Author: Barbara Le Blanc

Transcription

1 A Guide to Teaching Traditional Acadian Dance In School Author: Barbara Le Blanc with assistance from Dianne Milligan This guide is published by Dance Nova Scotia. Most of the material is taken from the yet to be published manuscript All Join Hands compiled by Barbara Le Blanc and Laura Sadowsky. Assistance for this Dance Nova Scotia manual was provided by Human Resources Development Canada Summer Employment program and the office of Alexa MacDonough which enabled us to hire Nicole Le Blanc who helped with the French language revision. Additional language assistance was provided by Gilles Le Blanc and Sally Ross. Dance Nova Scotia would also like to thank Brenda Porter, Laurene Hanley, Sandra Bartlett, Farida Blackloch and all the others, whose devotion and inspiration launched our involvement in providing dance resources to public schools. Thanks to Ray Whitley and Barry Fraser at Learning Resourses and Technology at the Department of Education. Special thanks to the staff of École Bois-Joli, especially the students of Monette Aucoin, Diane Lesveque and Tricia Melanson-Shea, in Dartmouth and to Jordon Comeau, Elenore Lamothe, Guillame Lamothe and Natalie Thimot from Anne Marie's School of Dance in St. Mary's Bay who participated in the video that accompanies this kit. A very special thanks to the musicians: fiddler, Marc Boudreau, pianist, Joel Chiasson, the members of the early music ensemble Mercredi (Nancy Carr, Mary Helleiner, Janet Ross and Judy MacLean) and to Bruce Daigreport and Rounder Records for permission to use his "Acadie à Louisiana" for the music for the Cajun Jitterbug. Our graditude is extended to Sabastien Bol, Christian Hogan and René Le Blanc for permission to use their recording of "Allons à Lafayette". Thank you to Jocelyn White for assistance with English proof-reading and to Pierre Igot for help with desk top publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this manual can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system without express permission in writing from Dance Nova Scotia and Barbara Le Blanc. First Edition: 2004 Cover Illustration: Micaela Comeau For information contact: Dance Nova Scotia, 1113 Marginal Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4N7 phone , fax <dans@hfx.eastlink.ca> < Copies available to Nova Scotia schools through the Learning Resource & Technology Division, NS Dept. of Education. Dance Nova Scotia is a member of the Cultural Federations of Nova Scotia and is funded by the Culture Division of the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture & Heritage.

2 Table of Contents: INTRODUCTION 1-1 CIRCLES AND CHAINS... I-1 LONGWAYS AND SQUARES... I-2 COUPLE DANCES... I-2 REVIVAL OF DANCES... I-3 CONTINUITY AND CHANGE... I-3 PROHIBITION OF DANCE... I-3 THE DEVIL AT THE DANCE... I-4 LES ENFANTS ENTÊTÉS... I-6 DANCE CONTEXT IN ACADIAN COMMUNITIES PARISH PICNICS WEDDINGS CANDLEMAS: AN EXAMPLE OF A SPECIAL FEAST DAY HOUSE PARTIES WHY TEACH TRADITIONAL DANCING? COMMUNITY AND DANCE CURRICULUM & DANCE CULTURAL ROOTS & DANCE DANCING IN THE SCHOOLS KEEPING IN TIME WITH THE MUSIC COURTESY THE VALUE OF MIXING TEACHING THE BASICS TEACHING POINTS SOME SPECIAL HINTS STUDENTS HAVING DIFFICULTY? EARLY DANCES/ BRANLE AND RONDE... E-1 TEACHING OUTCOMES... E-1 BRANLE DES SABOTS... E-2 LES MOUTONS... E-5 SONG (LES MOUTONS)... E-6 FIGURES... E-7 LE REEL À QUATRE THE FRENCH FOUR (A FOUR-HANDED REEL) TEACHING OUTCOMES... R-1 LESSON ONE... R-2 LESSON TWO... R-8 LA PATATE LOUNGE (THE LONG POTATO) TEACHING OUTCOMES... P-1 LESSON ONE... P-2 INTRODUCTION... P-4 FIGURES... P-5 QUADRILLE TEACHING OUTCOMES... Q-1 CHETICAMP SQUARE SET... Q-2 LESSON ONE... Q-3 LESSON TWO... Q-9 LESSON THREE... Q-15 CHETICAMP SET FIRST FIGURE... Q-18 CHETICAMP SET SECOND FIGURE... Q-20 CHETICAMP SET THIRD FIGURE... Q-23 CALLS/ CHETICAMP SQUARE SET FIRST FIGURE... Q-26 CALLS/ CHETICAMP SQUARE SET SECOND FIGURE... Q27 CALLS/ CHETICAMP SQUARE SET THIRD FIGURE... Q-28 THE CAJUN JITTERBUG (MODERN TWO- STEP) TEACHING OUTCOMES... C-1 LESSON ONE... C-2 GLOSSARY AND GENERAL TERMS... G-1

