In 2018, as part of the City of Boulder’s Office of Arts and Culture's Experiments in Public Art program, artist and CU Boulder professor Helanius Wilkins hosted a Louisiana-inspired dance performance at Boulder’s Civic Area. This event, titled Laissez les bons temps rouler ("Let the Good Times Roll"), transformed the downtown area into a celebration of Southern heritage, community, and creativity, beginning with a campus parade and culminating in a lively public dance concert at the Glen Huntington Bandshell.
Wilkins curated, directed, and led the production of this program, showcasing a diverse selection of high-caliber dance artists from Boulder and surrounding areas. The project aimed not only to engage various Boulder communities through dance but also to blur the boundaries between performers and audience, offering a program that encouraged interaction in multiple ways.
In a 2013 article titled "Symbiosis and Support," Wilkins had written, “Outside of change, the only constant in art is community.” This philosophy underpinned the project, as he sought to highlight dance as a source of and tool for community building. The Civic Area Park's scenic, open setting invited residents to reconnect with this natural space, fostering an appreciation for both art and environment. The production was intentionally low-tech, with all pre- and post-production activities and the performance itself completed in a single day. Invitations were extended to six to eight dance artists and companies, each presenting pieces up to 15 minutes long. A distinctive feature of the program was the uniting of nationally and internationally acclaimed artists from CU Boulder’s Dance Program with local dance companies, all sharing the stage in a celebration of community through dance.
