Edison library offers local
children taste of Zydeco
BY MAURA DOWGIN
Staff Writer
MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Apple Annie, aka Nancy Leary, assembles children at Edison’s Main Library for a Mardi Gras Parade during her Zydeco music program Nov. 20.
EDISON — Children received a lesson in Zydeco music at the Main Public Library recently.
Zydeco originated in southwest Louisiana and draws from the music of African slaves, Native Americans, the French and the Spanish, said Nancy Leary, better known as Apple Annie.
The hour-long educational show explained the history and purpose of Mardi Gras and the culture of the people of southwest Louisiana.
Leary handed out masks, hats and Mardi Gras beads to about 30 children in attendance.
The children, who were all elementary school age, dressed as if they were going on a trip to Mardi Gras, which is French for Fat Tuesday.
Leary told the children about the Mardi Gras parade and how people on floats throw necklaces and coins to the people lining the streets. She said the colors associated with Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold.
She also told the children about the different types of instruments — accordions, washboards, and shakers — that musicians use to make Zydeco music.
Leary handed out shakers that the children decorated using stickers. The children then marched in their own Mardi Gras parade around the first floor of the library to Zydeco music played on a CD player.
"This is a very family oriented music," Leary said. "The family would get together to make the music. They sang together and they would dance together."
The music is passed on from generation to generation, she said.
Leary also read the children a book called "Jenny Giraffe’s Mardi Gras Ride," by Cecilia Casrill Partez. The book follows Jenny Giraffe on her first experience with Mardi Gras and the traditions of southwest Louisiana.
The children at the program were entertained by the musical art form.
Lina Monroy, 8, of Edison, said her favorite part of the program was the story of Jenny Giraffe.
Jasmin Luyando, 10, of Edison, said her favorite part was the parade.
Jovani Luyando, 5, of Edison said he really enjoyed making the shaker.
The program was educational and more fun than school, said Maria Diaz, 7, of Edison.
Leary, a big fan of Zydeco music and the traditions and culture of southwest Louisiana, said she has been to many Zydeco concerts and has met many performers.
"The culture is food, speaking French and Zydeco music," Leary said.
Leary said she has performed as Apple Annie for schools, libraries, festivals, and parties for the past 15 years. She even does "roasts" at adult parties.
Leary has five different programs she runs for different audiences about Mardi Gras, Zydeco music, paper marbling, Hawaiian volcanoes, and parades from around the world. Each program can be modified for the ages and attention level of the audience.
"All my programs are to make people happy," Leary said. "When you put a hat on somebody, it gives them the excuse to be silly."
All of her programs involve the audience to keep the attention of children and other attendees.
Leary started performing as Apple Annie, dressed in a funny hat, large colorful skirt, plaid sneakers, pantaloons, colorful shirts and a beaded vest with an elephant on the back, to make people happy, she said.
Leary is a graduate of Kean University in Union and holds a certificate in training and development.
She has entertained at the Edison Wetlands Association’s holiday programs, at the Mercer County Teen Arts Festival in West Windsor, the Middlesex County College Day Care Center, Edison, and in New Brunswick and Woodbridge schools.
When Apple Annie appears at schools, she asks the children to write a journal entry before she gets there about what they think the program will be like, and a journal entry after she leaves comparing what happened to what they originally expected. She also requests they write a thank-you note to Apple Annie, she said. The children get an education on an art form and a writing lesson, she added.
Leary’s programs meet the N.J. Department of Education’s Core Curriculum Standards related to reading and language arts, artistic expression, interpersonal skills, and ecology, among others, she said.