Albuquerque Square Dance Club

How does a square dance group thrive and continue when the population gets older and older? I don’t know because I tried to dance with them last Friday and was treated really rudely. I was told I could not dance because I had not ‘taken the lessons’ although I was asked to dance by a lovely couple who knew I was knew. Then the greater brought in a woman to take my place, (it’s called cutting in) and escorted me off the dane floor. Uh, I am a dancer, I have square danced, I do cross step waltz, and I tap dance!
As I stepped out of the square this lady said, «See it’s not like the dances you remember from Junior High» I said, «They are exactly like my dances in junior high and I dance these dances». «Well, we do things differently here, s he snipped» I replied «In other words you are not welcoming to new people at all.» She got flustered and said, «I didn’t mean to offend you!» I answered, «You did offend me and you are not at all welcoming to new people and I am going to leave.»

The best thing going for the Albuquerque Square Dance Club is that it is one humongous space.
The second best thing going for it is the great hardwood floors, which seem to have been upgraded since the hall was first built. The third great thing? The space can be broken up into two spaces: A large dance hall and a small dance hall, so two different groups can utilize the space at the same time. I was there this past weekend for a contra dance, which was in the smaller hall with a live band fiddling and picking. In the large hall, there was a rowdy square dance going on, and there was no noise interference between the two spaces. A fourth plus.
A variety of dance groups rent the hall on a regular basis, not just for square dancing. The FolkMads, who specialize in contra dances, hold regular dances. And so does the Ballroom dancing group, swing dancers, aerobics classes or more. Even The Wilde Bunch holds regular dances. There seems to be events happening every night of the week.
The hall has a nice kitchen, reception and area to sit down between dances.
The only issue with this place is its décor a la 1970s dark wood paneling. But if you can get past that, you’ll enjoy the dancing and music, whichever genre you choose. It seems like a great place for other types of dance, such as tango and flamenco, but they don’t seem to be here, except for the individual dances which the ballroom dancing group has.
So get out your dancing shoes, and head over to the hall for a night of dancing!