance and song. And she has brought many other young lives safely into the world through her midwife practice.

Emily has been a skilled dancer since age five. When less skilled, much older men would try to guide her incorrectly in a dance, she would politely but firmly decline the lead and go exactly where she should be. Eventually, the men came to rely on her to get them where they should be.

Karina, also a graceful dancer, has evolved into a fiddler of extraordinary talent, the notes of English dance tunes hanging mid-air at the moment the dancers’ eyes meet or bodies swoop past. Her contra rhythms excel too. She started as all musicians must start, learning and goofing up as she went, visibly flustered when she made a mistake, forgot an A or B part of the tune, or dropped a phrase. Somewhere along the way, her tunes steadied, her repertoires increased, and she became an accomplished English country and contra dance fiddler.

A bunch of us travelled to Oklahoma City in February 2008 for an English country dance weekend with Bare Necessities. Richard drove with two of his daughters and several other young dancers. He enjoyed dancing all weekend.

My friends Meg, Kit, Mary and I joined the band for lunch on Saturday, and we told Mary Lea about Karina, who was attending as a dancer. Bare Necessities’ fiddler Earl had a high fever and struggled to keep up his energy. On Saturday night, we were waltzing to the achingly haunting notes of one of those “waltzes to die for.” I looked toward the stage and saw Karina sitting in with Mary, Jackie and Peter. I was stunned and thrilled! Earl was lying on his stomach behind the stage with acupuncture needles protruding from his neck. Karina, then age 23 and playing with some of the most talented musicians in the world, blossomed that night. Richard was there on the dance floor, in his blue silk jacket, applauding, proud papa beaming as he watched his daughter soar.

Lily dances wonderfully too. Recently at a benefit dance for Richard and his family, Lily took the microphone and called one of her dad’s dances, flawlessly. I didn’t even know she was a caller.

Laurel is 21 now, beautiful, poised, articulate, a dancer and singer. Her singing is the music of angels. She’s carrying on her maternal grandmother’s tradition of singing old folk songs to her guitar accompaniment.

The youngest Charline attends the Santa Fe School for the Arts, where she is learning to share her gifted voice and love of music. They all obviously doted on “Papa Richard.”

Richard devoted his time, energy, skill, and love to the music and dance community for more than thirty years, with enthusiasm and creativity. He and Karolyn have ensured that the folk traditions will thrive through their five charming daughters. Until the very end Richard continued to encourage our community’s youth and everyone else, to call, dance, play, flow, and have fun. Even when he was too weak to dance, he continued to bask in the therapy of music and community.

Thanks, Richard, for all you did for New Mexico’s traditional music and dance community. We are better dancers and leaders because of you. You will be missed for many, many years to come. May your spirit sprint across the universe and infuse us with joy and hope as we dance, play and sing in your memory.

Will McDonald has set up a blog for the Wilson family.  Please check it regularly; there will be updates daily for the time being. And you can post comments too. Blog is:

http://dancegoeson.blogspot.com/

Also, check the www.Folkmads.org blog for updated information regarding visitation hours and family support.
 
Cards can be sent to:
 
Karolyn Wilson & Family
P.O. Box 317
Glorieta, NM, 87535

The Santa Fe New Mexican posted a story about Richard at:

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Richard-Wilson–1947-2011-Postmaster-danced-through-life

–Merri Rudd, Albuquerque, NM

The evening will feature different events beginning at 5:30 PM with a potluck supper, waltzing from 6:30 to 7:15 PM with Mad Robin and any other musician who would like to join them. It will be followed by a contra dance at 7:30 with the Megaband and various callers in the community who will call one of Richard’s dances.

To call one of the dances, contact: Erik Erhardt at: erikerhardt@gmail.com. If folks can offer housing or folks are in need of housing, contact Donna Bauer at: dfbauer@aol.com.

Hope to see everyone there!

Merri Rudd
Albuquerque, NM

Judy Muldawer has posted some music jams and other events at Judy’s Music News.

