The Lake Area’s Dance and Performance Collective, Breathe, Bring It Full ‘Circle’

By Jessica Ferguson
Asst. Editor, The Times of SWLA






Breathe, the Lake Area’s Dance and Performance Collective, was created two years ago when a young woman—Jillian Ardoin—gathered her passion for dance and choreography, contacted some friends with the same interests, and ‘followed her dream.’ Ardoin has been dancing since she was three years old. It’s safe to say it’s in her blood, her heart, and her soul.

Ardoin graduated from St. Louis Catholic High School then attended the University of Texas in Austin where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

She absorbed her dancing and choreography classes, then took off to California where she participated in the Courage Group, a contemporary dance company committed to creating original dance works fusing classical art and architecture with metaphoric and resonant movement ideas. Ardoin also studied and danced with ODC which is considered one of the most active centers for dance on the West Coast.

Ardoin’s impressive resume shows a vast amount of experience.

She has studied in Texas, New York, Florida, North Carolina and California. In addition to being a certified dance instructor and a member of Dance Masters of America, Jillian Ardoin is a Licensed Massage Therapist at the state and national level.

These are the credentials that her peers said yes to when Ardoin placed that original phone call and asked, “Do you want to dance?” Otherwise, why would eight or nine people who hold full-time jobs and lead busy, active lives, invest themselves in yet another very demanding project?

The answers are: Passion for dance, passion for expressing themselves, passion to be creative, and respect and faith in Jillian Ardoin and her abilities.

Meet the Dancers
Lindsey Ardoin, Jillian’s sister has been a massage therapist for six years and has taught massage for two. She holds a Bachelors Degree from McNeese and is currently working on her nursing degree. As if that isn’t enough, she practices no less than twice a week for three performances in the up and coming Circular Connections.

Frances Fazzio began dancing at the age of three at Glenda Moss Academy of Dance. She holds a BFA from LSU with a concentration in painting and drawing. Frances has been an art teacher for four years.

Another native of Lake Charles is Elizabeth Gates who graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts. Elizabeth currently resides in Lafayette and comes to Lake Charles twice a week for practices with Breathe.
Tracy LeMieux serves on the board of directors of ACTS theatre and has performed two plays in 2009. For the past ten summers, Tracy has conducted her own Einstein art camp.

Colleen Locklin is a member of Lake Charles Civic Ballet and teaches for Lady Leah LaFargue School of the Dance. Locklin has performed with ACTS theatre, Houston TUTS Theatre and Fort Bend Theatre.

Lacy Vinson is also a product of the Glenda Moss Academy of Dance and has been dancing since she was three. She is a new home sales consultant in the field of real estate.

Lindsay Quebedeaux is a French teacher at SJ Welsh, a board member at ACTS Theatre and sings on her church praise team.

Sara Syron has been dancing for 23 years and works for Starbucks.

Chris Shearman, a personal trainer, is also a musician, songwriter, and singer. He currently
works at Smoothie King.

Let the Show Begin
Under the leadership and instruction of Ardoin, her small group of people who were all very interested in moving and dancing, collected together and started moving and breathing together. Their first performance was P.L.A.C.E.—performing local artists collaborating exhibition, and then there was THRILLER at the Poor Pony Music Festivals.

These performances put Breathe in the spotlight and gave them the confidence to expand further in an attempt to perform throughout the community.

They have since performed in events such as Poor Pony Thank You Party, V-Day and Pardi Gras as well as their annual fundraiser at Luna’s Bar and Grill.

Choreography, their first show, was such a success that they decided to continue entertaining and communicating the performing arts to the community.

This year, thanks to a DAF grant from the Arts and Humanities Council, and support from the Lake Charles Community Ballet, Breathe is able to perform bigger and better at Rosa Hart Theatre.

Breathe’s Circular Connections is the second annual showcase, and consists of modern dance with the help of some props, collaboration and a little aerial dancing.

Ardoin says the pieces in Circular Connections are definitely more near and dear to her heart. “They all have something to do with me and my past experiences in all types of relationships I have had since I’ve moved back home—there are moments of happiness and a lighthearted atmosphere throughout the show, ” said Ardoin.

Ardoin said while choreographing Circular Connections she focused on clarity in an attempt to relate her relationship experiences and the things that are most important to her. “Things such as Strength, Trust, Relaxation, Honesty, Engagement, Being Connected,” said Ardoin.

“We all go through these times in our lives and experience them very differently,” said Ardoin. “I hope our audience can feel and see how he/she is connected to everyone around them, even if it’s by the simplest thing as our Breathe, which is a continuous Circular Movement.”

Jillian Ardoin has done exactly what Mayor Roach and many parents and grandparents have hoped and dreamed for their children: she’s brought her talent, her dreams and expertise home—back to Lake Charles, Louisiana. She’s giving back to her community by being an integral part of the community.

The six dances Breathe will perform are called, Relax, Support, Strength, Connections, Honesty and Trust, and while each performance shares a huge chunk of Ardoin’s heart and soul, it’s the third dance called Strength that exhibits much of Jillian Ardoin’s character.

“This dance portrays how powerful we can be together and individually,” says Ardoin, “and how understanding the importance of our own strength can get us far in reaching our personal goals.”

BREATHE, the Lake Area's Dance and Performance Collective presents "Circular Connections," at 8 p.m. on Aug. 21-22, at Civic Center's Rosa Hart Theater. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at Expressions and Gordon's Drug Store or at the door.

The Lake Area Film Group Gets Top Billing

By Jessica Ferguson
The Times of SWLA




Welcome to the movie industry! That got your attention, didn’t it? That’s exactly what it was meant to do, because the film and media industry is a hot item these days. Almost every parish has a film alliance or commission, trying to woo Hollywood to the great state of Louisiana. And why not?

