October 12, 2012
La Poussiere
7:30 PM The Pine Leaf Boys
The place is jammed with the usual suspects – locals who love to dance or listen to Cajun music and dancers who have flocked to Lafayette for the annual Festival Acadiens et Creole.
The women here… they’ve all come to dance. Fast, slow, at arm’s length or in close embrace.
This place in Breaux Bridge is a regular Friday and Saturday night destination. Dozens of locals arrive early to stake out their chairs that line the long tables on each side of the dance floor. Come a little later and you can find an empty barstool to use as your base of operations for the night.
The dancers, however, rarely sit down. They’ve come here to let loose – whatever The Pine Leaf Boys serve up, couples flock to the smooth blonde wood dance floor.
Black and white townsfolk around here mix together amiably every day but certain dance halls seem to have unwritten codes. Some clubs like this one in Breaux Bridge attract an exclusively white crowd. One local resident says this club has had a history of being decidedly unwelcoming to a black clientele.
Some clubs like El Cido in Lafayette attract a black clientele but welcome, or at least are tolerant of, white dancers.
The best bet for seeing a very mixed race crowd is an outdoor festivals like the Festival Acadiens et Creole or the Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette or one of the First Friday events held in places like Opelousas where Cajun and zydeco bands play in cleared out parking lots and half the town shows up.
Music is a great equalizer and crosses racial divides, just not everywhere.
Photos by Paul A.Tamburello, Jr.
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