Unknown Dancehall

Newspaper mention of dance: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88064433/1910-04-16/ed-1/seq-2/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88064433/1910-04-16/ed-1/seq-2/ ...

Fiesta Club

From http://www.crt.state.la.us/Assets/OCD/hp/nationalregister/historic_contexts/The_African_American_Experience_in_Louisiana.pdf: “(A) popular club in Natchitoches Parish that offered African Americans opportunities for recreation and entertainment they could not enjoy at other local venues (was) the Fiesta Club…The Fiesta Club was the place to be on Sunday afternoons where the activities included horse races, football, baseball, and billiards.” ...

Bucket of Blood

Mentioned in “Louisiana Fiddlers” by Ron Yule and Bill Burge: Rainbow Ramblers with Jimmie Davis played there on Central Louisiana tours. “It had not gotten its name because the place served Bloody Marys or was a blood donation site. This place was rough. The nightly fight and bloodbath broke out about 11 o’clock, and before long the whole place was filled with a frenzy of wild fighting, swinging drunks, and crazed dancers. The band finally got in on the act (they had been drinking, too). During the melee, some guy ran in and tried to hit Cecil Burge with his fist. Like a scripted movie scene, Cecil whopped him over the head with his fiddle and down the man went. He did not stay on the floor very long. He came flying up with a drawn knife and hit Cecil in the throat. Guy Allen, the tenor guitar and bass player, grabbed Cecil when he saw him go down and held him. Before long, he felt something warm on his leg and in his boot. It was CecilÕs blood. They rushed him to the hospital and Guy recalled, ‘I could feel his blood sloshing in my boot as I walked.’ Guy would later become a Baptist minister and serve congregations in Pineville and DeRidder.” ...

Blue Moon Dancehall

Featured in Philip Gould’s book “Today’s Cajuns” are images of Aldus Roger & the Lafayette Playboys playing a benefit dance with door prize items in front of them, elderly couples dancing, people at bar, and women dancing together. It was located on Hopkins Street at a place that is now an empty lot. From a plaque at Vermilionville: “Blue Moon Dancehall was located in the ‘tit Coteau section of New Iberia near Admiral Doyle Drive. The club closed in the fall of 1978. Photographer Philip Gould describes his first visit in 1974: ‘The accordionist spoke nothing but French from the bandstand. Acity policeman and sheriff’s deputy, both hired as security, also helped the waitresses serve drinks when things were calm. I remember seeing the dancers there the first time. Collectively they seemed to suggest waves as they waltzed around the dance floor locked together in tight embraces.'” Mentioned in Project Louisiane tape #151, available at the Archive of Cajun and Creole Folklore, Center for Louisiana Studies, UL Lafayette. ...

Casa Blanca Club

From iberianet.com/forum/do-you-remember: “I worked at the Casa Blanca club for 20 years when Barbara and Shelton Leleux had it. Served the last drink that was ever served there before they closed for good. Was working at the Tradewinds at the time but had to be there on the last night.” Located at the corner of Center Street and Admiral Doyle corner of Hwy 14 & Admiral Doyle- where Burger King is now ...

Club Sho Boat

Shane Bernard: “In the 1940s-50s there was an old steamboat (or diesel-powered riverboat that looked like a steamboat) that was moored in New Iberia and operated as a nightclub and restaurant. It was called Club Show Boat. Mr. George Angelle who owned the boat; he even had a taxi to pick up people in town (I guess it was located on the outskirts of town at the time) to bring them to the club, which featured “Cajun swing” music by Happy Fats LeBlanc, Doc Guidry and their band. Mr. Angelle was murdered in the early ’50s and the Sho Boat was torn down a couple years later. Supposedly its hull still remains in the ground, because it was razed to the waterline, and then the slip with the hull was filled in with dirt and debris. Located at 1500 E. Main Street (currently the Showboat Apartments)” http://bayoutechedispatches.blogspot.com/2013/09/a-floating-dancehall-on-teche-club-sho.html ...