Fest-noz

A fest-noz (Breton plural is festoù-noz , but the Sœurs Goadec said festnozoù , and French can also say fest-noz ) is a traditional festival (primarily a ball) in Brittany. Many a festoù-noz takes place apart from Brittany, making live the Breton culture beyond the Breton territory.

Formerly, many its dances had as an official purpose to pack the ground in order to carry out a ground ground beaten for a house or a surface to be beaten for the agricultural work (dances of the “new surface”), from where the presence of figures including of the beats of foot. The Église then proscribed the dances “ kof-a-kof ” (belly with belly, i.e. dances in couples). These festivals were the occasion for the young people to meet and to be evaluated, on the social plan, thanks to the clothes, and that of the fatigue strength, the same dance lasting sometimes very a long time with complex and fast steps requiring effort and technique.

Today, the dancers seek especially the pleasure of dancing in group to share one privileged moment all together. Many speaks about some Osmose and sometimes about states of fright reached thanks to the music (powerful and repetitive, to put besides in parallel with that of the teknivals) and with the physical effort. A certain way, to take part in a fest-noz of big size (as it is often organized some near the Breton big cities) approaches an exit in Nightclub.

Dances

There exist hundreds of traditional dances, of which most known are: the gavottes, the Year dro, the To haunt dro, the Plinn and the Scottish. At the time of a fest-noz, one practices the dances in chain or circle (everyone is held by the hand), the dances in couples, and the dances “chorégraphiées”, i.e. by decorating the artistic dances of defined elements well (sequences, figures, etc).

Music

The music which one can hear in these festivals is of two types: sung cappella has (Kan ha diskan,…), in music or purely instrumental. Before the invention of the microphones and amplified instruments, the most used instruments were the bombards and the Breton bagpipe (bagpipe kozh), because of their sound power. One found also the Diatonic accordion, the Clarinette, more rarely the violin and the hurdy-gurdy with wheel. After the Second world war, the Scottish bagpipe (and bagpipe arm) spread in Brittany thanks to the bagadoù: it then frequently took the place of the bagpipe-kozh. The simplified clarinet ( treujenn-jail into Breton, or core of cabbage ) had almost disappeared but it has profited from a strong renewed interest for a few years.

Beyond the traditional instruments, there exist today groups with the very varied tendencies, Rock, Jazz (Diwall, Skeduz,…) with the Punk while passing by the mixtures of all the Country. The string instruments (Violin, Double bass, acoustic Guitar, Electric guitar, low Guitar) and the North-African percussions were for a long time adopted. To differing degree, certain groups of Fest-Noz use also the electronic keyboards and the Synthétiseur S (Strobinell, Sonerien Of the, the Jabberers, Plantec…). The coppers make their appearance currently more and more, often bringing with them of sonorities close to those of the musics of the Eastern European countries.

Unfolding

There is no standard unfolding, but one can note the regular existence of “open scene”: before the arrival of a famous group, the scene is available to any musician, singer or voluntary group… and these are often the latter which make dance at the end of the festival the irreducible always petitioning dancers and dancers.

Between each group, short pauses make it possible to the dancers to be restored with generally with the program of the Crêpe S, the Galette S Saucisse S, of the Breton fars, the Kouign mercy and out of drink of the Cidre, the apple juice and obviously of the Bière!

Internal bonds

Breton Music

External references

Festoù-Noz close to on your premise
Breton Dances
Topicality to Festoù-Noz

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