Louisiana has flavor, atmosphere, alligators and swamps, beautiful oaks and cypress trees, antebellum plantations and flashy casinos. Our people are characters, and our weather is warm year long. Enticing film and media to our state and community would be a plus for our economy. But that’s the business side of it.

What about the creative side?
Meet the Lake Area Film Group.


The Lake Area Film Group was founded in September 2004 by a group of passionate individuals interested in growing a filmmaking community in Southwest Louisiana. The original group committed to the mission statement: to create a network of people, ideas, and resources which, would be shared collectively, enabling the independent filmmaker in the Lake Area, and to host an annual film festival in Lake Charles, which would serve to both motivate and to inspire.

That’s exactly what LAFG does.

Some film groups are highly structured and wax long and eloquent on writing rules and philosophies, but they intimidate and quench that bold creativity needed to just go for it and put it all out there. “It” is that deep-down-in-the-gut-in-the-heart dream a person holds dear—that dream to create by writing or producing or directing or acting in a film.

“It’s not out of reach,” says Scott Waldrop, a KPLC employee and president of the Lake Area Film Group. “Filmmaking is not as elusive as it sounds.”

Julie Fay, also an employee of KPLC and one of the founding members of LAFG, writes screenplays. She meets weekly with her screenwriting critique group to make sure what she’s writing works. Julie is also one heck of an actress. On top of that, Julie does an excellent job of keeping the group informed of national film festivals, competitions and film sprints across the state.

What’s a film sprint? Hard work and a lot of fun. And a learning experience.

“Film sprints are popular across the country,” Waldrop says. “Teams are given certain criteria—it might be a location, a prop, and a line of dialogue that has to be included in your short. You tie it all together within 24 hours. You have to write the script, produce it and edit it within that 24 hour period.”
Sounds like reality TV, doesn’t it?

Waldrop says within each team there is a writer, an editor, a cinematographer, and a director. “And if you’re lucky you have some talent,” he says.

LAFG is a loose-knit group and the reason they get together is to encourage each other and to help members with their individual projects. They invite anyone with an interest or passion for filmmaking to join them.

“We’re all passionate about what we do,” says Waldrop. “Just to different degrees.”
Waldrop also says they want LAFG to be fun. While the structure might not be there, the passion is. They’re all serious about their craft, learning more and achieving their individual goals. They all produce something.

For anyone who has an interest in filmmaking, Waldrop says there’s a place for them with Lake Area Film Group. “You can get as creative as you want to get,” he says. “There’s a place for you if you want to write, produce, direct and if you want to make independent films. With LAFG you can build your skill sets up, even if you have no skills.”

John Ware, another KPLC employee, sums it up by saying, “I would like our group to grow with like-minded people because when we’re bigger, we’re better. We learn from each other.”

Mark your calendar now. LAFG meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM at Central Library in Lake Charles. LAFG can also be found on myspace and facebook. Don’t be shy. Lake Area Film Group is warm and inviting and they honestly want to encourage you.

If you have been stifling that heartfelt desire to be an independent filmmaker, stifle no more. To familiarize yourself with their work, go to www.youtube.com and search for lafilmgroup.

Don’t forget to read the credits! For more information email LAFilmGroup@gmail.com.

From Wood Chips to Electricity

By Chaney Ferguson
The Times of SWLA




If seeing is believing, then many Lake Area residents became believers in
biomass technology. Farmers, city officials, and even a local principal gathered at the McNeese Farm on June 18th to watch as switch grass was burned and converted into enough electricity to power lights.

“Basically we have a system that converts any carbon based biomass into energy,” said Heath Barnett, Ph.D. Chemistry.

That energy can take the form of electricity, liquid fuels, propane, diesel, or methanol. It can become heat to produce steam to provide heating purposes.

“So we can take in wood chips, switch grass, banana peels. Basically, if you can burn it in a bonfire we can run it. We can make a marshmallow based gas fire if we wanted to. It would burn and produce gas and we could turn it into energy,” said Barnett.

Skeptics believe it is either too difficult or not economically feasible.

Barnett says those reasons are a myth and not true at all. He does admit there are pros and cons, just like with any other technology.

“Today we are trying to get away from fossil fuels and 80% input of foreign oil, well this is one of the solutions we can have. We have tons of landfill waste, the wood industry is dying, and we are becoming a paperless society,” said Barnett.

Proponents of this technology believe it will provide America with cheaper energy prices.
Dr. John Sutherlin, Spokesman for Renewable International Fuels, LLC believes areas that are used to having power knocked out by hurricanes can benefit from the technology.

“You chop up some wood, power up the BTE unit and it produces electricity,” said Sutherlin.
“Imagine a unit like this working side by side with FEMA trying to restore our gulf coast after hurricanes Rita and Katrina. Instead of going and chipping up that wood and putting it into a landfill use it to re-power the city,” said Sutherlin.

There are a couple of limitations.

“You need to be in an area, obviously a rural setting is best, or if you are going to be in an urban setting something that isn’t congested. This is never going to be a unit that will be downtown in the middle of a city,” said Sutherlin.

“You want this where you can bring in the wood and have it automated where it is continuously feeding into the BTE, but that’s it,” said Sutherlin. “The limitations are getting your feedstock to the BTE, and the electricity you produce.”

Sutherlin said the reason they like producing electricity is because they can produce it as needed.
If you are producing a fuel you have to store it. With electricity it is an optimum system,” said Sutherlin.

Barnett said the technology has been around since World War II when the Germans used it to produce liquid fuel to power their war machine.

Now, as technology is constantly changing the same technology can be used as a clean renewable resource.

For more information check out Renewable International Fuels LLC website at www.stumptopump.com.