Traditional Dancing

I attended a traditional community dance last Saturday night and had a blast.  One of the things that I love about this place is that there is a strong community of people who unabashedly love their traditions and are doing everything in their power to preserve them.  People gather to speak and learn Occitan, teacher like Guy give of their time and talents to teach traditional music, and the city provides a place for them to meet and practice and share their progress.

What struck me first of all was the number of young musicians in the "dance" band.  There was a woman there who teaches accordion/concertina.  Her students ranged in age from maybe 7 to 60, and encompassed all levels.  They played and the rest of us danced.  I have been told that music is not available in the public schools, so teachers like these are a precious resource.  There are music "schools" where people can go to learn an instrument or to sing, but most of the music taught there is classical.  

Each level presented a piece or two, and there was a dance that "went with" the music...a traditional waltz, a non-traditional waltz in 5/4 time.  One couple in their 40's were the ones to watch--they knew all the intricate steps and movements. There was quite a bit of dancing in a circle, where partners were twirled and circled and handed off.  We stamped our feet, did some hopping and clapping and generally tried to travel in the same direction.  The lady who was teaching the steps had to be 70 if she was a day, and she danced all night, and in wedge shoes! 

Fewer than a dozen tourists were there;  this event was for locals.  Little girls were decked out in Mary Jane shoes, jumpers with t-shirts under them, ribbons in their hair.  I can't begin to tell you how delightful it was to see little girls dressed like little girls and not like little hookers-in-training.  Little boys danced with their mothers, women danced with women,  the children formed their own "inner" circle when we danced the circle dances, the open windows caught the night breezes and everyone seemed to be wearing a smile.  

There was a young accordion player who I would classify as a virtuoso.  Forget about the polka music of Lawrence Welk--this boy plays in the French style, and he held us all spellbound.  He is headed off to Paris this fall to study at the Academy of Music there.  I hope I get to hear him play once again before he leaves.  

I saw arguable the worst dancer I have ever seen in my life, having what was unarguably the best time of his life.  The night was about sharing a lineage, helping one another learn, and reveling in the movement to music of the centuries.  I cannot wait for the next one.