Living Tradition - Celtic Music And Dancing In Brittany

People coming on holiday to Brittany, staying in one of those traditional Brittany Gites, will be more or less aware of the Breton musical and dance traditions, but will probably not understand their strength and vibrancy.

As owners of holiday gites in the Vilaine Valley, near La Roche Bernard (and now permanent French residents) we are totally addicted. In my case to an instrument called the bombarde, and my wife to Breton Dancing.

It is true that Breton dancing and Brittany’s old culture has undergone a revival, but this revival started from a very strong base, and music and dance festivals are so numerous that they could on their own form the basis of your holiday in Brittany. In the summer (July and August – the French holiday season) there is a fest noz (=evening feast) for every day of the week. These are events mostly for the locals, but holiday makers are also made to feel very welcome and you will be well fed at low cost (moules marinieres, beouf gros sel, etc.) along low tables and benches.

More rarely there are fest deizh (=daytime feasts) which happen in the afternoon and which are often held as “stages” (=training sessions) for would-be Breton dancers.
Finally there are “noces Bretonnes” (=Brittany weddings) in which the music and dance surround the re-enactment of a wedding. These can be quite grand: we paid 30 euros each for one such occasion in Augan, Morbihan. It seemed a bit steep, but the meal lasted 4 hours, comprised seven courses, and was served with beer, wine, champagne, cider, and a little bit of Calvados – tout compris. A wonderful day.

The music is based on simple band lineups – from a selection of

bombardes – a piercingly loud reed instrument, same length and pitch as a penny whistle.
cornemuses – Brittany’s answer to the bagpipes.
accordions
flutes
clarinets
saxophone
violin

Three to four players at any one time. The music sounds muddy if dominated by accordions, but is always strongly rhythmic and danceable.

The dances themselves were traditionally very chaste. A whole village would dance in rondes where everyone links to their partners via their little fingers – no other bodily contact. There are many other dances, including “pile menu” which used to be danced to beat flat the earth floor of your house – try to imagine that as a dating opportunity. But the Breton tradition has been able to import racier and rather daring dances such as gavottes, and polka – from Paris !

You can get a flavour of Breton music from celtic music sites and a continuously updated list of Fest Noz from two Breton sites (just look for Fest Noz in google). You can also get a good list of Breton attractions (largely featuring Fest Noz !) from the France Ouest newpapser. These list appear in the first weeks of July and August – you may need to order them through your gite owner.

By: Chas And Daff