Victory Dance Songs and the Ville Platte Two-Step

I went to high school at Sacred Heart High School in Ville Platte, a small Catholic school. We had many traditions, some of which I hear are dying out, but when I was in high school from 1994-1999 we did many wonderful things as a school community.


During football season, we had a bonfire every Thursday night, where the boys brought their jerseys for the girls to wear. Every week you would ask a boy to wear their jersey on game day, while they wore their away jerseys during the day. We'd douse the jerseys we wore with the best perfumes we could find, and exchanged them with the boys after the pep-rallies on Friday

I don't know how we did it, but Friday nights after the game, we would have a "Victory Dance" even if we lost. Those were the best times. As a high-school teacher myself, I can not imagine how our teachers and parents agreed to chaperone the victory dances, or put them on at all! Thanks to them! What memories we made...  

Now, when I hear a Wayne Toups song like the "Two-Step Mamou" or "Take My Hand" I am immediately transported back to the varnished gym floor of the Sacred Heart High School gym. When the French music came on, I uaually danced with my best friend "Cooney", or my boyfriend, "Larry" who were both great dancers. Not too many boys danced to the French music, so mostly girls danced together.  Years later, I heard that Ville Platte girls tend to lead when they dance. Men have said to me, "Oh you do the Ville Platte two-step!" I don't know if that is true, but I am from Ville Platte, and I like to two-step!

At every Victory Dance Jeremy Ortego was the D. J. He has D.J.'d every dance of my life. He's an institution to me, just like these songs are, because he's the one who played them for us... Merci beaucoup Jeremy!

Jeremy Saturday

These are some of the songs that we used to dance to:

Wayne Toups songs:

Two Step Mamou

Tupelo Honey

Sugar Bee

Pauvre T-Johnny (Peux Pas Danser)
New Orleans Ladies (Les Filles de la Ville)
etc.
 

Take my Hand by Wayne Toups

Two Step Mamou




Movin on Up by Keith Frank

 

Dinosaur by Hank Williams Jr.

Desperado by the Eagles

Rose Colored Glasses by John Conlee

The Freeze (If you don't want me to) by Ronnie Milsap

 

The Footloose by Kenny Loggins

The Stroke