Saturday, May 2, 2009

NMT Performing Arts Series

The NMT Performing Arts Series is awesome. I say that having lived in much better endowed Albuquerque, and having spent a year in Washington DC. Ronna Kalish has fabulous taste and the acts she gets are so consistently good, I agree with a friend who says "I wouldn't live in any OTHER town of 8000 in New Mexico".

Now, to take advantage of the series, you have to purchase season tickets. In a bigger town you might buy tickets to see your favorite bands, say Indigo Girls and Sarah McLaughlin. You couldn't possibly go to everything (nor could you afford it). If you liked Celtic music you might see a few Celtic shows, maybe even if you didn't recognise the band name. However in Socorro, if PAS is doing it, you just go. Some of the shows you will love, some you will learn from, but there's no way to tell in advance. If you don't like it, leave at intermission. I developed a love for Cajun music in Socorro from Beau Soleil. I spent seven years in North Carolina, but met black folk music through the Carolina Chocolate Drops in Macey Center. So Ronna exposes you to great art and culture for the measly season subscription of $144 for adults and $96 for those under 18. The great secret is that many of the shows at Macey perform in Albuquerque for $35-60 a ticket. People do drive down to Socorro to see a second show or for things that sell out in Albuquerque.

If that wasn't enough to send you running, then as a parent, this is the most kid friendly venue you will ever see. If dancing is appropriate, Ronna sets up the wings of the stage so that the kids can move to the music. We often spend part of the dancing evening sitting on the floor up against the wall, kid lying in the lap. Bench seats on the north wall provide a great view of the stage for short people. Squirrelly and squeaky kiddos are taken to the lobby where an excellent sound system keeps you with the show. When our oldest was only four months we bought tickets to Popejoy, the UNM Macey equivalent, to see Sweet Honey in the Rock. We were greeted with "That baby needs a ticket!" "OK, we didn't know, we'll buy her a ticket". "No you can't, we are sold out". A lecture from an usher, then from the manger, they gave us a ticket and an earful about manners (just for the record, we ALWAYS leave the minute kiddos make a noise). I couldn't help but feel the band would have been offended on our behalf. Two years later I took the kiddo again -- she wanted to bounce to the music but we weren't permitted to stand in the back where she'd be out every one's line of sight (fire restrictions) and when we left I got a kindly but annoying lecture about age appropriate events. As if bouncing to Sweet Honey in the Rock were inappropriate.

I can't imagine a better exposure any child could get to the arts than to have 18 seasons of PAS. Rock on Ronna!




<--! I'm still kicking myself for missing Mr. Sotrained cats. -->

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