Teaching Guides Align with the Zydeco Experience Band the Common Core State Standards and New Mexico State Learning Standards
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DTHE LOSR ALAMOSE NatAIONALM BANK PoCPejoyA SchooltimeTCH SerieSE TEARCHING SGUIDE Presented by Terrance Simien & Dreamcatchers Teaching Guides align with The Zydeco Experience Band the Common Core State Standards and New Mexico State Learning Standards. TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2017 K-8 Grades: Standards I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explo- Addressed By sive expression of humanity. It’s something Attending the we are all touched by. No matter what culture Performance we’re from, everyone loves music.” ‘‘ — BIlly JoEl New Mexico State Standards: Visual and Performing Arts: Standard 6 INTRODUCTION Zydeco music is a blend of many sounds and cultural influences. Zydeco blends the melodies of blues and jazz with Native American and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. The lyrics are most often in French, with both religious and secular themes. The music that was once just a form of storytelling with few or no instruments has evolved into a powerful sound that is known and loved all over the world. Zydeco music now includes many contemporary influences like rock n’ roll, rhythm & blues, reggae, funk, soul, and other urban styles. Zydeco Rocks! Creole for Kidz is an interactive world music show that blends diverse sounds and influences from African, French, Spanish, and Native American styles. Grammy Award-winning artist Terrance Simien and The Zydeco Experience Band will encourage the audience to sing, dance, and stomp along with the music! Students may recognize Simien’s work in the animated filmThe Princess and the Frog. 2 Zydeco Rocks! Creole for Kidz teaching guide DREAMCATCHERS French and Spanish settlers all over the Traditionally, the carnivals, parades, Vocabulary New World but eventually narrowed to costumes, floats and parties give people indicate native-born louisianans of French an opportunity to indulge in food and accordion — a box-shaped musical instrument that is played by pushing air and/or Spanish descent. A native creole dancing prior to fasting for lent. The through the reeds. Developed in Europe, of louisiana is often considered to be Mardi Gras celebrations in New orleans, the name is derived from the German multicultural and multiracial. The Creole louisiana, where the festival originated, word akkord which means “agreement or heritage is a mix of French, Spanish, are the largest in the country. It is also harmony.” Native American, African American and commonly known by its English name, Fat Germanic ancestry making it one of the Tuesday. Acadians — the French settlers of eastern most complex sub-cultures in North multicultural — of, relating to, or Canada, also known as Acadia, who America! moved south to the French territory of constituted from several cultural or ethnic louisiana after being displaced by the étouffée — a popular Cajun dish made groups within a society. with a combination of spices, and crawfish British in the 1750s. roots music — music springing from or shrimp to make a creamy sauce served and identified with a particular culture, bayou — a body of water usually found over rice. The term means, “to smother” or typically that of the West Indies. in low-lying land areas in the Gulf Coast “to cook down.” regions of the southern United States. rubboard — an instrument inspired by gumbo a thick, robust roux-based soup Bayous are slow moving streams or — an old fashioned washing board, played sometimes thickened with okra or filé. marshy wetlands that connect to the by musicians rubbing a stick over the There are thousands of variations, many Mississippi River and empty into the Gulf wavy metal. It’s also called a “frottoir” in of which include any combination of of Mexico near New orleans. The bayou French or “friction strip,” it was designed shrimp, fish, chicken, duck, okra, and other is a natural habitat for crawfish, shrimp, especially for zydeco music. It is regarded ingredients. shellfish, catfish, alligators, and many as one of the first percussion instruments other species. indigenous — originating or occurring created in the U.S. naturally in a particular place; native. Cajun — the word “Cajun” is derived symbol — a thing that represents or from “Acadian,” because the Cajuns are jambalaya — a rice dish with any stands for something else, especially an descendants of the French-Canadians combination of beef, pork, fowl, smoked object or color representing something who settled in southern louisiana. sausage, ham, or seafood, as well as abstract. celery, green peppers, and tomatoes. Creole — the word “Creole” comes from Zydeco — the indigenous music of the the Spanish “criollo,” which means “a Mardi Gras — the day before Ash French-speaking Creoles that has become child born in the colony.” The term was Wednesday, and the first day of synonymous with the cultural and musical first applied to descendants