Dancing at the Festival
The dancing just gets better and better every year at the Festival. On Saturday, the dance workshops, in two venues, start at 10:30 a.m. Take a dinner break at 6:30 p.m. and then come back for the Saturday evening dances that start at 7:30 p.m.. This year, the Barn Dance co-sponsored by ADC will again feature Cathy Faber's Swingin' Country Band, and the Contra Dance, sponsored by FolkMADS, will feature the Albuquerque Megaband with DeLaura Padovan, from Virginia, calling.
Of course, you can always dance to the live music at various venues around the festival. And if you feel like dance jammin', you can join in the Band/Dance Scramble, with planning, rehearsal, and name creation from 4:30-5:30 p.m. and performance from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Dance Workshops
Here's our 2013 dance workshop schedule, with two dance venues. Don't miss the chance to try all kinds of different dancing styles. Thanks to Patsy Gregory for organizing the dance workshops.
Dance Tent
| Time | Session | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:30 AM | Cross Step Waltz | Gary Diggs | |
| 11:30 AM | Hawaiian Hula | Cindi Heffner | Come and learn the basic hand, foot, and body movements that entwine to tell stories of Hawaii's history and every aspect of Hawaiian life. |
| 12:30 PM | Irish Ceili | Norita Callahan | A lively Irish hoedown, led by Norita Callahan, with round, line and square figures danced to reels 'n jigs 'n hornpipe music. Traditional Irish Ceili (K-lee)dance classes for beginners - pre-teen to adult - are held on Wednesday evenings at 7pm.** These classes have been on-going in Albuquerque since 1985. Ceili dances are simple, mildly aerobic and no partner is needed. We dance 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 16 hand dances in round, square and line formations. The lively music - which makes your feet want to dance - are reels, jigs, polkas and hornpipes. Please call/email Norita 298-2708, noraabq@yahoo.com for more information. IT'S FUN - Join us... |
| 1:30 PM | Tango | The Tango Club of Albuquerque | Tango is a sensuous yet very intricate social dance. In the workshop students will learn a few basic steps, how to keep the dance frame and how to move to the music. Come with your partner or by yourself. |
| 2:30 PM | Dare to be Square | Kris Jensen | Square dancing is a truly American folk dance that's evolved over the years to its current modern form. In this session, we'll learn dances that show how square dancing has changed over time, and you'll see a demo of the exciting modern dance where the dancers never know what will come next. You won't need any experience to try a little do-si-do; everyone's welcome. Kris Jensen calls both modern and traditional squares locally and around the country. For more information on modern square dancing in Albuquerque, check the Albuquerque Square Dance Center's website at http://www.asdc.org . FolkMADS contra dances often include traditional square dances; check them out at http://www.folkmads.org . |
| 3:30 PM | Scottish Country Dance | Kenneth Armstrong | The Enchantment Scottish Country Dancers (http://www.losalamos.com/nmrscds/) love dancing. We meet on Friday nights and new people are very welcome to join us. Scottish Country Dancing is usually done in a four couple set. The dances are Reels, Jigs and Strathspeys and are great fun and good exercise. Further information from Kenneth Armstrong at 294-0042 or karmstron⠼@comcast.net. |
| 4:30 PM | Scandinavian Dance | Craig Olson | Enjoy lively couple's turning dances from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. |
| 5:30 PM | Country Western Swing | Susan and Gary Kellogg | You'll be dancing swing by the end of class - no partners needed! Come practice your new steps at the Barn Dance Saturday evening at 7:30 in the dance tent. If you want to learn about fun dance activities in New Mexico as well learn how to dance just about any form of dance, please sign up to receive my free dance e-newsletter, Local DanceNews by replying to glkello@nmia.com or call 505-299-3737. Also contact me for information on the Albuquerque Dance Club activities (over 700 members), about the ongoing dance lessons offered at The Dirty Bourbon Dance Hall every Tuesday and Wednesday, and classes offered through U.N.M. Continuing Education . We look forward to dancing with you soon! |
Indoor Dance
| Time | Session | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:30 AM | TBD | ||
| 11:30 AM | Contra Dance | Erik Erhardt | Contra dancing is traditional American folk dancing most often done with a partner across form you in a long set. Each couple dances with the couple next to them and with the larger set, forming moving figures as the couples progress up or down the set. These dances are social, providing opportunity for dancers to relate to each other in a fun and non-stressful way. All of the dances are taught, and beginners are welcomed warmly and encouraged. You can do contra and traditional community dancing with the New Mexico Folk Music and Dance Society (FolkMADS). In Albuquerque, community dances are held on the first and third Saturday of every month at the Heights Community Center. In Santa Fe, the dances are on the second and fourth Saturday of every month at the Odd Fellows Hall on Cerrillos Rd. More information can be found at: http://www.folkmads.org . |
