More dance halls surface

John Sharp, keeper and researcher of LouisianaDancehalls.com, has sought and he has found.
“The biggest thing I’ve received (since the stories ran) were some films from Robert Thibodeaux from Crowley,” Sharp said. “He and his mom used to own the Martinez Club in Morse. I’m really looking for photos for the web site, and he has several from the club hanging in his barber shop in Crowley.”
“I mentioned that I was on the lookout for 8mm or 16mm films from some of the clubs, and he told me he had stuff like that. He had several home movies from the dance hall.”
The Dancehalls of Louisiana website started out as a quest to learn the origins of several Cajun French songs that have English titles, and the site has grown to include more than 1,600 dance halls that once existed — and still do exist — across the state. The website was launched earlier this year in February, and in March, an article about the website and the information Sharp hoped to gather ran in The Eunice News, The Crowley Post Signal and the Abbeville Meridional.
Thibodeaux was one of several people from the area to reach out to Sharp following the running of the story. Sharp was able to interview Thibodeaux at his shop recently, and the researcher also picked up a few tidbits of dance hall recollections from some of the barber’s clientele.
“(From Eunice) People called or emailed about trips to Guilton’s, and a few more called to say they had been to several different dance halls in that area,” Sharp said. “I’ve also found out about a couple dozen new halls in the Lake Charles area, including a new zydeco club. It’s pretty fantastic.”
In addition to the website, Sharp is also working on a full-length documentary “Dancehalls of Louisiana,” and Sharp hopes the film, funded by a Louisiana Filmmakers Grant, will be released later this year.
“I still want to wait and see,” Sharp said of a release day for the film. “When I’m happy with it. I’d like to take it around to all little towns and show it, maybe even at LSUE. I’d like to do a little tour.”
Sharp said he would also like to form or be part of a Louisiana dancehall appreciation society, something like the Cajun French Music Association.
“(Forming such a group) That could be a way to help dance halls if some need repairs or the group could meet at different dance halls that still exist to help them to stay open,” Sharp said. “I’d like to work on a dancehall trail, too, and maybe get some help from the state. Historical markers for some of the bigger and well known historical bars could be cool. I look forward to that, but it’s still just an idea.”