Blandine caught sight of a
poster while we were browsing the weekly village market in Vienne - Indian
Folk dances in Montseveroux. She jumped with excitement. Anything to do with
India makes her do that. I was more tepid. I tend to run the other way when I see
a troupe of folk dancers. As we did, seconds later. A whole horde of my fellow
countrymen in traditional folk costumes trundled down the cobbled streets of
Vienne. While I was still recovering from the shock, they were followed
by another horde of what looked like Russians in Cossack costumes,
and a phalanx of Americans in checked suits.
Apparently, they were the
dancers invited for 'Les Nuit de Montseveroux' (The Nights of Montseveroux).
Montseveroux is a tiny little village on the hills overlooking the Rhone, just
a few miles out of Vienne. Having gotten tired of hearing 'Montseveroux -
What's That?', the villagers decided to make their village a little more
notorious by conducting an annual international dance festival. This year, the
invited countries were India, Ossetia and the USA. Ossetia, in case, like
me, you haven't heard of it, is a little sub-state carved out of Georgia
that still is not fully recognized as a separate country. They would probably
be deeply offended at my description of them as Russians in Cossack costumes,
but in my defense, I have to say I couldn’t see much difference.
Naturally we had to go to the festival. Blandine couldn't be kept away by a troupe of hungry lions. I tagged along, despite grave trepidations. Village Montseveroux turned out to be a rather charming place...
... with a church and a château. I covered the church in the previous post. Here are some pics of the château, where the festival was to be conducted.
Here is a pic of a rather jolly farmhouse in the village.
And here is the courtyard
of the château, ready for the performance. We bought beer and hotdogs from
behind the stands (yes, you get hotdogs in France, only they pronounce it
'ot-doug). I had a feeling that was going to be the only part of the evening I
would enjoy.
The Ossetians were the
first to go. Amazing, athletic, martial stuff with flashing swords and whatnot.
To my layman's eyes, it looked like Cossack dances, but no doubt an expert
could have pointed out the differences.
Next on stage were my
countrymen. Folk dances from Gujrat and Rajasthan, by a folk dance troupe from Ahmedabad. It was a bit staid after the
Russian (oops Ossetian) pyrotechnics, but the French audience seemed to enjoy
it nevertheless. My personal opinion: those chaps ought to train harder. I
found them out of shape and out of practice. With so many amazing folk dance troupes
in India, I don't know why the organizers invited this particular troupe. Here is one of the better dances they did: the Dandia Raas, performed by men and women dancing in circles, clicking small batons known as dandias. It wasn't the same as the clashing swords of the Osetians, but it was something, at least.
Finally, to close the show, a tap dance troupe from South Carolina. They stole everybody’s heart, they put so much verve and joy into their dance. American political correctness was on full display: there was one person of Chinese origin, two African-Americans, one of South Asian origin, one physically challenged dancer and one obese one (or is the politically correct term adipose challenged?). In fact, there were just two or three who could be described as the typical Southern belle or Southern beau. But they tap-danced like hillbillies at a village fair after several shots of moonshine, and, as I said, they stole everyone’s heart.
Naturally we had to go to the festival. Blandine couldn't be kept away by a troupe of hungry lions. I tagged along, despite grave trepidations. Village Montseveroux turned out to be a rather charming place...
... with a church and a château. I covered the church in the previous post. Here are some pics of the château, where the festival was to be conducted.
Here is a pic of a rather jolly farmhouse in the village.
Finally, to close the show, a tap dance troupe from South Carolina. They stole everybody’s heart, they put so much verve and joy into their dance. American political correctness was on full display: there was one person of Chinese origin, two African-Americans, one of South Asian origin, one physically challenged dancer and one obese one (or is the politically correct term adipose challenged?). In fact, there were just two or three who could be described as the typical Southern belle or Southern beau. But they tap-danced like hillbillies at a village fair after several shots of moonshine, and, as I said, they stole everyone’s heart.
