ZYDECO

This year, many friends and family of mine went to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras. It was the top subject of my Instagram and Snapchat timelines. There even was a huge Mardi Gras influence in my homestate. 

Seeing their Mardi Gras experiences has brought back great times during my summer stay in New Orleans. New Orleans is one of the trips where I was completely immersed in my environment. I visited other towns in Louisiana, went on airboats, and visited the legendary Whitney Plantation (one of the best experiences in my life). One word to describe New Orleans is FIRE. The energy and joy of the people is contagious. 

Other than visiting the Whitney Plantation, what I enjoyed about New Orleans were the festivals. They were all huge events. Every single festival I attended was FIRE! My favorite festival was the Zydeco festival. Prior to going to New Orleans, I only heard of Zydeco music and dance through a colleague. People would describe Zydeco dancing as similar to salsa, but it’s a folk dance that “corresponds to Zydeco music”, which is a mix of R&B, blues, Afro Caribbean and all genres basically. (To me, Zydeco dance is a mix of salsa and Chicago steppin, I have to do more research).

I was so in my element dancing Zydeco. I never danced Zydeco in my life, but I love to dance, so I picked it up quickly. I’m always told that I’m a great dancer, and I’m fun to dance with (that’s the extroverted side of me). There are times when I feel awkward in dancing involving partners. But people just kept grabbing me wanting to dance with me, and I quickly became the center of attention. Of course, the bands were amazing. My favorite performance was the one man who sang a Zydeco version of Beyonce’s Me, Myself and I. That had me in my feelings. Many people don’t know but, dancing is my extroverted way of expressing myself, and I fully did that at this festival. This experience made me think that, we need to make bands the norm again, and leave this autotune bullsh*t alone. We need to Save the Arts, and keep it raw.