Following The Pink and Gold Sparkly Road :: How Joining a Local Dance Krewe Enhanced my Life

The Pink and Gold Sparkly Road :: How Joining a Local Dance Krewe Enhanced my Life

Three years ago, I was recovering from a devastating divorce, and learning how to navigate this new life of being a single mom, after a decade spent being a traditional wife. I had little self-confidence or direction after devoting myself to a husband and raising children and losing myself along the way.

It was time to get back to work and find myself again. This took a lot of hard work and luckily meeting new friends who would challenge me. After getting myself back into the workforce, seeking out new opportunities to partake in, including a beach co-ed volleyball team for a couple of years, I asked myself what was next. One of my girlfriends said, “You should join “The Flamingeauxs” with us!” This was a newly formed local dance krewe in Baton Rouge.

I thought this was an absurd idea as I had never danced in my life. I was 48 years old and out of shape, and I hate attention. But I said yes and decided to try, after all I had never played volleyball either.

I had always admired my friends in high school who danced. I even once went to a try out and after trying the routines as a shy and gangly 5”10 teenager with no experience, quickly left the room defeated. I never once thought about dancing again until this opportunity came into my life. Later as a mother, I left the dancing to my daughter becoming a dance mom for 5 years.

I took the first step towards becoming a “Flamingeaux” and arrived at the practice looking like a deer in headlights. I was so stiff like a robot trying to focus on learning and not knowing how to have fun with it. I almost quit so many times, but I decided long ago I am not a quitter. I would do this for my daughter to show her you are never too old to learn something new, that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. Although I did postpone being in my first parade that season as I got up the nerve, but I resumed this mission 3 months later. What kept me going was the bright smiles and the encouragement of my fellow Krewe members.

As a Co-Ed Dance Krewe in Baton Rouge, we have a diverse group that includes a wide range of members of all sizes, ages and experience. We are all “birds of a feather” looking for something fun to engage in while giving back to our community.

Little by little, I started adding more and more pink and gold into my wardrobe among my black staples. I started embracing the fun of wigs, costumes, sequins, sparkles and crafting and I learned how to dance like no one was watching even when thousands of people were. I started getting up the nerve to be in TikTok videos and not care what people thought of me for the first time in my life.

I embraced the smiles and the words of encouragement that came from the parade crowds as they reacted so passionately to seeing people who represented them just enjoying and embracing life asking nothing in return. My Krewe has become my second family and I have so much love for the people who are on this journey with me. I have formed friendships with so many strong, accomplished, and beautiful individuals and that has made me a better person in general. I have been inspired and I have learned so much from the journeys of others.

It has been three years since I started something I never imagined myself doing, I have danced in approximately 15 parades, consisting of Halloween, Christmas, and Mardi Gras parade seasons. I have danced approximately 45+ miles in the many streets of Baton Rouge and surrounding areas both in sunshine and pouring rain in front of thousands of strangers. I have even danced in Nursing Homes for residents and award events.

If you are in need of a new experience, are wanting to meet new and interesting friends, just need to smile more or want to be a presence in your community while making a difference, I highly recommend joining a dance krewe. As adults, we can sometimes lose the joy of just having fun in life and may just need to learn something new or pick back up something we once loved. You are never too old, and it is not too late. Joining “The Flamingeauxs” has taught me how to stand on one leg even when I didn’t always land on both feet and that life is just better when you sprinkle it in glitter.