of early the Roman Catholic season of lent. identity of louisiana. DREAMCATCHERS teaching guide Zydeco Rocks! Creole for Kidz 3 as a result of racial co-habitation slaves, includng the right to own land. and a fairly tolerant attitude towards Fun Facts for Students In 1865, at the end of the Civil War, cultural diversity. As a result, West The Creoles are a multiracial and the U.S. government racially identified African dance, gatherings, music, and multicultural tapestry of African, all persons with any African ancestry cuisine continued to be practiced French, Spanish, and Native American as black. heritage whose first language is openly in a way that was greatly In Louisiana, Creole is defined as an French. discouraged in the British American colonies. This was pivotal, as racial ethnicity and a culture. Culture really The early Creoles make up some co-habitation and a tolerance of has no color, but is an ethnic group of the first European families of cultural diversity existed in louisiana with multi-racial distinctions. The Louisiana. official records indicate in a way it did not in any other part color palette of the Creoles ranges the Simien family was one of the of the country at that time. Because from white to black and all shades in earliest European families to settle of this tradition of cultural influence, between! the area in the mid 1700s. Creoles developed as a multicultural The origin of the word “zydeco” is presence in the southern US. The earliest form of Creole music is unknown; but theories exist, including called jurè music, which translates During the Colonial and Antebellum that it has roots in French, Native into “jury.” The Creole singer would periods the Creoles were classified American and African languages. “testify” to their audience about the as a separate class, distinct from Cajun Music was brought to louisiana hardships of their day, how much they the whites of European heritage or by the Acadians who came to loved their mother or God, or even blacks of African heritage. They were louisiana from Acadie (Nova Scotia). how their heart had been broken. It is classified under this distinct status for Their music had its origins in France, performed with only clapping hands, nearly 150 years. but it had already been influenced stomping feet, and French lyrics. In 1724 the Code Noir (Black by the community’s experiences in Under French and then Spanish Code) was established. It had the New World and encounters with rule, the culture of the African slaves many restrictions, but gave Creoles British settlers and Native Americans. greatly influenced the local culture significantly more rights than black The ballads took old European stories 4 Zydeco Rocks! Creole for Kidz teaching guide DREAMCATCHERS and adapted them to refer to life in The accordion provides the melody Popular belief has it that the term louisiana or by inventing their own in zydeco music. It was brought to “jambalaya” originated from a traveler tales. Early balladeers would sing America by Germans and sold to that came into a New orleans kitchen without accompaniment at family the Creoles after the Civil War. It is that had very little food. The traveler gatherings or special occasions. The considered an “old world” instrument told the cook, “Jean, balayes” or fiddle supplied music for dances, played in folk and roots music. “Jean, sweep something together” although a cappela dance tunes that The Creole flag of South louisiana in local dialect. As time went on, the relied on clapping and stomping was designed in 1981. Creoles’ West phrase became the name of the tasty to provide the rhythm were also African heritage is represented by the dish made from a bunch of different common. iconic star from the Senegalese flag ingredients thrown together! and the three colors of Mali’s flag; Creole Music drew on the same The traditional Mardi Gras colors French heritage with the Fleur De lis, French traditions as Cajun music but and Spanish heritage by the Tower of are symbolic. Purple (justice), green added the influence of African music Castille. (faith), and gold (power) can be in the New World — the rhythms of seen throughout the entire state of the Caribbean or the soulful melodies The nickname for the state of louisiana during this time of year. of the slave spirituals. louisiana is “The Pelican State.” The fleur-de-lis (flower of the lily) In 1812, Louisiana became the 18th Creole Heritage Day is on January is a stylized symbol that is deeply state to enter the Union, selecting the 22 of each year. It was established in ingrained in louisiana’s history. A city of Baton Rouge (which means 1991. mark of nobility in France, the symbol red stick in French), as the capital. The rubboard (frottoir) is not only is seen in architecture, the state flag used by zydeco bands anymore. The state flower is the magnolia, the and on the helmets of the Saints Several popular rock and country tree is the bald cypress, and the bird football team, and used a symbol of musicians like ZZ Top, Shania Twain, is the pelican.