African/Haitian Drum and Dance in NM and other Folk News

Get off the couch, get in shape, have fun, enjoy the beautiful New Mexico scenery, and  meet interesting people from all over the world with the Albuquerque Road Runners. At www.abqroadrunners.com you will find a calendar loaded with info about running events and triathlons in the area, also with links to other states. We have training groups and events for every level from beginner to ultramarathon.  Volunteer and meet the pros! ARR is also on Facebook.  Take a volunteer vacation right here in NM. Volunteers for the Outdoors has trips to the mountains to do work projects and camp out. All ability levels needed, you get to choose whether you do hard or easy work. www.nmvfo.org  If you would like to get a full-body workout and have a great time with a totally diverse group of  people, check out the Roadrunner Food Bank at www.rrfb.org They have a warehouse that always needs volunteers and they frequently have holiday food drives--sorting donated food is NOT boring, it's a blast. Be part of the action. 

ARE YOU ON FACEBOOK? Well, this isn't a heavy metal site but the guitar player for the band Great White, Ty Longley, was killed in a club fire. His son Acey has a charity to honor his dad's memory--he takes toys, drumsticks, and i-Tunes cards to sick kids in the hospital. . He doesn't take money, he just wants people to send him i-Tunes cards, drumsticks, and Legos for him to give away. That's Longley BEATS on Facebook. 

That's the Haitian flag on the drum being re-headed in the casita garden. This is one of the drums played by the Haitian band Racine Kreyol.  

 Welcome to the post-pandemic, updated folk website. This is currently under reconstruction and I will be adding more info soon. I can tell you right now that African dance class with live drumming is happening at Double-Time Studio, 209 Washington SE in ABQ NM at 5:30. It is taught by Malé Fainke of Mali, West Africa and he is leading the drumming with accompaniment by student drummers. His phone number is 505-203-7463. He has a class Facebook page Fainke Tamani.  We are back in workshop territory--we just recently had dance workshops with African master dance teachers Fana Bangoura and also Abdoulaye Camara (of Guinea, West Africa) during the regularly scheduled Sunday dance class in ABQ. They also taught in Santa Fe. If you are in the Santa Fe area, my other brother Soriba Fofana is teaching West African drum and dance. Dance class is at the Railyard Performance Center, 1611 Paseo de Peralta, on Wednesdays at 6:15 p.m. Drum class is at the Medicine Shop, 1836 Cerrillos Rd. at 6 p.m. on Thursday. His website is www.soribafofana.com for more info about his classes. He regularly hosts the Wassa Wassa African drum and dance festival in th fall. He always has some serious talent coming in for this. This workshop features an instructor performance on Saturday night. Check his website for details.

This is Laura and my email is hyena-i@juno.com if you want more info.

 Learn to square dance at the Square Dance Center. Check out the scene at www.asdc.org 

For you swingers in the crowd, there's a totally awesome newsletter from one of our local dancers that has swing, ballroom, salsa, country and western--workshops, classes, parties, cruises and info about other dance styles including Tahitian, Hula, Scandinavian. Get in the loop at http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/ldn . This newsletter has  listings of all-ages groups and events and also club dates, etc., feature live salsa, swing, and country music for your dancing pleasure. To be on this list the place they are playing has to have a dance floor. While you're at it, check out Double Time Dance Studio. This is the current home of Sunday African Dance Class but their own thing is Salso, Tango, Country Swing, Swing, and Ballroom. This beautiful studio in the SE Heights is also for rent for classes and special events. You can find them at 505-268-1123.

My family and folk dance friends became groupies of the legendary Clarita's Baile Flamenco back in the early seventies (featuring her daughter Eva Enciñas back in her days of performing dance) and I've been crazy about flamenco ever since. The National Institute of Flamenco is at www.nifnm.org  Every year they host the Flamenco Festival with concerts, workshops, vendors, etc., etc. in June. They have a busy schedule of classes year round and many performance oportunities for the dancers. Their Christmas show is not to be missed.  I've checked out a couple of envents at the all new Flamenco Works studio downtown next to Lindy's diner near 5th and Central. They've done a great job of fixing up the new space and the wooden stage has incredible sound. I also saw their stage show at the Kimo.  They also have classes for all ages and a busy performance schedule. You can check them out at www.flamencoworks.org