Cajun and Zydeco Dance Music in Northern California: |
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This account of a local dance scene for Cajun music and zydeco in California answers the fundamental ethnographic question, "What is going on here?" That is, how is it that one finds all of this dancing and live music two-thirds of a continent away from where these genres got started, in southwest Louisiana and east Texas? The first three chapters introduce Cajun and Creole culture and history, and how cultural insiders and outsiders have managed to form social ties with each other in ways that keep music and dance going at the local level. Chapters 4-8 lay out a history of the Northern California scene in roughly chronological order. The core of each chapter consists of profiles of individuals, sandwiched by sections that provide national and local context. |
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CHAPTER ONE Prelude: Down At The Twist And Shout |
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CHAPTER TWO Identity Issues, Research Methods, and Ethnography |
Modern Pleasures A Postmodern World The Researcher's Identity and Its Relevance Ethnographic Presentation |
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CHAPTER THREE Music, Dance, and Social Capital |
Un bal de maison: A House Dance The Creative Power of Social Capital and Music |
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CHAPTER FOUR Wartime and Postwar Creole Migration to California |
Revaluation of Cajun and Creole Ethnicities Following World War II "Queen Ida" Guillory John Semien George Broussard Ray Stevens Black and Creole Migration from the South to California during and after World War II |
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CHAPTER FIVE Further Creole Migration and Bridging to Other Social Networks |
Postwar Trends in Louisiana French Music Danny Poullard Betty Leblanc Olivia Guillory Andrew Carrière The Contributions of Danny Poullard and Others The Local Influence of Chris Strachwitz and Les Blank |
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CHAPTER SIX Folk Revival Connection: The Musicians |
Louisiana French Music within a National Folk Revival Will Spires Eric and Suzy Thompson Delilah Lee Lewis Louisiana French Music Meets the Bay Area Folk Music Scene |
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CHAPTER SEVEN Folk Revival Connection: The Dancers |
Folk Dancing across the Nation and in California Gary and Maryanne Canaparo Paul Strogen Ron Rumney Dana DeSimone Louisiana French Dance Meets the Bay Area Folk Dance Scene |
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CHAPTER EIGHT Later Gulf Coast Arrivals |
The Rise of All Things Cajun in Popular Culture Freida Fusilier Susan Appe Ramon ("Louisiana Sue") Ralph "Bobby" Gradney Richard Domingue Development of the Northern California Scene, 1985–2005 Ending Reflections |
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Notes Bibliography Discography Filmography Interviews Index |
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