Freda Wild

Breton Culture

I am always surprised and delighted whenever I attended a local gathering. We had the event which was postponed last week because of the weather and football last night. We met by the church in the village and some of us walked and some of us drove the two miles to Helen's house.
The tables and chairs were waiting for us in the garden but only Pierre sat down. He immediately took out his melodion and started to play. The rest of us joined little fingers to dance the first An Dro.
It is always the first dance. Every Fest Noz (evening folk event) and Fest Diez ( day-time folk event) begins with an AnDro. It is the easiest of all the Breton dances but deceptively simple as are all Breton dances. I have watched many people, as I did when I first arrived, join in the circle thinking, this is easy, and becoming more and more puzzled as they found themselves out of step.
To the uninitiated it looks as though the circle is just shuffling around clockwise but one soon discovers that the tiny steps are quite complex. Of course there are dances which are very dramatic, like the one where the men leap up in the air and kick their legs out sideways to shoulder height defying gravity but these are now only perfomed at the Festivals by the well rehersed teams who perform in the traditional costumes. But the majority of the dances are subtley and gently complex like the polite affectionate characters of the Breton people.

We finish the dancing with our party piece which is very fast and involves much jumping and fancy footwork and requires lots of energy. We sit down at last, breathless, to the greatly appreciated drinks of cider (home-made of course). We eat crêpes, also homemade, with a variety of fillings. It is also someone's birthday so next comes the champagne and we give a birthday toast ( it's always someone's birthday)

As it is the last meeting of the season we have presentations for the musicians. To my surprise I am asked to choose a length of ribbon from three. I thought it was a game but am delight to find that as I chose red I am presented with a large potted plant with red flowers. I only play my clarinet occasionally and even then just one or two tunes. I am astonished. 'It's for encouragement', says Sylvie making the presentation. I am very moved and encouraged.
I love the ambience of these gatherings just twenty or so people dancing, playing and singing together. You have to experience dancing and singing in a circle to know it's power.

posted by Victoria Wild @ 6:53 am