Traditions are funny things. They come to us from different regions, different cultures, different ways of celebrating. Passed down from generation to generation, they are transmitted through the ages to become valuable parts of our personal histories. It’s only when you really think about them that their singularities become obvious. You’ll get the chance to ponder just such a tradition when Silver City celebrates Breaking Up Christmas & Bringing in the New Year Community Dance on Saturday, January 11.
Breaking Up Christmas is an old Appalachian tradition that can be traced back to the Scottish-Irish immigrants who settled in the picturesque mountains of that region. The Appalachian people have long celebrated “Old Christmas” on January 6, and the twelve days between the “new” holiday and the “old” was known as Breaking Up Christmas. It’s here that the beloved holiday carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas” came into being. To celebrate Old Christmas, or Epiphany, communities would get together over food and music, as a way of checking in on each other to make sure nobody went without during those long cold winter months.
Though Breaking Up Christmas in Silver City has long been seen as a fundraiser for the community radio station KURU, this year, according to event organizer Gayle Simmons, the focus has shifted. The station decided against doing the fundraiser, which left the recipient cause open.
“This year we have a different band and a different recipient for our contributions,” Simmons said, “an organization in Silver City called The Commons Center for Food Security and Sustainability. It’s an organization that has been around for a number of years. Their goal is to help people grow food in their own gardens, as well as being a food bank. There are many places, all around the world, where people get together and celebrate with music and food, but it’s really about people helping each other through the winter months. Raising money for food insecurity seems like the perfect fit.”
Of the different band, she says, “The group that will be playing this year is Baba Quien and the Nuisances, which is an ad hoc group formed just for this dance. It’s made up of more professional musicians, so the music is going to be great. In the past it was the Big Ditch Crickets, but we’re more of a hobby group.” Gayle plays fiddle with the Big Ditch Crickets, alongside her husband who plays fiddle and recorder. The Nuisances are made up of Ken Keppeler, Susan and Burt Mittelstadt, Thomas Wentz, and students Melanie Matteliano and Jason Gedmin.
Gayle says what people can expect from this event is lots of good, clean family fun. The dances include everything from two-steps and waltzes, to schottishes, polkas and group dances, taught by the caller. “They’re simple, accessible dances that people can catch on to quickly. You don’t even have to dance well, and if you mess up, it’s fine. You just laugh it off and have fun.”
The event also provides an opportunity for people to become acquainted with regional music and dance from across the Southwest. For this, she said the community owes a huge debt to local musical couple Ken Keppeler and Jeanie McLerie, who have been teaching children to play fiddle, guitar and accordian for decades. It was this couple who introduced Breaking Up Christmas to the community and taught its members the different dance steps.
“This event is sort of a tribute to the music they brought to us from across the Southwest,” Simmon said. “What we’re calling the Southwest is west of the Mississippi – which includes New Orleans – to Tucson. It pulls from the folk-dance tradition of small communities, which includes northern New Mexican Spanish colonial tunes, and Tohono O’odham tunes from Arizona. It’s a lot of fun. It’s music that is unusual, you don’t hear it every day. It’s dance music that was prevalent before radio and television.”
Breaking Up Christmas & Bringing in the New Year Community Dance courts tradition from 6:30-9 p.m., Saturday, January 11, at the Murray Hotel Ballroom, 200 W. Broadway St., Silver City. For more information, call 575-590-1059.
