Caller Katherine Bueler from Santa Fe stepped in at the last minute to call in a masterful performance to a packed Odd Fellows Hall filled with music students from ATC and their parents and supporters, with many of our regular dancers. What a night! Teacher Eric Carlson led music by the ATC String band, students from the Academy for Technology and the Classics (ATC), along with Gary Papenhagen and Robin Gurule.
Here’s a snippet of video from the first waltz of the evening.
I’m proposing a New Year’s Resolution for our experienced dancers to become “ambi-danceterous” or “bi-dancual” … to become a fluent dancer of both dance roles. This suggestion was originally made last month by Will Loving of western Massachusetts who posted to the SharedWeight.net Organizers message board.
There’s so much to gain from dancing both gender roles! Not only will you be getting on a gender-free wave sweeping the greater contra community, but you have these aspects to look forward to:
So, when you’re on the floor these next couple months, consider asking someone to dance and indicate you’d like to dance a specific dance role (“gent” or “lady”, start “left” or “right” in line). “I’d like to dance the lady role, want to dance?”
My experience is that there’s often more play (more fun) when I dance the other gender role, or when I give someone else that opportunity. These are my most memorable dances. I also believe this has a positive community effect of reducing sexist role expectations and creating more equal dance opportunities for everyone.
For callers, it’s imperative to understand how everyone moves and interacts on the floor, and there’s no substitute for dancing a figure from every dancer’s perspective. The experience will often give you insight about where the “trouble spots” are for teaching a figure/call to a new dancer, and when dancers need to hear which words to more quickly have success and enjoy it (and save them from struggling frustratedly). As callers, we also want to encourage dancers to “dance with who’s coming at ‘cha” — it’s the dance position/role (not biology) that determines the interaction between dancers. All of us can be anything we want, when we want.
Erik Erhardt, FolkMADS President
Lets give a big thank you to the 2015 FolkMADS Board of Directors:
Angela Welford
Ben Bean
Ben Werner
Bruce Thomson
Emily Ruch
Erik Erhardt (Pres)
Marj Mullany
Megan Slinkard
Nancy Ford
Stacey Chan
Tom Hunter
And lets welcome the new 2016 Board of Directors!
Angela Welford
Ben Werner
Bruce Thomson
Deb Bluestone
Emily Ruch
Erik Erhardt (Pres)
Lisa Bertelli
Lucy Frey
Nancy Ford
Sol Lederman
Stacey Chan
A boogie both bygone and modern, a living tradition gets thumbs up in Albuquerque The Magazine.
Clara Byom’s new UNM band will join us. We can focus on band-related skills, such as basics of communication, changing tempo, resychonizing when things get off (if the band drops a phrase or if the caller drops a call or starts the next move early), and a range of apologies and smiles for all situations 🙂
The Country Dance and Song Society is celebrating its centennial this year. And to celebrate, they are honoring local heroes who are making a difference in their communities. Our very own Erik Erhardt is one of them! Read on or click below to see how he is one of our local heroes.
http://cdss100.org/community100/local-heroes/145-local-hero-erik-erhardt
Erik has been an active member of our dance community since he joined us almost ten years ago. Some of his many outstanding accomplishments include establishing contra dancing at UNM, leading and calling local techno-contras, teaching waltz and Scandinavian couples dance workshops, forming a Border Morris dance troupe, and founding our New Mexico Callers Collective—a friendly circle of aspiring callers who are learning together from the most experienced callers in our community. Erik opens his home to callers, dancers, and musicians every month when he hosts our collective meetings and practice dances, providing a safe and supportive space for strengthening the relationships within our dance community.
A long-time member of the FolkMADS Board of Directors, Erik is currently serving the community as our acting President of the Board. Thank you for all of your hard work, Erik! Your dedication and the many contributions you make to this community do not go unnoticed. You are truly a FolkMADS hero, and we salute you!
– Submitted by Emily Ruch on behalf of the FolkMADS Board of Directors
FolkMADS participated at UNM’s Welcome Back Days to advertise for our new UNM student chapter. Thanks to Cicely Schuring, Stacey Chan, Emily Ruch, and David Barbour for making the time to attract students to our group!
Save $5 (print linked coupon) for FolkMADS members!
Come support many in our FolkMADS community who are leading workshops or playing in concerts at the Albuquerque Folk Festival — an opportunity to experience and participate in folk music, song, dance, and storytelling through educational workshops, demonstrations, and performances. Folk activities enhance community expression and the continuance of cultural traditions.
Abq Folk Fest Schedule (rough):
Fri 6/5 evening, concert, jamming, and camping
Sat 6/6 all day, with our FolkMADS contra at 7:30pm with the Abq Megaband and Erik Erhardt
The Albuquerque Alibi gives us a whirlwind description in this week’s issue. Join us Friday 5/1 for the UNM Contra dance and Morris performance.
FolkMADS participated in the University of New Mexico International Festival on Apr 15, 2015 from 11:40-noon. Caller Erik Erhardt led the dance with student fiddler Joe Hay playing tunes. A large group of students, many in costume for their dances, joined this participatory “street style” dance.
Special thanks to Emily (first contact and lugging my heavy speaker), Stacey (making and printing flyers), Jessie (booth at festival), Ben B, Nate (and mom), Hamish, and many others who helped make this happen. We’re continuing to build our presence at the university and may soon have a student organization that can sponsor our campus dances.
