Step dancing trio heading to Charleston By Dan LeRoy |
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Add Benoit Bourque to the list of guys who realized early that singing and dancing can help you get chicks. "A friend said, 'Do you want to join the school folk dance troupe?' And I said, 'Are you crazy? Dance is for girls!' " Bourque recalled, via phone from his Quebec home. "He said, 'YES! Exactly!' " Bourque concluded with a laugh. "So that's why I started." In the decades since that monumental revelation, Bourque has become one of the best-known step dancers in North America. He'll visit Charleston at 8 p.m. Saturday with his trio Bourque, Bernard & Lepage, offering the sounds and dance steps of Quebecois (French-Canadian) music in a special Friends of Old-Time Music and Dance concert at the state Cultural Center. Step dancing has become increasingly popular in recent years, thanks in part to the success of the musical "Riverdance" and its Irish dance offshoots. Bourque says his troupe enjoys some benefit from that success. "I can feel a difference, even here in Quebec, from the general public. People see us and say, 'Oh yes, yes, yes, you remind me of 'Riverdance,' " he said. "We reach a bigger audience than ever before." The two forms of dance share the same Celtic roots, Bourque said. But he notes some major differences in Irish and French-Canadian step dancing. "The Irish dancer, the upper body is kept very rigid. In our case, the upper body is straight, but loose," he said. French-Canadian step dancers also learn to keep their dance steps centered lower to the ground. The test, Bourque said, is for a dancer to perform with a glass of wine on his or her head. How long did it take for Bourque to master this trick? "It depends on how much you're thirsty," he joked. Bourque became well-known as a member of Eritage, a six-member ensemble that did "more pure traditional music, although I don't like the term." But after six years, Bourque quit the group to raise his family. |
In the mid-90s, Bourque returned to music full-time -- first as a member of the group Ad Vielle Que Pourra, and later as a trio with fiddler Gaston Bernard and bassist Simon Lepage. The trio share a French-Canadian heritage, but Bourque says its differences are equally important. Bernard and Lepage bring influences that range from pop, jazz and even African music to the group's traditional repertoire. "You get this spice, this world-beat approach," said Bourque, who plays guitar, accordion and mandolin in the band, in addition to playing percussion instruments like bones and spoons and serving as caller. The group released its first CD, "Matpat," last year, and tours constantly. One of the reasons, Bourque noted wistfully, is that the band is sometimes taken for granted at home. Although there has been a sizable movement in recent years demanding Quebec's independence from Canada, Bourque said there is no consensus among band members on the issue. "I voted 'yes' (for independence) in the last referendum, but since I live in a democracy, I totally accept that loss," Bourque said. "With time, I realize that all politic is really not that important now, it's the social change," he added. "And we have so many friends on the road, I feel more like a world citizen now." Band members participate frequently in teaching workshops, in schools and elsewhere. Bourque has made three trips to the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins to teach, most recently in 1997. Teaching "is part of my passion," Bourque said. "It's like when you sing for the first time, and feel it in your body. It's a wonderful thing." Tickets for Bourque, Bernard & Lepage are $10 for adults, $8 for FOOTMAD members, seniors and students and free for children 13 and under. Tickets are available at Trans Allegheny Books in Charleston, and Fret 'n' Fiddle in St. Albans. Professional child care is available at the concert. Call 344-4314 for more information. |
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