Compagnie Pied en Sol draws L’Assemblée des Bourdons out of Breton popular tradition: the troménies, the danses macabres, animal figures and gargoyles. Six dancers, Mathieu Hamon’s voice and Ronan Pellen’s viole de gambe build it as a bal du monde where step, voice and rhythm are one. Brigitte Trémelot and Denis Madeleine choreographed the fifty-minute piece. The Festival Un Automne Autrement hosts it at Plumergat with Ti Douar Alré.
Tag: traditional-dance
Fest-noz des 40 ans du Bagad Bro Konk Kerne
The Bagad Bro Konk Kerne has carried the Breton pipe-band repertoire for four decades, and marks the anniversary with a fest-noz at Melgven. Its Bagadig and its Pipe-Band open the hall before the dancing. The Hamon-Martin Quintet, Blue Glaz and Kaféhin then take the stand, with the singers Irvoas and Flouret and the piper pairs Henaff/Meunier and Carrer/Perennou. A parquet is laid for dancers, and the bar serves crêpes and galettes-saucisses.
Gwennyn présente Enez à l’Espace Keraudy
Enez is Gwennyn’s staged creation, built from dance, song, lighting and costume. Some thirty artists share the stage with her, among them the storyteller Patrick Ewen and musicians well known on the Breton music scene. She sings in Breton, and the costumes she wears were designed by the Quimper embroiderer Pascal Jaouen. The evening lands at the Espace Keraudy in Plougonvelin, one of the halls carrying the creation across the region.
Fest Noz with Carré Manchot and Sterne, Plédran
Carré Manchot has been playing Festoû-Noz for forty years and brings a wooden transverse flute, accordion, guitar and Armel An Hejer’s voice to Plédran. Sterne arrives from Saint-Cast with bombarde, biniou and bourdon behind violin, folk guitar and its own singing. The duo Le Bour Bodros answers with Timothée Le Bour’s saxophones against Youen Bodros’s accordion. Three sets, one dance floor, in the hall’s own season.
Fest noz with Kelt Ha Breizh at l’île aux oiseaux
A fest noz comes to l’île aux oiseaux at Corn Er Pont, in Guern, with Kelt Ha Breizh playing for the dancers. The evening marks the fourth anniversary of L’École aux Oiseaux, and it departs from the venue’s usual concert format: the floor goes to dancers, not to an audience in seats. Kelt Ha Breizh carry the dance music in two sets. A shared meal of chicken supreme, fries and salad opens it, and places are taken by reservation.
Bal Basque Fest Noz au festival Dispar Amzer
Gavottes and andros fill the hall at Douarnenez, answered by dances from the Basque Country. Two Breton singing pairs carry the kan-ha-diskan, Diridollou with Lavigne and Quéré with Le Menn, while Bilaka Kolektiboa brings the Basque dance. Txistu, xirula, gaita and alboka sound against harp, bassoon and bombarde. Dixit sings with Morgane Gregory, Klervi Piel and Sterenn Toscer. The bal is one night of Festival Dispar Amzer at Place des Halles.
Chaud ! Les châtaignes at La Ferme d’Antan
La Ferme d’Antan hands a whole day to the chestnut, at the hamlet of Saint Esprit des Bois in Plédéliac. The forge is run and loaves go into the oven while old trades are shown at work, beside rooms of autumn varieties, photographs and creative workshops. A meal at midday, tastings and a sale of produce carry the rest of the afternoon. The day ends in a fest-deiz, the dance taken in daylight, behind Asteure, Land Segal Trad and Nomad.
Sonerien Du ouvre le Festival Presqu’île Breizh
The Festival Presqu’île Breizh opens with a concert by Sonerien Du at the Espace Louison Bobet in Quiberon. The band plays the repertoire that fest-noz dancers follow, so the floor matters more than the seats. Over three days the festival spreads across Quiberon and the neighbouring communes, with some thirty spectacles and hundreds of dancers and musicians. A grande parade celtique sets off from the same hall.
Session de musique bretonne at Mar’mousse
Musicians gather at Mar’mousse, a kav, bar and resto in Plérin, to play Breton tunes together. The invitation is to come and play, not to listen: newcomers are eased in on an easy stretch first, and the session proper is launched afterwards. Anyone who would rather dance than play is welcome to, which is what the repertoire is for. The house signs its own pages in Breton, Produet e Breizh hag e brezhoneg gant karantez. Entry is free.
Fête automnale des Amis du Monde à Meneham
Les Amis du Monde de Kerlouan gather in the heart of Meneham for their autumn fete. The afternoon is a fest-deiz, danced in daylight to a traditional music group. Pumpkin soup, sausage galettes and crêpes come out of the kitchen beside a refreshment stand. Meneham is the village the association works in, and the Côte des Légendes office opens the site this season for lantern-lit visits, giant werewolves and Ar vro Bagan’s pirate play.