TEACHING ARTIST SESSION CATEGORIES
Zydeco is just one ingredient in our local cultural cookbook, but where did it come from? In this session, students explore how Zydeco grew out of Creole traditions, learn dance steps, and uncover how music and movement reflect Louisiana’s history, identity, and community spirit.
Just like gumbo mixes lots of flavors, Zydeco mixes lots of traditions! Students will dance while learning how music, food, and celebrations are part of everyday Louisiana life.
Louisiana culture doesn’t stop at state lines – it travels the world! Through Zydeco dance and stories of international festivals, students will see how Creole traditions are shared across borders, building connections with cultures around the globe while keeping Louisiana’s spirit front and center.
Bring the excitement of a Louisiana festival straight into the classroom! Students will experience the sights and sounds of celebrations like Festival International and Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, where dance, music, and tradition fill the streets. They’ll join the fun through Zydeco dance while discovering how festivals keep culture alive.
You can hear it at festivals, at barbecues, and on the radio. Maybe your family knows how to dance to it, and it is firmly woven into the soundscape of Louisiana. But where did it come from? This interactive history lesson will answer that and also address how important it is to keep our tradition and culture alive.
Can you do the Zydeco? In this session, everyone can! Students will get the chance to learn core Zydeco instruments: the accordion, washboard, drums, and the triangle. They will also be learning songs that are sung in both French and English. Then it’s time to grab a partner to “LaLa” (which means “to dance” in Zydeco-speak) and bring culture alive in the classroom.
No one taught her, so she taught herself and made her art her own. In doing so, Louisiana artist Clementine Hunter developed a visually distinctive style and vividly depicted plantation life in the early 20th Century. In this session, students will learn more about Clementine’s world. How, they will learn, did she arrive at her ideas of plantation life and her vision for depicting people, animals, and everyday life on a plantation? Then, students will create a piece of art in Clementine’s style and pay homage to her work.
You LOVE to eat them, and now you will love to DRAW them! In this session, students will learn how to draw a crawfish step by step. But this will not just be any crawfish…students will be exposed to Acadiana artist Hannah Gumbo’s drawing style and discover how she takes a drawing and transforms it into lots of different things! So that crawfish is more than just good eating!
The Louisiana coastline is fragile and ever-changing – in this session, students will cement its status in art. Students will explore the coastline of Louisiana, and discover the animals of this habitat through creating their own landscape. It’s art, wildlife, and a chance to be aware of our regional geography all in one!
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a….PLATE? Whooping Cranes are incredible Louisiana birds that need to be protected! Students will learn about these amazing endangered birds, and make their own whooping cranes from paper plates. Let’s make conservation fun and creative!