|
created over 2 years ago | Tagged: |
Winky Dink
|
Queen Sandra Davis and King Jake Davis 2009 - 2010 Region
History In the days of old, the Creole Community would gather at harvest time and work together to complete their tasks. When a family would have a bouchere` (butchering of a hog), everyone in the community would come over and share in the work and cooking of fresh meat. When the work was finished, the people would celebrate and entertain themselves with a “La La” ( Creole French for house dance.) Instruments used to create “La La” music were the scrubboard (frottoir), spoons, fiddle, triangles (ti-fers), and an accordion. When times got tough for a family, they would throw a “La La”, a Saturday night dance in the living room. Emptying the room of all furniture, they would charge ten or fifteen cents admission and sell gumbo, homemade beer and lemonade. Even churches would give benefit “La La” to support different functions of the church. By most of the music being sung in Creole French, “La La” music was only thought of as being for rural and “old folks. One noted musician, the late great “King of Zydeco”, Clifton Chenier, is credited with naming the music ZYDECO “les haricots” (snapbeans). In 1981 fearful that Creole and Zydeco music was dying out, “The Treasures of Opelousas” a group of concerned citizens under the guidance and sponsorship of Southern Development Foundation, organized the Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival. The first Zydeco Festival in 1982 was started on a farmer’s field in the Plaisance community on the outskirts of Opelousas, with four hundred of our neighbors attending. These traditions of yesteryear may be only a memory for some, but it is the testimony that the Zydeco Music Festival serves. A testimony to those who came before....to the ancestors who toiled in the fields under the hot sun to take care of their families....to those who shared with one another during good and bad times...especially to the ancestors who celebrated, laughed, and loved despite the hardships they encountered. The Zydeco Music Festival is their offspring - a living reminder for us never to forget where we come from, to always appreciate and respect our past, and most of all to continue our legacy in keeping the rich culture alive. Southern Development Foundation has kept the Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival alive and developed it into what is now known as the world's largest Zydeco ("LA LA") Music Festival.
2010 Festival Stage Performers * Pine Leaf Boys ******************************************* 10:30 am * Tribute ot Roy Carrier Family * 11:45 pm * Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band * 12:00 pm * Presentation, State of La Office of Tourism * 1:15 pm * Buck Wheat Zydeco, Grammy Winner *** 1:30 pm * Lil Nathan & Zydeco Big Timers * 2:45 pm * Nathan Williams and the Zydeco Cha Cha's * 4:15 pm * Geno Delafosse & The French Rocking Boogie * 5:30 pm * Step Rideaux & The Zydeco Outlaws * 7:00 pm * JJ Caillier & The Zydeco Knockouts * 8:30 pm * Chris Ardoin & NuStep * 9:30 pm * Lil Nathan & Zydeco Big Timers
Cultural Hertiage Expressions Throughout 2010 Zydeco Season Creole Zydeco Dance: Performed on 1600 square feet of wooden dance floor in front of Main Stage. * Creole Culture @ Best * Zydeco Dance Hall Style * History of the Music & Style of Dancing Creole Zydeco Storytelling : Culture Interative Center- Mrs. Rebecca Henry and Queen Sandra Davis hosted on Festival Grounds * Traditional Storytelling * Jure', African-American/Afro Caribbean Vocal in French Creole * Traditional vs. Modern Zydeco/Creole Music Workshop 2010 Performers FREE STYLE SQUEEZE-BOX CONTEST Friday Kick-Off Dance @ Slim-Y-KiKi hosted be Snuggles and his band of Show Stoppers Squeeze-Box Contest Judging will start @ 9PM All participants are welcome, call 337-232-7672 or 942-2393 for more information THE HERITAGE CREOLE CULTURAL: Where you can find Zydeco /Creole Culture in every form throughout 2010 Zydeco Season starting August 6th media kick-off and concluding on Festival Grounds on September 4, 2010 ZYDECO DANCEHALL MUSIC AND DANCE STYLES Moderated and focus on two areas; the changing sound of Zydeco dancehall music through the years and the various styles of Zydeco dance throughout those same years as well. A featured artist present a demonstrate of the different styles of dancehall music. Featured dancers will demonstrate how Zydeco dance has evolved to what it is today. ZYDECO MUSIC YESTERDAY AND TODAY Take a look, a hard look at Zydeco music of yesterday and today. Explore some of the insights into the direction that todays's music may be going.The host opens a discussion about the types of music that people wanted to hear. Radio provides the discussion the facts that influenced them through the years as Zydeco music was evolving, noting that what we consider "traditional" music today was, in fact, new music years ago. Another featured discussion about the current influence to the younger generation of Zydeco musicians. JURE' PRESENTATION Jure' is an African-American/Afro-Caribbean vocal tradition, sung in Creole French and English, accompanied only by hand-clapping and foot stomping for rhythmic reinforcement. These pereformance are a family traditional style of jure' which they call "Jure' My Lord." This is call and response style of singing, consisting of religious and secular shouts, and was practiced most often during the Lenten season when musical instruments and dancing were not allowed. STORYTELLING Using a combination of traditional storytelling and modern theatrical methods, this workshop will focus on the teaching of traditional folkways through storytelling, and how this art form has been passed down among families through the years. The knowledge of learning the art of storytelling is a French language from her grandmother tradition.
