The AmBank First Friday Mid-Winter Frolic at the Silco Theater on Jan. 4 got 2013 off to a frolicsome start. Dancers, fiddlers, and the contra dance caller strutted their stuff in "contra dancing," the New England and Canadian predecessor to American square dancing. Marjorie Mullany, who "called" the dances and came especially for the event from Albuquerque, made it seem easy and—most of all—fun to follow the patterns of partner changes, swings, and swirls in groups of four.
Photos by Charlie McKee
Jan. 4 First Friday
January 4, 2013, First Friday
Contra Caller— Marjorie Mullany of Albuquerque "calls" her own choreographed dance entitled, "School Days."
January 4, 2013, First Friday
Dancers swing and twirl in the contra line.
January 4, 2013, First Friday
Led by Eileen Sullivan, the Irish Seisiun Group of County Grant bridges the generation gap.
January 4, 2013, First Friday
Jamie Newton on guitar and Larry Taylor on the Irish flute of the Family Fiddlers add musical spice to the fiddles.
January 4, 2013, First Friday
The littlest fiddler with 2 years' experience, 6-year-old Alma Bradburd accompanied by her dad, Rus Bradburd, of Las Cruces, keeps pace with the taller folks.
