BON DÉBARRAS
FOLK | TRAD | PERCUSSIVE DANCE
Bon Débarras unites the worlds of music, dance and poetry through a collaboration between Montreal artists Dominic Desrochers, Jean-François Dumas and Véronique Plasse. Over the years, Bon Débarras moved boldly into an entirely original repertoire steeped in poetry and rhythmic sounds, with unambiguous Quebec flavors. On guitar, banjo, violin and harmonica, the group carries an identity, a style and an energy-filled zest for life quite unique and beautifully served by the versatility of the musicians as well as their daring jigging and vivid body percussion.
Bon Débarras’ energy taps into the rhythms of today and ventures boldly on the multi-faceted road to tomorrow’s dreams, in an atmosphere that transcends boundaries and ages.
In the last 2019 album Repères, and also with En panne de silence in 2017, Bon Débarras moves boldly into a repertoire that is almost entirely original, steeped in poetry and rhythmic urban sounds – and even a touch of Aboriginal influence. More innovative than ever, the trio remains true to the rhythms of French-speaking America with those unambiguous Quebec flavors supported by a newcomer – the fiddle. And that’s how, over the years, this warm-hearted band has been able to carry on an identity, a style and an energy-filled zest for life quite unique and beautifully served by the versatility of the musicians as well as their daring jigging and vivid body percussion.
Bon Débarras drew the attention of European presenters in 2014 after receiving the Lynda Lemay Award at the Festival de la chanson de Granby. The group performed some twenty concerts in France on their 2016 Granby-Europe tour. Since its birth, the band has played throughout Canada, the United States, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom as well as making regular appearances in France.
VEILLANCE
VEILLANCE - all ages
For nearly 20 years, Bon Débarras has kept Quebec’s folk-trad music alive. With Veillance, the trio carries the memory that grounds us while urging care for what surrounds us to build a better future.
Original compositions and refined arrangements blend with poetry, step dancing, and body percussion, creating an irresistible movement that invites everyone to join the dance.
REPÈRES
REPÈRES - all ages
Repères highlights the reference points and core values that the folk-trad group Bon Débarras has relied on for its creative process since its beginnings. Identity bearings, geographical markers, linguistic and cultural reference points – these are “repères” in French. But most of all, encounters and discoveries leading to lyrics (Joséphine Bacon, Gaston Miron, Simon Gauthier, Gilles Vigneault) and musical collaborations (Michel Faubert, Cédric Dind-Lavoie). The trio relies also on various inner hideouts, dens or “repaires”, multifaceted references forged through encounters, travels and life experiences. Their repères – milestones and markers – anchor solidly the band’s music in Quebec traditions while giving it a touch of the world around the corner. From their repaires – hideaways, havens of refuge –, they come out with a renewed energy irresistibly calling for dancing!
PLAYING HOOKY - 6 to 12
SYNOPSIS - PLAYING HOOKY
INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCE
Bon Débarras takes you on a whirlwind musical journey through various communities from which they have drawn their inspiration, including Québec, Acadia and Louisiana. Feet stomping, hand clapping, leg slapping and full-on singing are to be expected from both performers and the audience alike. Presented in schools and various children’s festivals throughout Canada and France, this show, with its songs, tales, lilting and called dances, will not fail to move you and give you a spring in your step.
6 - 12 years old