My apologies to Quebec violies

On stage, “Uncle” Tom McSwiggan, 90, says jokes between two accordion strokes.

By his side, Andy Doucette plays the violin with such vigor that could be considered his performance as sport. Michael Pendergast and his son Shane accompany him on the keyboard and guitar respectively. Veronica Murray arrives punctually to hammer the scene of her tap shoes.

I tell you here one of the beautiful memories brought back from my vacation to the Prince Edward Island: an evening in a “Ceilidh” (pronounce Ké-li). Concert of traditional Scottish and Irish music, a show of humor in which we tell jokes and legends, opportunity to socialize: a ceilidh, it’s a bit at the same time. These evenings designed to recall the parties of kitchen are perpetuated from generation to generation.

At the door of the Community Center of the Municipality of Malpeque where we were, we had displayed a note written in fire pencil. “Sorry, full”.

The audience was formed as many children who dancing and jumped as old people typing hands, not to mention the teens who came to have a good time. And at the break, there were distribution of strawberries and ice cream!

In short, a sacred partyboth frenzied and good -natured.

I came back from the Maritimes by wondering why we did not have such evenings in Quebec, yet a land of revelers, violies and spoon players.

In the car, on the return, my family had to endure my flights on our supposed heritage loss.

I ended up calming down and calling Gilles Pitre, project manager at the Quebec Council of Living Heritage. He politely made me understand that I was quite masterfully in the field.

“For having rubbed shoulders with several musicians from the Prince Edward Island, we know that it is very dynamic there. But the perception that it is less alive here is wrong, in my opinion, ”he launched me.

In his spare time, Mr. Pitre is himself a “dancing call”-you know, these animators who provide instructions to the dancers, like “change aside, you were wrong”.

The “dance vigils” in which he officiates are much less anecdotal than I imagined.

“During the high season, from October to April, there are four to seven dance watches per week in Quebec,” he told me.

A phenomenon of regions? Not only. The Espace Trad organization organizes, for example, the evenings of the Plateau, in the heart of Montreal. For interested parties, the Quebec Dance Sights Network holds a calendar of events throughout the province¹.

“It is in full effervescence,” swears Mr. Pitre, who says he is witnessing a revival after a “drop in diet” in the 1980s and 1990s.

During these evenings, participants run traditional dances such as square sets, quadrilles and factories, to the sound of a group of three to five musicians. “There is always an interlude from Gigue-a round of jig where people will show their know-how,” he explains.

Another very dynamic phenomenon: that of “trad” festivals, for traditional music. The Quebec Council of Living Heritage lists no less than 22 in the province, from Joliette to Trois-Pistoles via Montmagny.

This scene is fueled by musicians who, despite the record crisis, record around twenty traditional music albums each year in Quebec.

Gilles Pitre reminds me that ADISQ gives a prize every year for the best album of traditional music (awarded last year to Domino !, Souring boot).

One aspect still intrigued me. The musicians I heard on the Prince Edward Island claim to be their Irish and Scottish roots, going so far as to play Irish folklore classics as Molly Malone. What about Quebec traditional musicians? Does their music are its origins in France?

Gilles Pitre comes alive on the phone. “This is a very interesting question!” “, He exclaims.

“The traditional Quebec instrumental music, with its accordion, violin, piano and guitar, also has Irish and Scottish origins,” he told me. These communities have been present in Quebec for a long time and have had a strong influence. »»

The Quebecers of yesteryear, however, appropriated these music and made them evolve. “We no longer play them as in Scotland or Ireland,” says Gilles Pitre.

Obviously, the French -speaking words come from France.

“If we talk about song, the influence is frankly and totally French. It comes from Brittany, Poitou, Picardy, Normandy, ”explains Mr. Pitre. All this mixed up to give traditional Quebec music, unique in the world.

“The Bolduc is a good example,” says Gilles Pitre. We feel the Celtic influences in music, but the words are in French. »»

In short, it swung a lot more than I thought on the trad side in Quebec. Proof that we often take advantage of trips to open up to other cultures … forgetting to look at what is done with us.

In my discharge, Gilles Pitre admits that the Quebec scene is “unknown” and suspects the Prince Edward Island to foam its “Ceilidhs” more from tourists than we do with us for dance vigils. It seems clear to me … and a shame. It would be better to know this section of our culture (me first) better and to introduce visitors to it.

My apologies to all the violies and dance callers of Quebec, therefore. And if I can allow myself a suggestion: strawberries and ice cream in the middle of the evening, it’s really not bad.

1. Consult the Quebec Dance Sights Network