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Formed in 1990, Renaissance Cadienne is a
folkloric-theatre troupe specializing in the older music from France,
Canada, and Louisiana. With its own band, the group sings and dances
the music from the l8th and l9th centuries and re-creates a wedding
from the year 1900.
Their music paints a vivid picture of the way the Louisiana Cajuns
lived two hundred years ago and encompasses the various ethnicities
which have contributed to Louisiana culture. Their dances include a
German schottische, a French bourrée, a Scots-Irish reel, a Canadian
Contre dance, the French Quadrille des Lanciers brought to Louisiana by
Napoleon III's soldiers, the typically Louisianan danse à la patate,
and even a Polish mazurka. Research is in progress on a dance brought
by Spanish settlers in the eighteenth century. The group often combines
song and dance in selections which include French and Acadian songs and
Fais Trois Tours, which highlights the Afro-Creole tradition in
Louisiana.
The group has performed in Canada, France, Belgium, on national
television in France and the United States, on the European channel
Arté, and at home, including Festivals Acadiens, Le Festival
International, the live radio show Rendez-Vous des Cajuns at the
Liberty Theatre in Eunice, le Festival Francophone in New Orleans, and
from Morgan City to Lake Charles to Nachitoches. They toured Nova
Scotia in July 1999 and performed at eleven family reunions and
official functions during Congrès Mondial des Acadiens in August. The
group performed in the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in April
2000. In July 2000, Renaissance Cadienne participated in the first
annual ArteVida International Folk Festival in Berea, KY.
Renaissance Cadienne was awarded the Prize for Authenticity in June of
l997, given by the Sacres du Folklore in Reims, France, and received
the Cultural Heritage Preservation Award by VermilionVille in August
1998.
The group's hallmarks are audience participation and flexibility. They
have taught songs and dances to children, senior citizens, and
handicapped adults, on both sides of the Atlantic.
Their CD "La Fleur de la Jeunesse" highlights some of the Cajun family
and wedding songs.
Renaissance Cadienne is a member of the Acadiana Arts Council and of
the Cajun French Music Association.
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