Join us for five exciting events celebrating québécois dance and music traditions, some of which are rooted in English-speaking communities that have long helped shape our province’s cultural landscape. If you are curious, love living heritage activities, or simply want to move and have fun, come experience the energy of traditional dances and the stories behind them with our Ès TRAD guests!

On February 25, discover the québécois twist to Scottish and Irish dances that have found a home in our province with James Allan (call), François Dumas (violin), and Susie Lemay (piano)

Guests

Of Scottish and Irish origin, James Allan was born in Kinnear’s Mills and is part of a dance and calling heritage. Originally a dancer, James started calling in 1988. He is the sole member of the new generation to call in English, respecting this tradition of over 60 years in the Inverness townships, which stretch along the North-East limit of the Les Bois-Francs region, between Beauce and the Eastern Townships, on the South shore of the St-Lawrence River. As always, James will give his explanations in French, present the vocabulary of the workshop, and call in English.

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Born in Saint-Charles de Bellechasse, François Dumas discovered the violing at 4 years old. Very young, he developed a passion for the music of his idol Jean Carignan, whose style he will study methodically. Today, François is admired and known everywhere as a violonist with exceptional talent. Thanks to his breathtaking bow manipulation, François Dumas has become a worthy bearer of Jean Carignan’s repertoire and technique. François has participated in many shows and recordings. His love of québécois folklore has carried him a little bit everywhere on Quebec stages, in a few European countries, and in Mexico.

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Susie Lemay started playing the accordion through her family’s influence. In 1987, she started exploring traditional music from Quebec, Ireland, Scotland, and musette on the melodeon and the three-row accordion with musical masters such as Denis Pépin and Philippe Bruneau. In 2005, Susie purchased a two-row, ré/do# accordion. She has since dedicated her efforts to that instrument, and her music presents tonalities faithful to the original melodies and the opportunity to expend her repertoire through the adaptation of violin parts to the accordion. In recent years, she is also present in the field on the piano. In 2016, she founded the group “TIPSY 3” with two other musicians from the Maritimes, promoting traditional music from Eastern Canada. Many traditional music event organizers call on her to showcase her mastery of her instrument and her knowledge of the repertoire. She has performed in Quebec, in Canada, in the United States, and in Europe. She shares the best of the musical treasures in a universe where tradition doesn’t have borders. In 2014, along with Denis Pépin, she was granted the “coup de coeur” Heritage Prize from the Ville de Lévis for their album DEUX, which came out in 2022.

In the Ballroom—Traditional Music and Dance of a Community is presented in collaboration with the Centre de valorisation du patrimoine vivant Ès TRAD and made possible thanks to financial support from the Gouvernement du Québec and Ville de Québec through their cultural development agreement.

Check out the full programming here!