Information: Roy Hilburn, teacher of square, Cajun, and contra dance.

Roy, who taught contra dances and square dances, introduced folk dancers to Cajun dances. In the late 1980s, he also introduced Louisiana Cajun dancers to an Austrian folk dance called Zillertaller Ländler, whose motifs inspired an entire dance movement.

In addition to all of his dance teaching activities, he was once a long haul truck driver, and he also operated a sailing school in Florida!

Roy taught at the Stockton Folk Dance Camp and also the Mainewoods Folk Dance Camp for many years.

Roy passed away on September 26, 2023.

On Wed, Apr 8, 2026 Deborah Williams wrote:

Hello! I am doing some research on the connection between Cajun/Zydeco dance and the Austrian Laendler. I was recently in New Orleans and witnessed it, and found the mention of Roy Hilburn and his introduction of the Laendler to the Louisiana community. Your entry on him mentions "whose motifs inspired an entire dance movement" – but I can't seem to find any more information about what that movement is. If you know of where I might look, or have any additional information it would be appreciated!

Best,
Debbie

Dr. Deborah Williams
Senior Lecturer in Dance, University of Malta

Thank you for the interesting question, Debbie.

I have danced in Lafayette, Louisiana only once, in 2013, and danced to Cajun music only a few times at the Texas Folklife Festival in the 1970s, so most of my information comes from the late Roy Hilburn. Roy and my wife and I traveled extensively in Mexico in the 1990s. He visited us several times, and we traveled to Maine once to visit him. We miss him dearly and sing some of his favorite songs at least once a week.

Anyway, in my experience and according to Roy, the Cajun waltz was a fairly simple 1-2-3 pattern, alternating feet, without even much turning as in other forms of the waltz. At one event in Lafayette, Roy and his partner, I think it was Gayle Armstrong of San Antonio, Texas, both long-time folk dance teachers, were dancing a Cajun waltz and became bored. Perhaps the music was not interesting, or perhaps the band had played too many waltzes, or perhaps Roy and Gayle had run out of things to talk about. At any rate, Roy and Gayle began to do Zillertaler Laendler, a dance from Austria that was extremely popular in recreational international folk dancing from 1950 to this day.

In this dance, different arm positions follow one another in succession: yokes, little windows, big windows, arches, the knot, etc. Other dancers in the room saw Roy and Gayle doing this and began to imitate them. I think this was in the early 1990s. Laendler arm positions then became commonplace in the Cajun waltz. Roy expressed surprise and just a bit of concern that he had been responsible for "cultural appropriation" (my term), although he did not know that term and it had not come into popular use at that time.

I have not danced Cajun since 2013, so perhaps the "Cajun laendler" no longer exists? I just don't know. Dance fads come and go, as you probably know.

Thank you again for the question. I welcome your further inquiries.

Sincerely,
~Ron

Ron Houston, Ph.D., Trustee
The Society of Folk Dance Historians