Wildlife West Music Festival, Edgewood, NM, August 6-8: Don’t miss the Wildlife West Music Festival next weekend. You’re not sitting in the sun and it’s 10 degrees cooler in the East Mountains.  Bring the kids, bring your grandmother, and please tell a friend.  A very fine Violin and Mandolin will be awarded the 1st Place Winners at the Contest Sunday at 3pm.   20 miles east of Albuquerque. Saturday & Sunday begin at 11am.  Sunday Gospel at 11am.  The Claire Lynch Band, Pat Donohue, Spring Creek, Small Potatoes, Syd Masters, Hot Club of Santa Fe, Atomic Grass, Muddy River String Band, Cheap Shots, Old Time Martin Family Band and more. Visit the bear, wolves and mountain lions and still hear the music playing! Food, drink and children’s activities on site. More info at: www.wildlifewest.org/bluegrass.html  

Albuquerque Concert, August 10: Kit French and I are co-hosting a concert featuring Jacqueline Schwab, who played piano on the soundtracks for Ken Burns’ Civil War and National Parks series and is also the pianist for the famous dance band Bare Necessities. The concert will be on Tuesday August 10, at 7 pm, at the First Unitarian Church, 3701 Carlisle Blvd. NE (corner of Comanche), Albuquerque, NM  87110. Concert tickets are $10 ($5 for students). Jacquie will be joined on a few songs by New Mexico’s own fabulous fiddler from Santa Fe, Karina Wilson. Here is part of the press release about the concert: Americana pianist Jacqueline Schwab will perform a solo soiree of her signature arrangements of vintage American music—reflective airs and rousing dance tunes that shaped American spirit—and traditional Celtic and English music.Jacqueline has been heard on the soundtracks to a dozen of Ken Burns’ documentaries, including his Grammy award-winning Civil War, his Emmy award-winning Baseball, The West, Lewis and Clark, Mark Twain, The War and his recently-premiered The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. In Burns’ words, “Jacqueline Schwab brings more feeling and intensity to music than anyone I know. Her playing is insistent, physical, heartfelt and … unusually moving.” Schwab’s improvisational playing draws on classical, traditional folk and contemporary roots. The New England Folk Almanac wrote she plays with “the jazz/classical improvisational spirit of Keith Jarrett and the touch of George Winston ….” For her Albuquerque concert, in this Mark Twain anniversary year, Jacqueline will feature music from Twain’s era (1835-1910) and beyond—Stephen Foster and Civil War song tunes, Victorian ballroom dance tunes, Scots and Irish songs and dance tunes brought over by settlers, hymns and spirituals, ragtime, plus 20th-century tango and Billie Holiday blues. She will also perform Scottish and English traditional music in the contemporary tradition. For more information, see www.Jacquelineschwab.com, or listen to sound clips on www.myspace.com/jacquelineschwab. Noralyn and I will be selling tickets at the door. So come on out, bring your friends, and please invite anyone who would enjoy attending this very reasonably priced evening of entertainment!

Concerts Galore: www.ampconcerts.org/ is neal copperman’s awesome music venue with lots of concert information for music-lovers. Neal also organizes ¡Globalquerque!, which will be September 24 & 25, 2010 at the Hispanic Cultural Center, ABQ, NM (more on this below).

Folk Wedding # 15:   On May 9, 2010 longtime dancer Joli Sharp married longtime wilderness activist Michael Soule in the Sandia Mountains. A tasty potluck followed. Here is the group shot of all present on that beautiful sunny day filled with friends, food, laughter and birdwatching.

Tragic News: Those of you who attended Boo Camp 2004, 2009 Folkmadness in Socorro, any May Madness weekend in Prescott, or Dance in the Desert camp outside Tucson know the great dance band the Privy Tippers. On November 18, 2009 the Tippers’ guitarist Craig Tinney was in a motorcycle accident that left him quadriplegic. Despite a great attitude and rehab, he died on June 29, 2010. I blogged about Craig at  http://merridancing.com/wp/2010/06/craig-tinney-departs-this-earthly-world/ Cherish our time on earth, since we don’t know how long we’ll be here.

Looking Ahead: PICKNICAMANIA MUSIC AND PICNIC FESTIVAL, Free!! Saturday, September 11, 2010 in lovely Silver City, New Mexico, 12 noon – 8 PM, come and share music at Gough Park with local musicians and out-of-towners. Bring a picnic and your instruments for an unforgettable afternoon of Jamming. While the town’s fledgling festival Pickamania is taking a year off, we will celebrate with an informal, totally acoustic grass roots festival. There will be no sound systems, just groups of people playing music all around the park, and eating/sharing picnics. So mark your calendars with this date and tell your friends. For more info write Ken and Jeanie at  bayouseco@aol.com

¡Globalquerque! will be September 24 & 25, 2010 at the Hispanic Cultural Center, ABQ, NM. Lineup includes:

Rahim AlHaj & Little Earth Orchestra (Iraq/USA)
Khaïra Arby (Mali)
Susana Baca (Peru)
Deolinda (Portugal)
Flatlanders with Tom Russell (U.S.)
Inti-Illimani & Francesca Gagnon (Chile/Quebec, Canada)
Kenge Kenge (Kenya)

Mariachi Mystery Tour (New Mexico, USA)
Emeline Michel (Haiti)
Pietra Montecorvino (Italy)
Oreka Tx (Spain)
Simon Shaheen (Palestine)
Líber Terán (Mexico)

Advance tickets on sale now!

