J’Al ETE AU BAL (I WENT TO THE DANCE): The Cajun and Zydeco Music of Louisiana

Leave it to Les Blank to take his cameras into the bayou and come out with a toe-tapping, foot-stomping, and definitive film about the music of Southern Louisiana. Teaming up with Christian Strachwitz, Blank has assembled performan~es by all of the greats of the region, both living and not. The unique sounds of Southern Louisiana come from the easy mingling of two radically different cultures: the folk tunes of the Acadian French settlers (cajun being a very casual pronunciation of Acadian) and the blues-tinged interpretation of these French folk songs by black musicians (called Zydeco). I WENT TO THE DANCE captures all the exuberance of Louisiana's infectious and irresistible house-rocking music.