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News › Thibodaux librarian helps preserve Cajun culture

Thibodaux librarian helps preserve Cajun culture

March 9, 2009

Lloyd J. Nelson III
Staff Writer
courtesy of Daily Comet Newspaper

Anke Tonn stands in front of a model float at Nicholls State University
that represents Cajun musical heritage. The university’s associate
librarian has made preservation of Cajun culture a personal crusade.

THIBODAUX — If Cajun music is in the air, Anke Tonn is likely there.

Tonn, an associate librarian at Nicholls State University, can be found dancing the two step at Tipitina’s in New Orleans most Sundays.

That is, when she’s not dancing at whatever local festival is being held that week.

And although her roots are not Cajun — she was born in Germany — Tonn wages a daily fight to preserve the culture.

She created 12 Zydeco festivals at Nicholls and is the driving force behind the school’s upcoming Louisiana Swamp Stomp Festival.

SELECT THE READ MORE BUTTON BELOW FOR FULL STORY

“Sometimes people will say ‘Oh, that chank-a-chank music,’ ” Tonne said, “But all of these musicians play high-quality music. People just love it. There is hardly any place to go to have a wonderful time. These festivals are one place.”

In 1997, Tonn created the Cajun Zydeco Exhibit, an opportunity, she said, to share with a younger generation a culture they were becoming less and less familiar with. It was such a hit they continued doing it for 12 years.

The Cajun Zydeco Exhibit was funded mainly through grants, proposals for which Tonn spent countless hours writing. She said the process was exhausting and that the program never quite received the amount of money it sought. The money ran out, so a 13th Cajun Zydeco Exhibit was scrapped.

That was when Tonn was approached by university officials with the idea of a new festival, paid for by sponsors.

The Swamp Stomp Festival, March 20 and 21, is the product of Tonn’s vision. Twelve acts will occupy two stages over two days on the Nicholls campus. Food will be served, artists will sell crafts and cultural presentations will be offered.

“Sometimes people will say ‘Oh, that chank-a-chank music,’ ” Tonne said, “But all of these musicians play high-quality music. People just love it. There is hardly any place to go to have a wonderful time. These festivals are one place.”

“We hope this year younger people will come,” Tonn said. “They need to learn about this cause they don’t know what they’re missing.”

Many of the artists, including Geno Delafose and Bruce Daigrepont, have become personal friends.

“Geno, when he sees me, he hugs us and always sings about me,” Tonn said. “He yells, ‘Thibodaux!’ ”

Tonn’s road initially seemed more directed toward Bach and Beethoven than Bruce or Geno. Born in Hamburg, Tonn sold classical music at Steinway and Sons until she met her ex-husband, a violinist about to attend the hallowed Juilliard School in New York. Together, they emigrated to the U.S., where they lived and married in New Jersey. After a brief stint in Portland, Maine, the couple and their two children moved to Kingston, Ontario. After 10 years of marriage, however, they divorced.

“I was so stunned,” Tonn said. “I was confounded on how to support myself and my children.”

Tonn began work at the library at Queens University, where she also took classes, earning degrees in German literature and art history.

After graduating, Tonn and her children moved to Nova Scotia, where she worked nine years as a librarian at Dalhousie University before moving to St. Johns, Newfoundland. She worked at Memorial University until the the area’s fishing industry shut down, crippling the economy.

“I lost my job at the library cause of a fishery closing down,” Tonn said. “They cut $6 million from the budget, and I was one of many.”

The loss of her job presented Tonn with an opportunity she said she always wanted. In 1994, she was offered a job at Tulane University in New Orleans. It was there, she said, that she discovered one of her true passions.

After work one day, Tonn’s colleagues took her out to Tipitina’s nightclub to introduce her to Cajun music. The rest, she said, is history.

“I was absolutely fascinated,” Tonn said. “The music, the atmosphere, the dance, it’s absolutely wonderful.”

Posted by rsias on Friday, March 13, 2009 (14:00:00) (229 reads)

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