SUNSET LIMITED
A downpour has just cracked above the
French Quarter. Rain streams from the
gutters but the bad weather hasn’t
dampened spirits, and a crowd has
gathered as Dancing Man begins his show.
Clad in a white shirt and razor-creased
trousers, a black-and-gold sash slung
across his chest, he shimmies across the
street, following the beat set by a musician
in a jaunty top hat and feather boa. He
beckons the crowd to join in, and before
long, Dancing Man’s show has become a
full-blown street party.
‘That’s how things roll in New Orleans,’
he explains, strolling past the clapboard
houses along Royal Street. ‘We say “laissez
les bons temps rouler” – let the good times
roll. That’s what life here’s about.’
Dancing Man – aka Darryl Young – has
become something of a legend in New
Orleans since Hurricane Katrina. Born
and bred in the 9th Ward, one of the city’s
poorest areas, and trained as a chef, sincethe storm he’s embraced a new career as
a dance leader, inspired by the old New
Orleans tradition of the Second Line – the
informal procession that forms behind
the first line of mourners and musicians
during a traditional funeral, as the coffin
travels from church to cemetery.
‘The Second Line is the spirit of New
Orleans,’ Darryl says. ‘Even in sadness, we
make things joyful. When life gets hard, we
just party harder, baby!’ he says, sashaying
all the way to Frenchmen Street, where the
city’s most famous jazz joints are located- legendary names like the Spotted Cat,
Snug Harbor and the Blue Nile. It’s early
evening, but the entertainment’s already
in full swing. Jazz and blues drift out from
bar doorways and on a street-corner a
brass band is blasting out When The Saints
Go Marching In. Darryl can’t resist gliding
into the throng of onlookers and soon has
everyone jigging and hopping to the beat.
It’s a reassuring sight: Katrina may have
flattened neighbourhoods, but it could
never snuff the city’s zest for life.
The party will continue into the small
hours but for passengers on the SunsetNEW ORLEANS,
LOUISIANA
Mile 0
Darryl ‘Dancing Man’ Young
encourages bystanders to join
a street-corner performance in
New Orleans’ French QuarterI LLUSTRATION: NIK NEVES