Want to dance in the Czech Republic? This year’s tour takes place October 9-18, 2010: http://dvorana.cz/dance/2010/country_tour/ Contact David Millstone for more info at millstone@valley.net

I shall add more events as I learn of them. Happy playing, dancing, and singing.

Merri Rudd, Albuquerque, NM, www.merridancing.com

We had numerous gigs together—in Flagstaff, Tucson, Prescott, New Mexico. I thrived on the Tippers’ energy and utter commitment to enhancing the dancers’ joy. They said I was fun. Craig Tinney, the Tippers’ guitarist, called me “Sunshine.” Jerry Ray Weinert, the bassist, honored me by asking me to officiate at his wedding to Marni Dittmar. Dave Firestine, mandolin-maniac, learned new tunes for me just because I said they’d be good dance tunes. Jacquie Wohl (Craig’s wife) and I were both lawyers; we had fun debating issues of justice and conscience. Before each gig I would bake for the band (even carrying goodies onto the plane). Eventually, they would play one tune, then exclaim in unison, “We’re starving. What did you bring us?” I created some very musical and loveable monsters.

At every Dance in the Desert camp that I attended, I would dance with each of the Tippers before the weekend ended. That’s what made them such a great dance band—they all played AND danced. They “got” how music and dance fit together in a wild, synergistic heap.

In the fall of 2004 the Tippers and I were hired to be the talent for New Mexico’s Boo Camp in the beautiful Jemez Valley. There we nestled among radiant yellow cottonwoods along the raging Jemez River. We rocked the dance hall. We dressed up. We did a wedding. Mark and I fed the band before the gig, then Craig drove up with me. That was my first long stretch of time with him, talking about hydrology issues and New Mexico’s water use. He was horrified to discover new development along Highway 550; he said there wasn’t enough water to sustain it. It was the first time I ever heard him rail.

Our paths continued to cross in the folk world after that, with more gigs and camps. Over Memorial Day, 2009 weekend, the Privy Tippers were hired, along with Bag O’Tricks from Seattle, to be the guest talent at New Mexico’s annual Folkmadness Music and Dance Camp. I admit, I meddled a little to make that happen. I thought it was time for both bands to have a wider audience in New Mexico. It worked out fine–both bands were wildly popular, and the campers remarked at how wonderful it was that the Tippers stayed up until 2 in the morning to jam with the locals attendees. Jacquie and Craig were so enthralled with the well-organized camp that they vowed to return in 2010 as campers.

In September 2009 I headed to Tucson for my friend Jean’s 90th birthday. After the party, Jacquie picked me up and took me to their home before our gig for Tucson’s contra dance. She, Craig and I made dinner, then went to the dance hall. Dave was out of town, so Dan Levenson and his wife Jennifer filled in. I had the luxury that night of throwing out the entire dance program I had planned on the airplane. The dancers were so skilled that I called dance-camp-challenging dances the entire night. It was so much fun, and I made a few videos of the band and dancers: Privy Tippers Rock Tucson Contra Dance

The next morning Craig took me hiking in the foothills where we saw a sun-drenched deer and quail. We had heart-to-heart talks about karma and nature and music and dance and caretaking and family and one’s inner psyches. We bought bread at Craig’s favorite bread place, then we joined Jerry Ray and Marni for a birthday brunch. Jacquie took me to the airport. That was the last time I saw Craig.

Two months later he had a motorcycle accident that left him quadriplegic. His brain and spirit survived, intact. I can only faintly fathom the profound transition from a physical life to a cerebral life, of not being able to shoo a fly from one’s face, breathe on one’s own, play guitar, hug one’s loved ones. But Craig took the plunge, did his surgeries, started rehab, moved to Craig Hospital outside Denver, thrived on the care and support and cards and jokes of family, friends, musicians and hospital staff. He kept his sense of humor, learned to “sip and puff” his wheelchair around. He must have had some dark moments, perhaps he wondered if it was all worth it. During the course of his treatment and rehab, he learned how loved he and Jacquie were, in the outpouring of hope and well-wishes from around the country posted on their CaringBridge pages. Hundreds of us collectively willed a different, better outcome. Hundreds of us failed to help Craig move even a finger. Goodness knows, we all tried our best. But it was not to be.