3 TEACHING OUTCOMES: To learn two forms of early French dancing: Branle (pronounced brawl) Ronde (Song Dance) EARLY DANCES Branle and Ronde To gain an experiential understanding of community through dance. HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Dancers in early Acadia formed a circle or line and held hands. All had to move together. Lack of gender distinction, need for co-operation and group cohesion characterize these dances. Most dances do not encourage in di vid u al ac com plish ment. Some dance his to ri ans suggest a correlation between these dance char ac ter is tics and community structure and social interaction. In effect, North American settlement occurred at a time in Europe s history when women s roles and places were not always clearly or rigidly defined (Noel 1991 p. 36). Some division of labour was evident in both the old and new world. For example, in peasant society, women prepared the food, but they also shared in the farm work. At peak times in the agricultural season farm women worked side by side with men in the fields (Prentice 1988). In this lesson you will learn two early dances: a branle and a ronde. The French word branler means to sway. The sway is like a swing of a pendulum, where the danc ers travel from side to side in a linked line or circle going first to the left and then to the right. The ronde illustrates how participants not only danced together but in most cases they also sang the songs that provided the musical accompaniment. TEACHING TIME: One minute period to teach two dances. TEACHING POINT: If the students do not want to hold hands, it is best not to make an issue of it. Traditionally, dancers would sometimes connect the line by holding scarves to avoid physical contact. This was often due to clerical prohibitions which saw dancing as a potential moral pitfall. Therefore, using scarves in this dance would be a culturally authentic variation. ALL JOIN HANDS E-1

4 EARLY DANCES BRANLE DES SABOTS NUMBER OF DANCERS: Unlimited. LESSON 1 FORMATION: Circle. STARTING POSITION: Facing centre, holding hands. STEP: Walk to the side. MUSIC: Track #1"Branles des Sabots" ("Clog Branle"). AGE LEVEL: Primary to adult. Music is playing as the students enter the room. Students form a line or lines and walk to the music. Ask the students to stop and give them directions for the two movements of this dance: double branle, and clog ging step. Once the students learn the two movements they get into a circle formation to do the dance. Circle for the Branle E-2 ALL JOIN HANDS

5 Double Branle Step sideways in a circle moving to the left: And then to the right: Step close Step close Step close Step close L R L R R L R L Practise this several times and then give directions for the clogging step. Clogging Step On the spot: Step close Step close Stomp Stomp Stamp Pause L R R L R R R Note: Stomp - Hit the foot on the floor and lift it immediately. Stamp - Hit the foot on the floor, putting your weight on it. Now combine these movements in Le branle des sabots. ALL JOIN HANDS E-3

6 Branle des sabots Step close Step close Step close Step close L R L R R L R L Step close Step close Step close Step close L R L R R L R L Step close Step close Stomp Stomp Stamp Pause L R R L R R R Step close Step close Stomp Stomp Stamp Pause L R R L R R R Repeat the entire sequence three or more times. Clog ging Step for Branle des Sabots E-4 ALL JOIN HANDS

7 LES MOUTONS LESSON 2 This is a popular song-dance. Arthur Le Blanc collected a version of this dance in Saint- Joseph-du-Moine, Nova Scotia in the 1950s. NUMBER OF DANCERS: Unlimited. FORMATION: Begin in a circle. The dance leader breaks the circle by dropping her/his left hand by her/his side. The circle becomes a chain. STARTING POSITION: The dancers holding hands follow the leader while singing and walking to the beat. STEP: Walked. DANCE LEADER: Students can take turns. MUSIC: Track #2 on CD, "Les Moutons". AGE LEVEL: Primary to adult. ALL JOIN HANDS E-5

8 SONG C est la plus belle de cçans (Les Moutons) Teach the following song: C est la plus belle de céans, C est par la main nous la tenons Faites-la passer en arrière, Ram ner vos moutons bergère Faites-la passer en avant, Ram nez vos moutons du champ. Ram nez, ram nez, ram nez belle, Ram nez vos moutons du champs. From Anselme Chiasson Chansons D Acadie Vol.2, p. 14. Reprinted with permission. E-6 ALL JOIN HANDS

9 FIGURES There are three figures or parts in this dance : Circle, Arches and Ser pent. Circle The dancers circle to the left while singing: C est la plus belle de céans, C est par la main nous la tenons The dancers circle to the right while singing: C est la plus belle de céans, C est par la main nous la tenons Arches Teach under arm turns that will be used in the arches. The odd numbered dancers may have a more difficult time be cause they have to make a backward underarm turn. When the group begins to sing the following words the dance leader (dancer 1) breaks the circle with her/his left hand and all the other dancers raise their arms into a series of arches. Faites-la passer en arrière, Ram ner vos moutons bergère, Faites-la passer en avant, Ram nez vos moutons du champ ALL JOIN HANDS E-7

10 Connected to the chain with the right hand, the dance leader pass es un der the arch between dancer 2 and dancer 3, moving from the front of the line of dancers to the back of the line of danc ers The leader passes un der the arch formed by danc er number 3 and danc er number 4 moving from back to front. This pro duc es a weav ing mo tion E-8 ALL JOIN HANDS

11 The lead er weaves in side and out side the bro ken cir cle pass ing under the arch es while re peat ing the third part of the song: Ram nez, ram nez, ram nez belle, Ram nez vos moutons du champs The dancers fol low in a chain for ma tion. The leader con tin ues until reaching the raised arms of the last dancers. The last dancer passes under an arch formed by her/his own arm. ALL JOIN HANDS E-9

12 Serpent The dance leader moves in a random pat tern around the dance floor, curving, twist ing and turning like a snake while con tin u ing to sing: Ram nez, ram nez, ram nez belle, Ram nez vos moutons du champs. The dance leader brings the chain of danc ers back into a circle for ma tion by join ing hands with the last person in the line. This ends the dance. E-10 ALL JOIN HANDS