FolkMADS sponsors Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos contra dances, concerts, camps, and other special events. "Contra" dances include contras, squares, mixers, and couple dances. Unless noted on the calendar otherwise, admission is $5 for members, $6 for nonmembers. You need not come with a partner. Free instruction for beginners starts at 7:30 p.m. Dances begin at 8 p.m. and are smoke-free and alcohol-free. Children and teens are encouraged to participate if supervised by an adult.

Albuquerque Dances 1st and 3rd Saturdays. Location as noted on calendar.

Santa Fe Dances 2nd and 4th Saturday contra dances and 5th Saturday English Country dances. Odd Fellows Hall, 1125 Cerrillos Road (south of Cordova Drive on the western side of Cerrillos).

Taos Dances 3rd Saturdays, Holy Trinity Parish Hall, Arroyo Seco.

Megaband Practices All musicians welcome.

ABQ Megaband Albuquerque Megaband practice is held at the Blue Dragon Coffee House, 1517 Girard NE,Albuquerque, the Tuesday before the 3rd Saturday dance. Bruce Thomson, 268-6003, or email Jane Phillips (remove "NOSPAM" when emailing) for more info or to be added to the listserv.

Santa Fe Jam Sessions First and third Thursdays, 7:00 p.m., at Katherine Bueler and Gary Schiffmiller's, 924 Osage Ave. 995-1125, for details. Rumors of SF Megaband revival.

Acoustic Jam 7 p.m. before the Albuquerque dances. All acoustic musicians are welcome and all types of music are played. Call Jay Cutts for more information, 281-0684.

2005 Officers/Directors

Ongoing Events

Hotpoint Stringband, a dance band characterized by their own brand of sizzling hot contra dance tunes, high-energy squares, and string swing. Known for their ability to maintain a deep groove at any tempo.

Al and Emily Cantrell cast a magical spell with their airy, joyful acoustic songs.  Emily sings in a fluid, jazzy style while Al plays a spirited fiddle and a dazzling mandolin.

Callers Becky Hill (known for her smooth dances and friendly style with quick, clear, and concise walkthroughs) and Nils Fredland (known for helping people feel a wonderful sense of belonging).

New Mexico's Own, Bayou Seco, cross-cultural music celebrating cultures that eat hot food and play spicy music. Ken Keppeler and Jeanie McLerie from Silver City, N.M. will be joined by Scott Mathis and Linda Askew.

Working with Callers - Part 2:  The standard joke among musicians playing for a dance goes as follows:

What the Caller says:  "This next dance is really bouncy, with a balance-and-swing in the first part, followed by a star, while the second part starts off with an all-hands-forward-and-back, into a sashay and a finally a promenade around the set."

What the Band hears:  "This dance blah, blah, reel, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah..."

But of course there's much more to dance music than reels.  We've talked previously about working with callers, and especially tune selection.  Merri Rudd, another of the FolkMADS excellent callers (www.merridancing.com/bio.htm), stated her desire for a strong rhythm with a bass, piano, or guitar that drives the dance and helps her connect with the music.  She also reiterated previous comments about the importance of communication between the band and caller, especially with respect to tempos, tune changes, and ending.  I know I'm not the only one to become so involved in either the music or the dancing that I've missed signs from the caller.

Enough from the callers; let me give a couple of suggestions from the musician camp.  First, during a dance the caller also must give clear, unambiguous messages and make sure multiple members of the band understand the request.  All of the callers who've contributed to this dialog have mentioned the desirability of meeting with the band to work out communication.  This is helpful, even if it's just a phone call a week or two before the dance.  Second, I suggest that callers associate some tunes to particular dances, and request them.  It gives everybody confidence that the tune will work with the dance and reduces some of the on-stage anxiety of "what should we play next?"  Also, don't be reluctant to ask the band to learn some new stuff; it's often quite satisfying for the band to learn and play new material that's out of their normal comfort zone.  Just remember, special requests need to be made a couple of weeks in advance to give the band time to figure it out.

Nearly 20 years ago Bob Carlin recorded a great album of banjo-fiddle music.  This version of Too Young to Marry (my sentiments exactly) was recorded with Judy Hyman.

X:43
T:Too Young to Marry
M:C
L:1/8
R:Reel
N:Bob Carlin & Judy Hyman, Banging & Sawing
N:Rounder 0197
N:Transcribed by Bruce Thomson
K:D
|:"D"aAbA aAeg|fd3d2fg|aAbA aAga|"G"bgbg "A"e2fg|"D"aAbA aAeg|fd3d2ef
|"A"gfed cABc|1"D"d3dd2fg:|2"D"d3dd2(3ABc|:"D"dBAG FEDF|"G"GABcd2Bc|
"D"dBAG FEDF|"A"E3EE2Bc|"D"dBAG FEDF|"G"GABc dedB|"A"ABcd egfe|"D"d3dd4:|

Albuquerque Folk Festival Saturday, June 18 Mark your calendars for the next Albuquerque Folk Festival. Now in its seventh year, the Albuquerque Folk Festival celebrates community spirit with song, dance, acoustic music, and storytelling. It's at the New Mexico State Fairgrounds. The schedule begins at 11 a.m. and extends to 11 p.m. The Folk Festival will be the site of the Albuquerque Contra Dance with Doc Litchman calling and award-winning Albuquerque MegaBand playing. See the enclosed flyer for more details.

Other Events

June 26 - July 2. Rocky Mountain Dance Roundup near Colorado Springs, CO. This adult camp includes Contra, Square, English, Rund, and International dencing to live music. Sponsored by Lloyd Shaw Foundation. Information at www.lloydshaw.org or 303 741-6375. (Or look for flyers on the dance table.)

Traveling to Moab? Wanna Dance? The folks up in slick-rock land send word of the new Moab Contra Dance on the First Friday of each month at the Moab Arts & Recreation Center (MARC).  Dances start at 7:30 pm. and feature the Moab Community Dance Band and local callers.

Albuquerque Dance Location Cheat Sheet

May 7, 2005: Dance Studio May 21, 2005: Dance Studio June 4, 2005: Dance Studio June 18, 2005: African-American Building at the Fairgrounds May 8, 2005‚ Second Sunday Dance: Dance Studio -- 7:00 - 9:30 p.m. June 12, 2005‚ Second Sunday Dance: Dance Studio -- 7:00 - 9:30 p.m.

Albuquerque Square Dance Center 4909-15 Hawkins NE, one full block west of I-25 and 1/2 block north of Ellison. Take the Ellison/San Antonio exit, go west (away from Sandia mountains), turn north (right) at the first intersection past the motels. Dance Studio 4217 San Mateo NE, 1 block south of Montgomery on the west side of the street. Gated parking area behind the studio. For security reasons, do not park behind Auto Zone. Fairgrounds Use entrance on San Pedro between Lomas and Central. NOTE: Bring clean dance shoes that don't leave black marks.