Gowns & grants
In 60 years, Señorita Ball has expanded from social occasion to music philanthropy
Aparade of white dresses will fill a ballroom at Sandia Casino this month as part of a tradition that started six decades ago to support local music programs and education.
The Señorita Ball marks 60 years this April and while the venue of the event has changed several times, its purpose has not. The Music Guild of New Mexico holds the ball every year to raise money they began distributing in the form of grants in 2012. Before that, the money raised supported the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, which closed its doors in 2011.
The guild awarded $42,000 in grants in 2016. Some of the programs that have benefited from the current grant program are the Albuquerque Folk Festival, High Desert Big Band, Musical Theatre Southwest, Festival Ballet, the New Mexico Philharmonic and Rio Rancho Symphonic Band.
The ball will be held April 15 at Sandia Resort & Casino starting at 5:30 p.m.
The event is used as a coming out for young women who are seniors in high school and they pay a fee of $2,000 each to participate. They wear white
gowns and during the ball they are presented to the public by their fathers.
But what was once a purely social occurrence for the young women participating has evolved into an educational and civic program. The Albuquerque Women’s Association started the program, then called the Doñitas of the Symphony, in 1956 to recognize the daughters of New Mexico Symphony Orchestra (then called the Albuquerque Civic Symphony) donors. The idea originated from Women’s Association member Margaret Leggette. The first ball was held in 1957.
This year’s ball will have almost two dozen young ladies. But that number was at an all-time high in the mid-1980s, with more than 90 girls, according to Beverly Jean Cramer, who was part of the first generation of señoritas. The year Cramer participated, 1959, there were only 12 girls. She said back then the focus was much different. It was a fun night for the girls participating and much wasn’t expected of them outside of that evening.
“It’s less of a social thing now,” Cramer said. “Instead it’s evolved into a civic thing.”
Cramer has continued to stay involved with the Guild, even serving as its president in 1986. Both her daughters were also Señoritas in the 1980s, including Missy Glauch, the current co-chair of the Señorita program.
The participants are expected to meet once a month, for a year leading up to the ball, to attend either an educational talk or to perform some type of community service. This year’s señoritas took a self-defense course, learned about basic car maintenance, fed the homeless and held a coat drive. They also attended the Santa Fe Opera, a first for many of the girls, Glauch said. She said the girls also form lifelong friendships.
“We are teaching them to become valuable members of their communities,” Glauch said. “Each year the people at my table are past señoritas. That speaks to the friendships that last for decades because of this program.”
For Susan Rogers, who participated in the 1980 ball while attending Highland High School, expanding her social circle was the motivating factor to participate. The program, she said, allowed her to meet people from other parts of the city whom she would have otherwise never met. Rogers is the other co-chair of the program.
“In retrospect, what I really think is the most powerful aspect of the program is the women that are involved,” she said. “There are women of all ages, some in their 90s. It’s a really rich and diverse group.”