How delighted Craig and Jacquie were to return home to Tucson, renovate their home, see friends, eat their favorite foods, settle into the new life the universe sent their way. A multitude of friends and family attended the benefit for Craig and Jacquie in Tucson on June 13, singing and dancing and jamming and celebrating the wondrous spirits of Craig and Jacquie. They posted an entry on their CaringBridge page:

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 8:34 AM, MST

Thank you a million times to all of our friends who organized the Celebration of Friends and who worked for months to see that the event came to fruition.  It was wonderful, attended by hundreds of friends! Such great feelings, great music, great food,  great jamming, and great friends! Craig was there all day, greeting people he had not seen in months, and in come cases, years.  He was energized by the experience.?  We both hope to see more of our friends when we can spend more time with everyone.  It was impossible to walk more than a foot without being stopped and greeted. Will write more later and post pix of the event. Just can’t say thank you enough.
Jacq?uie & Craig

Jacquie had a birthday on June 26, a big birthday. But Craig went into the hospital that day with pneumonia. He recovered quickly and was sent home on Monday, June 28. Tuesday morn Jacquie sent me an email that Craig had died in his sleep in the wee hours of the morning, Tuesday, June 29, 2010. She wrote:

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 7:52 AM, MST

Craig was hospitalize?d on Saturday for pneumonia.  He improved rapidly and came home yesterday afternoon.  Craig was very happy to be home and had a wonderful dinner of chile rellenos (brought by our friends Liz and Russ) and napolitos (made by Ariel from prickly pear cactus from our backyard) with our family.  He gave me a birthday present and wonderful birthday card and fell asleep.  When I got up at 4 am to turn him, I found that Craig had passed away in his sleep.  He loved all of his friends and so greatly appreciated the celebration that you all held for him 2 weekends ago.  Craig was continually amazed by the responses on Caringbridg?e.  He loved his daughters, his home, his friends, his community and his music.  Thank you all so much for making these last several months so meaningful for Craig.

Jacqu?ie

I cried. I tried not to. I could kind of hear Craig saying, “Aw, Sunshine, don’t be sad.” But I cried. The world is diminished now that Craig has left this earthly realm. He was kind, he was smart, he was funny, he was politically correct (in my opinion), he was passionate, he was understated, he had a good soul. He was a damn fine musician. He adored life, Jacquie, his girls Ariel and Leah, music, and dance. He loved the folk community and his place in it. He was fully present and gleeful among his friends, all of whom he made feel as if they were the bee’s knees. He believed in the goodness of humanity, even when humanity sometimes didn’t deserve his belief. He deserved a better fate. He deserved many more years among us.

This morning while walking the dog I earnestly looked for Craig, for some sign that he was out and about and having fun. Would I see a ghostly image of him floating and playing guitar? Or dancing with a cloud? Would our local roadrunner appear with a message from Craig? Would I hear his voice in the breeze or the rustling of the trees? He wasn’t here, not yet, at least. He probably has a lot of travelling to do in Arizona first, before he makes his way to New Mexico and points beyond.

He may be physically gone, but his essence will live in our hearts and minds and spirits for the rest of our lives. Craig Tinney had true generosity of heart, the greatest accomplishment any of us can hope to achieve.

Information on Craig’s memorial on July 5 is at: Craig’s Obituary

Merri Rudd, Albuquerque, NM

I wanted to post a short folk enews after a long absence. As many of you know, my aunt died in February 2010, and I have been doing much estate business since then. But I was able to host a very fun open mike dance on June 5, and I’m happy to report that the younger generation of callers is well on its way. This summer’s events include:

ZOUKFEST is underway as I type. Staff members include Doug Goodhart, Roger Landes, Luke Plumb, Moira Smiley, Steve Smith, and Guest Artist Andy Irvine. Irish fiddler Martin Hayes is joining the ZoukFest staff for the first time this year. Two concerts at the Outpost Performance Space in Albuquerque happen Friday, June 11, and Saturday, June 12. Visit www.zoukfest.org and www.ampconcerts.org for details.

Albuqueque Folk Festival: June 18 and 19 at the ABQ Expo (former Fairgrounds) is almost here. Performers include:

• Bayou Seco
• Blue Canyon Boys
• Fishtank Ensemble
• Los Primos
• Robin & Linda Williams & Their Fine Group
• Wagogo

http://abqfolkfest.org/ has details and schedule.

