Discover the Amazing Performing Arts Scene in Lafayette, LA
First-time visitors to Lafayette, LA, are often pleasantly surprised by its sizable performing arts scene, not to mention its origin. What we view today as beautiful, expressive entertainment was born out of the pain of the 1986 Oil Bust, when oil prices plummeted, leaving Lafayette on the brink of collapse.
“The community was filled with despair,” says Dana Baker, executive director of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra (ASO) & Conservatory of Music. “People leaned into the arts after the oil bust because our people needed something to hold onto and be proud of.”
Sam Oliver, executive director of the Acadiana Center for the Arts (AcA), agrees.
“The ’80s were a dark time, and we reached a fork in the road: Do we detonate and disappear or double down on what makes us special?” he says.
Luckily for residents and visitors today, the city doubled down on its rich artistic heritage of Creole-Cajun culture, planting seeds that grew into various arts centers and organizations.
Read ahead to learn more about the Lafayette, LA, region’s performing arts scene and the organizations that fuel it today.
In This Article
Acadiana Symphony Orchestra & Conservatory of Music
Founded in 1984, the ASO & Conservatory of Music is a nonprofit that was created to inspire culture through music. The orchestra, which includes more than 50 musicians, hosts nine concerts annually from September through May, with four additional concerts in Lafayette’s outlying parishes. It ends each season with its youth orchestra opening Festival International de Louisiane, a five-day cultural celebration held in downtown Lafayette.
Speaking of youth, ASO’s Conservatory of Music starts providing lessons to children as young as preschool. In fact, many become well-traveled, professionally trained musicians who return to Lafayette to pour back into the region that raised them.
“We grow musicians here like we grow agriculture,” Baker says.
The orchestra is known for bringing variety to its shows. It often offers beautiful blends of classical music with R&B, hip hop, or zydeco and Creole.
“We try to touch all parts of our Acadiana,” Baker says.
One of its beloved events is “Symphony in the Sky,” a benefit hosted atop the city’s main parking structure that kicks off the orchestra’s season, with live music beginning as the sun sets over Lafayette.
Acadiana Center for the Arts
Since 1975, the AcA has worked to support individual artists with advice, grants, technical assistance and education through direct instruction, Oliver says.
The AcA provides free training to local talent across artistic disciplines so they can teach or present their skills to others, transforming them into teaching artists for the AcA. This allows the AcA to provide paid opportunities for local creators to contribute to arts education programs and generate additional sources of income.
This investment keeps local artists in Lafayette, LA, providing them with a reason to stay in the area and contribute to what makes it a unique and desirable place to live. Currently, the AcA and its teaching artists produce 150 performances a year at more than 95 schools across the region, and the organization plans to add another 25 to the roster by the end of the year.
The AcA doesn’t stop at providing performances for school children. It also fosters and commissions new artists by offering residencies and bringing world-class talent into small, intimate public spaces.
F.I.R.E. Expressions
F.I.R.E. (faith, inspiration, relationship and experience) Expressions, which is owned and operated by Leigha T. Porter, is a professional dance studio specializing in classical, contemporary, African, hip hop and jazz. Porter says the studio aims to “spread the love and positivity of dance.”
She is a product of Lafayette, LA’s, commitment to arts education and culture throughout the city. Her first dance lessons as a child were in Lafayette, and she has since earned a master’s in education and received training in New York City from world-renowned choreographers and dancers.
Now, she educates the next generation of professional dancers in Lafayette and travels to perform internationally, sharing Creole-Cajun culture through dance. One of the projects she is most proud to be part of is The Creole Nutcracker, a Creole interpretation and stylized version of the classical Nutcracker ballet. It has been performed annually in Lafayette for the last eight years.
“It’s a fun way to help kids and the community understand Creole culture and be a part of something special,” Porter says.
Heymann Performing Arts Center
For those who want to see more than just the local genius of Lafayette, LA’s, arts scene, head to Heymann Performing Arts Center. This 2,168-seat venue hosts Broadway musicals, popular concerts, symphony and theater productions and more.
Performing Arts Serving Acadiana, which is a performing arts organization that works to provide local access to performances by nationally and internationally known performing artists and ensembles, primarily holds its performances at Heymann Performing Arts Center. Click here to learn more about their upcoming shows.
Performing Arts Serving Acadiana
Performing Arts Serving Acadiana (PASA) is a performing arts organization in Lafayette, LA, offering a diverse range of entertainment across disciplines such as dance, theater, classical and jazz. Its mission is to ensure local audiences have access to performances by nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles. PASA supports aspiring artists through outreach initiatives and residency programs, including master classes, workshops and educational sessions, while creating paid performance opportunities for local talent.
This article is sponsored by the Lafayette Convention & Visitors Commission, Lafayette Economic Development Authority and One Acadiana.