May 16, 2001
Cajun dancing one hot number
Louisiana style catches on in northern Michigan
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Move over macarena, jump aside jitterbug.
Cajun and zydeco dancing have arrived in northern Michigan and a small group of enthusiasts and musicians are determined to spread the gospel: Big Easy moves are fun and easy. A dance craze the Wall Street Journal has termed the hottest in the world, Cajun and zydeco dancing and music have conquered the coasts and are moving inward.
Mark Stoltz of Thompsonville is one of the dancers spearheading the movement locally. Just winding up a four-week Cajun Dance class at Northwestern Michigan College, Stoltz attributes the growing popularity of this authentic American music to its recipe for a good time.
"I think it is the beat and the liveliness of the music that keeps people coming back," Stoltz said. "Even the waltzes are pretty cool. I think there is a mystique, too, about the music and dancing."
"Even though a lot of people don't know how to dance it, they just go out and jump around and have fun."
During the class, Stoltz led the dozen couples through the basics of Cajun waltz and two step, supplemented by modern additions of mambo, jitterbug and swing. He coached them on footwork, body language, style and attitude. With a dose of dance floor etiquette - rotate the circle counterclockwise, jitterbug in the center or corners - he whet the appetite of his students for more Cajun dancing.
"I really love the music so it is really nice to be able to dance to it," said Carla Roberts, a new but enthusiastic dancer. "With Cajun, you really have to feel the music."
Some of the couples have a solid background in country and western and found the different nuances of Cajun moves easy to master.
"A lot of the steps you use in country dance or with jitterbug," Toni Hamlyn noted.
Stoltz also gave students a walk through the history of Cajun and zydeco music. Louisiana's form of country music, Cajun music began with some guys on a porch playing a guitar, triangle and accordion. The traditional instruments are now augmented in many Cajun bands by a variety of hand-held percussion instruments and fiddle, piano and drums.
Dancers gathered, modified traditional dance steps to the Cajun style and showed their appreciation for the music in their dance.
"In Cajun music, you don't applaud the band," Stoltz said. "Dance is the applause."
Stoltz discovered Cajun dancing and music at a dance camp about 13 years ago. A dancer of country and western, swing and polkas, he fell in love with Cajun music and the dance immediately.
"I went out East to another dance festival and got addicted," said Stoltz, who travels far and wide, from Boston to Baltimore to New Orleans, to dance. "I'll dance whenever I can. I've worn out two or three women in a night and danced until 4 a.m."
Just last summer, a group of area musicians formed a Cajun dance band, K. Jones and the Benzie Playboys. The band, which includes a mandolin, fiddle, a button accordion and a piano accordion, has twice packed the Almira Township Hall since January.
While not a musician, Stoltz joined the band and helps with workshops. During performances, he watches the dance floor and keeps the band in synch with the dancers. He also is learning to play the rub board, or frottoir, with the band. With calls for the band coming in from as far away as Jackson, band members see a growing excitement about Cajun and zydeco dancing in Michigan.
"I've actually gone to places where they played in concert halls where they had to move furniture to dance," Stoltz said. "I went to a concert that was sold out at a hall and we danced outside, we stole the show from the band."