Free Baroque Concert, ABQ: The Albuquerque Baroque Players with guests Stephen Redfield, Baroque violin, and Carole Redman, Baroque Flute, will present a FREE concert of Baroque Music, A Musical Feast with Georg Philipp Telemann, Sunday, June 20, 2010 at 3:00 PM. at Central United Methodist Church, 201 University Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106 (just north of Central.) For more info visit www.albuquerquebaroqueplayers.com

Our neighbors in AZ are planning their 2nd annual Ghost Town Chill Down dance weekend in Jerome, AZ on July 30, 31 and August 1. The all-star line up includes the Groovemongers http://groovemongers.com/index.shtml and Lisa Greenleaf, plus astounding and fresh young musicians from Maine, Perpetual e-Motion. Info is at http://www.azwedance.org/index.php/ghost_town_chill_down/

English Country Weekend with Bare Necessities in NEW MEXICO!: August has competing events. Meg Adams-Cameron and I (and many others) have already signed up to attend the International Folk Dance group’s August Camp featuring English Country dancing with Bare Necessities. Bare Necessities is THE premiere English country band in the world. The camp is Aug. 5-8, 2010 in Socorro, NM at the NM Tech campus (same place that Folkmadness is held). Zeljko Jergan will also teach Croatian dances. Visit www.swifdi.org for registration form or pick up a brochure at a dance. Scholarships are available for this camp–you can receive half the camp registration fee in exchange for working at camp–cuing music, setting out snacks, etc. Karen Bunch is organizing scholarships. Her email is jimnkaren1@comcast.net

Albuquerque Concert: An added bonus will be a special concert on Tuesday, August 10, featuring Jacqueline Schwab, pianist for Bare Necessities. She also played piano on the soundtrack of Ken Burns’ Civil War and National Parks TV series. The concert will be at the Unitarian Church at Carlisle and Comanche, so save this date. Kit and I are organizing the concert.

Wildlife West Music Festival: If you can’t dance that first weekend in August, the Wildlife West Nature Park will have its annual music weekend, organized by Richard Eager, August 6-8, 2010. The Claire Lynch band, Pat Donahoe, Small Potatoes, and Spring Creek are just some of the talent to grace the two stages. Plus the resident bear and mountain lions always enjoy company. Visit http://wildlifewest.org/bluegrass.html for details and prices.

Folk Wedding #15: Longtime dancer Joli Sharp married longtime wilderness activist Michael Soule on Mother’s Day this year. They are having a celebration on Sunday June 27, 3pm to 10pm at the Oak Flat picnic ground, Yucca shelter (From I40 south on 14 at Tijeras for about 6 miles, left at Oak Flat sign, about 3/4 mi to picnic ground). Bring a potluck dish if you are inspired. They’ll have barbecue, fruit, drinks. This party is for everyone, so bring your mate, your friend, your young’uns, and spread the word. They want a fun, folkie send-off!

Ongoing FOLKMADS events, dances in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, continue. www.folkmads.org has details.

Info on Las Cruces, NM dances is at www.zianet.com/lcludeman/contra/snmmds.html.

www.nmdance.com is Albuquerque Swing and Country Dance Club.

New Mexico Music Links: www.ampconcerts.org/ is neal copperman’s awesome music venue with lots of concert information for music-lovers. Neal also organizes ¡Globalquerque!, which will be September 24 & 25, 2010 at the Hispanic Cultural Center, ABQ, NM. Lyle Lovett on July 29…and much more.

ABQ Biopark & Zoo Concerts: www.cabq.gov/biopark Concerts on Fridays at the zoo and Thursdays at the Biopark.

www.southwestpickers.org has info on bluegrass concerts around Albuquerque.

The Outpost Performance Space in Albuquerque, mostly jazz and folk, has a web site, www.outpostspace.org/.

Santa Fe Concerts: GiG is Santa Fe’s non-profit performance space. GiG is located at 1808 Second St. The suggested donation is $7 to $10. All shows are at 8 PM. Check out www.gigsantafe.com for more details about each week’s artists and listen to their music samples at the Listen link!

Durango Contra Dance Info: For information, call 970-385-9292, or see the website groups.google.com/group/Durango-Contra-Dances

Arizona Music and Dance Info: www.phxmd.org/contradancing/cdancing.htm (Scroll down the page to find links to various Arizona dance communities.

