24) The renewal movement since the beginning of the 20th century

On 18 March 1918, Conrad Gauthier and Marius Baarbeau had begun organising the series of the Veillées du Bon vieux temps first at the Bibliothèque Saint-Sulpice and then at the Monument National . In 1922, E.Z Massicotte began the Soirées de famille series (also at the Monument National) where we can find, among others, Ovila Légaré as caller.

During this time, out of that a wave of interest towards arts and crafts, were created the Festivals des métiers du terroir (1927, 1928, 1930) which were organized by M. Barbeau, accompanied by Charles Marchand and John Murray Gibbons. This festival was part of a series of events organised by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), which took place in its grand hotels (Banff, Regina, Quebec...) .

From 1930-1950

Radio programs had begun broadcasting traditional songs and tunes during this time. In 1929, CKAC (Montreal) was regularly presenting Conrad Gauthier, Donat Lafleur, Isidore Soucy... In 1931, CKAC and CFCF were broadcasting the Veillées canadiennes, with among others, Alfred Montmarquette, Adélard Saint-Jean, Eugène Daignault. The case of the Montagnards Laurentiens remains the best example of the impact that these shows had on the public. This band was on radio station CHRC every Saturday night from 6 to 7, and then again from 9 to 10, CKAC became involved towards the end of the forties. This group was on the air for nearly twenty years (11934-1951), and surveys showed that 75% of the population tuned in to hear them, which sometimes surpassed la Soirée du Hockey (Radio-Canada's equivalent to Hockey Night in Canada, considered to have been the most listened to program on the radio). During the war, the show could be heard on shortwave from Quebec to Halifax, and was rebroadcast in Europe for our soldiers who were united with the Allied forces in fighting Nazi Germany.

Several of these shows had a substantial impact on dance traditions in Quebec. In fact, some stations hired callers for the Saturday evening shows. CHRC published Danses Carrées (circa 1945) presenting figures called by Jos Miller during his programs. Ovila Légaré did the same in 1950 (Sets câllés), as did Pierre Daignealt in 1964 with his En place pour un set. These call notebooks presented the square dance sets from the radio shows and made it easier for listeners to dance to the callers who were featured on the shows. The radio was then taking the place of the local fiddlers and callers, and had the effect of putting the square dance to the fore, to the detriment of the other styles of dances, such as the quadrille, cotillion and contradance . Recordings of "called dances" were produced, such as those of Ovila Légaré with Les Princes du Folklore(1959).

The popularity of such dances in the urban areas followed the Second World War. The Café Mocambo featured Philippe Bruneau, Ovila Légaré and Andy Desjarlis towards the end of the fifties, and the Salle Saint-André had been most active as well for a good ten years as well. The case was the same for the Trinidad Ballroom and for the Casa Loma, to mention only those from Montreal. At the same time, the Jeunesse Étudiante Catholique (JÉC) "recuperated" traditional dance for educational purposes . This practice was mainly directed at a relatively well-off class of youth, and blended the local traditional dance repertoire with an international one. Several folk dance groups become active at this time, mainly as performers.

L'Ordre de bon temps, established in 1946 by Father Ambroise Lafortune, became a leader in this movement. Established especially to provide activities for youth, this movement brought, for the first time, accepted socialization between girls and boys. Of those associated with this movement we find Michel Cartier and Grégoire Marcil . L'Ordre du bon temps was eventually replaced by the Fédération folklorique du Québec and by the Fédération Loisir-dance Québec. The latter organized a number of important folkdance workshops thoughout the seventies and at the beginning of the eighties.

In this same vein, and following the creation of the Archives de folklore at Laval University, Mme Simonne Voyer (at Mr. Luc Lacourcière's request) began collecting dances from the eastern part of the province, as well as in Acadia. She had just returned from Columbia University after finishing a double master's degree in dance and physical education. She established the group, Les folkloristes du Québec, once again at Luc Lacourcière's invitation as well as Madeleine Doyon's . Mme Voyer's research is of prime importance as she collected the first precise and exact descriptions of our traditional dances. The fifties and the sixties were very important years in providing knowledge about these traditional dances, which had now become the subject of study and of ethnographic collections.

The seventies

During the seventies, there was a nationalistic awakening in Quebec, and with this, a fashion for the folk tradition. There was the Veillée des veillées, the Veillées à tout l'monde at the Pavillon Latourelle (Palestre Nationale). At the same time that a great number of documents on traditional musicians were being produced (the Tamanoir and Philo lables, the film séries Le son des français d'Amérique) a number of new music groups were being created (La Bottine Souriante, Ruine-Babine, Barde...). In 1977, Jean Trudel wrote: It is very interesting to note how traditional music is actually very active.

This can be explained several ways, there has been a great interest for everything which has to do with history and heritage [...] If there is a marked return towards traditional music today it is that the young generation was beginning to feel a loss in the quality of life, these youth who since the sixties have been completely uprooted from their past [...] it is this same young generation which claims for itself the authentic and honest lifestyle of the collectivity to which it belongs. It should be no surprise that music should be a base, as well as a springboard to a new musical life adapted to us .

Basically the folk movement of the seventies allowed the people to reappropriate these methods of traditional expression, to react against the excessive "staging" or showcasing of our society. The traditional urban gathering took on a greater importance. The young generation which had never frequented the Trinidad or the Mocambo regained contact with the music and dance of our homeland. This new vision was based more on participation and was a reaction against the folk movement as "a show". The very term traditional dance (rather than folk dance) is telling of this mentality.

We know the rest. With the decline of the Nationalist movement, came a lessening of interest for traditional dance during the eighties. But we now notice a renewed interest for our traditional dance and music, particularly by the younger generation which again "takes up the flame"of the folk tradition.

par Pierre Chartrand

Notes

1. Today the Bibliotheque nationale on 1700 rue Saint-Denis, Montreal.
2. For more details on the revival of folk arts and crafts and music, see Pierre Chartrand, "Les festivals du Canadien Pacific dans les années vingt", Bulletin Mneno, vol 3, n°1, 1998.
3. The set is the only traditional dance which is called in Quebec. It was easily adaptable to this new media which was radio broadcasting.
4. Catholic student youth movement.
5. Cartier established the noted Ensemble des Feux-Follets.
6. The idea was to create a dance troupe for the festivities surrounding the hundreth anniversary of Laval University which was to take place the following year, in 1952.
7. Jean Trudel, "La musique traditionnelle au Québec", , in Possibles, vol I, n°3-4, printemps-.été, 1977, pp. 165-1977, as translated by JC.