08/04/2006

From swamp to dunes

Take the boy out of the Bayou State, but not vice versa

By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS

mdrahos@record-eagle.com

THOMPSONVILLE — It may be a stretch to say that Mark Stoltz brought Louisiana music and dance to northern Michigan — but then again, maybe not.

The one-time Bayou State resident teaches authentic Louisiana dance, hosts a WNMC show called Louisiana Sound, and plays the rubboard with K Jones and the Benzie Playboyz, a Cajun and zydeco band based in Benzie County. Known for its northern Michigan "swamp" sound, the group will perform at the Sleeping Bear Dunegrass & Blues Festival running today through Sunday in Empire.

An accomplished Cajun cook and storyteller, too, Stoltz is perhaps best known for his dance workshops, which he's taught for about six years. A favorite at festivals and concerts around the region, he also takes the workshops on the road to places like Louisiana and Canberra, Australia, for that country's prestigious National Folk Festival.

"I teach people the correct way, then they can take it wherever they want," said Stoltz, 56, Benzonia's postmaster by day. "I've added my own style to the Louisiana dance and still kept the basics, the traditional stuff. I have a couple moves in zydeco that are being used all over the country, which is way cool."

When he's not playing or teaching — summer weekends are usually booked — Stoltz attends workshops around the country or burns up the dance floor with one of three or four dance partners wherever Louisiana music is played.

"When I go to hear a Louisiana band, I'm ready when I hear that accordion," he said, adding that he brings along lots of water and a couple of shirts to swap. "I can't get off a dance floor. I go a little overboard. I would do it all the time if I could."

In a recent turn toward "more of the rootsy stuff," Stoltz is learning Creole fiddle and writing his own tunes, including "Slidell Slide," a line dance that tells the story of traveling across Louisiana on the old Spanish Trail. He said he's drawn to Louisiana music for the same reason others are — its contagious energy.

"I think anybody that listens to that music will agree that you can't help but dance to it," he said. "It just moves me, and when I'm performing I can just see people bobbing their heads around — old, young, middle-aged."

Stoltz admits his passion for all things Louisiana is ironic, given that he hated the place when he moved to Slidell from Detroit as a teenager. His dad was an electronic engineer for Chrysler, which had a contract with NASA, which built the Apollo and Saturn in New Orleans.

Later he experienced the Crescent City firsthand as a young adult living in the French Quarter and began to explore the Cajun, zyedco and Creole culture of southwest Louisiana.

But it wasn't until moving back to Michigan that he learned to appreciate what he'd left behind.

"I went to the Wheatland Festival and just fell in love with the music," he said. "I didn't know how to do the dance and there was nothing in Michigan. So I took a dance lesson and then started attending dance camps and festivals, and then went back to Louisiana. You need to go to southwest Louisiana to get the real thing."

Along the way he picked up the rubboard or "frattoir," taking lessons from top-notch players like Clifton Cheniere cousin Steve Nash, who once gave him a set of spoons. The ribbed instrument — a cousin of the original washboard — is one of the most important in creating the unique zydeco sound.

Now Stoltz, the brother of well-known Montana folksinger "Walkin" Jim Stoltz, exposes others to Louisiana culture through his business, Cajun Smile. It's named for a certain look he gets when he steps on the dance floor.

"People say I have a huge smile on my face when I'm dancing," he said. "They can see the passion. People just love to watch it. I get teary. You're right there partying with them, sharing their bliss. It's to die for, it's like heaven to me."