| 12:30 PM | Belly Dancing | Joy Germack | Traditional Greek Belly Dance, Tsifteteli, with live music, often seen at weddings and parties, for both men and women. |
| 1:30 PM | International Folk Dancing | Bill Croft and Noralyn Parsons | Teaching international folk dances from Europe, the Balkans and the Near East. Bill Croft has been dancing international folk dance since 1981. Bill began dancing in California, led the international folk dance group in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the late 1980s, and danced in Manchester, UK before moving to Albuquerque in 2006. They have attended workshops in California, Michigan, Illinois and the UK. Noralyn Parsons grew up with folk dancing parents in Oak Ridge, TN, and has been dancing since she was 14, starting at various dance camps in the East (West Virginia, Kentucky, Maine and North Carolina) and workshops in Nashville and Atlanta. Noralyn has been dancing and teaching in Albuquerque for 22 years. Noralyn: ""I love the infinite variety of music and cultural influences evident in the dances, and greatly enjoy sharing what I love." |
| 2:30 PM | Irish Step Dance | Jennifer London and Kim Coleman | Irish Step Dance is noted for leaps, points, and other precise foot movements, done to complex rhythms such as jigs, reels, and hornpipes. Two varieties, soft shoe and hard shoe, can be done as solos, in couples, or in larger groups. |
| 3:30 PM | Zwiefache | Donna Howell | The zwiefacher (TSWEE-FAKH-ER) is a living folk dance from Bavaria. The catchy music alternates between ¾ and 2/4. Couples dance waltz steps to the waltz bars (3/4) and pivot steps to the 2/4 bars. Live music!! Zwiefache have been around since Columbus was in diapers. Two forms of documentation have been preserved from the 1400's; musical notation and arrest records. Arrest records? Dancing in a closed hold, even with your spouse, was equivalent to 'doing it' in public. Basically, the dance is a fast turning waltz sprinkled with pivots. A couple's rate of rotation will continuously speed and slow, centrifugal forces changing at the same time. If you never dance it again, you'll still come away with improved social waltz skills. The workshop will be blessed with live music from Gary Papenhagen, Della Okeeffe and Lara Aho. The tunes are melodic to the point of being 'ear-worms' and each tune has its set pattern of waltzes and pivots.You may consider it wise to wear shoes that protect your toes. A video of folks dancing zwiefache is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWp8lz0fJ3k&feature=related Instructor Donna Howell has taught historic and modern couple dances for over 25 years. She currently teaches at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center in Santa Fe, produces a program of dance music on Santa Fe Public Radio KSFR 101.1 FM and can be reached at donna_jhowell@hotmail.com. |
| 4:30 PM | Klezmer Dance | Beth Cohen | Fun, easy and joyous Yiddish folk dances. |
| 5:30 PM | TBD |
Evening dancing for everybody
Saturday Night
Variety Barn Dance "under the stars" in the Dance Tent, 7:30-10:30 p.m., sponsored in part by the Albuquerque Dance Club. Music by Cathy Faber's Swingin' Country Band
Cathy Faber loves to sing and play Western Swing and Retro Country Music that folks can listen and dance to. “Cathy Faber’s Swingin’ Country Band” features Cathy Faber as lead singer and upright bassist with George Langston on acoustic and electric guitars and harmony vocals, Dave Devlin on lap steel, dobro, and telecaster, and Chris Carpenter on drums. They punch out great versions of Western Swing, Retro Country, Rockabilly and Blues/Folk/Rock covers that were never over-played on the top 10 radio stations. Cathy’s smooth vocals, taste in music, and the whole band’s contagious sense of fun set them apart as one of Northern New Mexico’s most enjoyable dance bands.
“If you’re a lover of Western Swing and classic country, sung by one of the finest female vocalists anywhere, then Cathy Faber’s Swingin’ Country Band is a sure bet to keep you dancin’ your boots off and royally entertained” - Bill Hearne
and
NM FolkMADS Contra Dance in the Indoor Dance area from 7:30 - 10:30 p.m.. Music by the Albuquerque Megaband and calling by DeLaura Padovan.The Albuquerque Megaband is an open acoustic band that plays for each 3rd Saturday contra dance in ABQ. Since its beginnings in the early 1980s it has provided a place for experienced musicians and those just starting out to play together at FolkMADS dances, workshops, and occasionally other events.
Since the 1990's, DeLaura Padovan has lived with her husband, fiddler Steve Hickman, and their daughters in a non-electrified hand-made log cabin in a pine forest in King George, Virginia. Staunch local food activists, they helped to co-found the Fredericksburg, VA Community Supported Agriculture group in 1995, and the King George Farmers Market in 2009. They raise chickens and goats, make homestead cheeses, grow organic vegetables, pick wild blueberries in the woods, and play a lot of music, particularly Zimbabwe-style marimba.
Through CDSS, Bay Area CDS, and the Lloyd Shaw Foundation, DeLaura has spent numerous weeks over the last 20 years at Family Dance Weeks across the country, from Pinewoods to Foothill Horizons. Her teaching is clear and full of joy, and she delights in leading dancers of all ages. She calls regularly in the DC/Baltimore region.
This is the family's first visit to the American Southwest, and they are all enthralled to be part of the Albuquerque Folk Festival.