Colorado Music and Dance Info: www.dancingtheweb.com/coloradocontra/ccovenue.htm

So it wasn’t all that short, sorry! A lot is going on this summer. Email me other events and I will include them in a future folk enews.

Thanks and happy dancing and playing!

Merri, merri@merridancing.com

www.merridancing.com/wp

I’ve collected some links to help you find information about music, dance and concert events around the southwest this summer. I hope that the links below work and that you all have a fun summer.

New Mexico Folk Music and Dance Society (FOLKMADS) events, such as contra dances, special events, and festivals, are now posted electronically at www.folkmads.org

This summer the most important events to remember are the Albuquerque Folk Festival on June 19 and 20, 2009, and the Wildlife West Music Festival on August 7-9, 2009. I went to both last year, and they were awesome. The Wildlife West Music Festival will feature internationally known folk singer and musician John McCutheon and Tucson’s Round the House, in addition to other regionally known bands. AND you can walk around and observe bears, mountain lions, and other rescued wild critters–utterly amazing.

Info on Las Cruces, NM dances is at http://www.zianet.com/lcludeman/contra/snmmds.html. Their dances have been so popular this year, they may even have them in June and July.

www.nmdance.com is Albuquerque Swing and Country Dance Club.

There is also outdoor “Salsa Under the Stars” dancing event most Fridays during the summer at the ABQ Museum. It is put on by the NM jazz society. They also have jazz & blues events too. The link is: http://www.nmjazz.org/page1/page12/page12.html

To subscribe to a New Mexico local dance e-newsletter, please contact Susan Kellogg at glkello@nmia.com or call 505-299-3737.

Monthly Singing: FOLK SONG CIRCLE the 1st Friday of each month in Corrales, New Mexico. 8:00 P.M. TO MIDNIGHT; Contact: Laurie McPherson 898-6978, lauriemcpherson@hotmail.com or lmcpherson@salud.unm.edu

New Mexico Music Links: http://www.ampconcerts.org/ is neal copperman’s awesome music venue with lots of concert information for music-lovers. Neal also organizes ¡Globalquerque!, which will be September 25 & 26, 2009 at the Hispanic Cultural Center, ABQ, NM.

ABQ Biopark & Zoo Concerts: www.cabq.gov/biopark Concerts on Fridays at the zoo and Thursdays at the Biopark.

www.southwestpickers.org has info on bluegrass concerts around Albuquerque.

The Outpost Performance Space in Albuquerque, mostly jazz and folk, has a web site, www.outpostspace.org/.

Santa Fe Concerts: GiG is Santa Fe’s non-profit performance space. GiG is located at 1808 Second St. The suggested donation is $7 to $10. All shows are at 8 PM. Check out www.gigsantafe.com for more details about each week’s artists and listen to their music samples at the Listen link!

http://rogerlandes.com/ is the web site of Roger Landes, Taos musician extraordinaire and organizer of Zoukfest, www.zoukfest.com It’s June 12-14, 2009 at the UNM Campus in Albuquerque.

To sign up for the e-mail list for Parkland Circle House Concerts (Albuquerque), write gcnewma@sandia.gov

Durango Contra Dance Info: For information, call 970-385-9292, or see the website http://groups.google.com/group/Durango-Contra-Dances

Arizona Music and Dance Info: http://www.tftm.org/contradancing/cdancing.htm (Scroll down the page to find links to various Arizona dance communities.

Colorado Music and Dance Info: http://www.dancingtheweb.com/coloradocontra/ccovenue.htm

Oklahoma Dance Weekend: Flamingo Fling
When: June 12-14, 2009
Where: Epworth United Methodist Church, 1901 N. Douglas Oklahoma City, OK
Nils Fredland calling, with music by The Great Bear Trio. These young energetic talents will rev you up bigtime! Hospitality is available, if needed. Registration details available at:

http://www.scissortail.org/FlamingoFling/tabid/59/Default.aspx

Jerome, AZ Ghost Town Chill Down
Who: The Rhythm Rollers (Cathie Whitesides, Laurie Andres and Bob McQuillen) with caller Bob Isaacs; also featuring Arizona talent Updraft, Peg Hesley and Laila Lewis
What: GHOST TOWN CHILL DOWN: A COOL dance weekend for HOT dancers
Where: At Spook Hall in Jerome AZ
When: July 17- 19, 2009
More info and registration form: http://azwedance.googlepages.com/ghosttownchilldown

Email me other links and I will add them to this page. Thanks and happy dancing and playing,

Merri Rudd
merri@merridancing.com
www.merridancing.com