When the Evidence Dance company takes the stage at the Heymann Performing Arts Center, pull out your opera glasses and make sure you get a good look at the star performer. Dancer Clarice Young, from New Roads, La., graduated from UL with a bachelor of fine arts degree in dance. She was the first recipient of the Evelyn Elizabeth Lochman Dance Scholarship at UL in 2001 and also received a full-tuition scholarship to attend the American Dance Festival in 2003. Young assisted Camille A. Brown in working with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II and LaGuardia High School. She has also worked with various artists including Donald McKayle, Andrea E. Woods, Kwame Ross, Karen L. Arceneaux, Shani Collins and Bridget L. Moore.
Discovered by Judith Jamison and commissioned by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ronald K. Brown and his dance company Evidence blend African, modern ballet and hip-hop stylings to tell stories about the human experience. This season’s tour, funded by a National Dance Project grant, premieres his fascinating "Two-Year-Old Gentleman," in which Brown’s vision emulates the traditions of Louisiana’s Mardi Gras Indians.
The performance on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Heymann Performing Arts Center is presented by the Performing Arts Society of Acadiana. All this week, there will be related events in conjunction with Evidence’s performance, including dance workshops, art exhibits, lectures and a student dance show. For tickets and more information, go to the PASA Web site.
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
Philip deMahy Sr., a once respected New Iberia ad exec, was sentenced May 2 to spend the next two years (he faced up to 100 years) in a state penitentiary after state and federal investigators found dozens of images depicting children engaged in lewd sexual acts on his personal computer.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.