To the sounds of the violinist and the commands of the “Calleuse” we move forward and backward, we “swing” our partner and take our place in the dance. We are in the middle of the troupe Les Mutins de Longueuil, which is giving a performance on the Place du Marché to which the audience is invited for their greatest pleasure.
“The Mutins have been making the world dance for 63 years,” Olivier Paré, a history consultant who discovered the troupe at age eight as part of an after-school activity, tells the Journal. He was part of the troupe for 22 years and currently leads its artistic and educational aspects.
With his tall stature and thick beard, Olivier fits the image we have of a Quebec lumberjack of yesteryear. And he openly acknowledges his connection to folklore.
“I think we are seeing a significant resurgence of interest in traditional dance, especially among young people,” explains this puzzle, whose videos made with other Mutins have generated up to 7 million views on TikTok.
The Mutins de Longueuil troupe has existed for 63 years. The mutineers of Longueuil
640 choreographies
Since collective memory has neglected this cultural past, historians have tried in recent years to retrace the dance steps that accompanied the evenings of bygone times. He listed about 640 dances from various regions of Quebec, particularly by watching episodes of Canadian Evening, a television series that featured traditional dancers in the 1970s.
But the Longueuil Mutins are not limited to Quebec. They highlight traditional dances from around the world. In addition, their costume collection, which includes 4,000 pieces from 40 countries, is considered the largest of its kind in Quebec. Choreographers from Mexico and Hungary contributed to the international component of the ensemble.
Traditional dance at the heart of Expo 67. Les Mutins de Longueuil
School and troop
Les Mutins was founded in the summer of 1960 with an educational aim by Suzanne Sigouin and Hélène Villeneuve, to offer the children of Vieux-Longueuil an introduction to dance through a day camp. To this day, Les Mutins is a dance school in which groups of young people take part or adults register for two semesters per year. But it is also a troupe that offers shows and organizes tours every year. Mutins shows were even performed in Taiwan in 1999.
The pandemic hasn’t put an end to the troop’s and school’s activities either. During the great lockdown, we danced remotely thanks to video conferencing.
But the return to in-person events has revived the popularity of the Mutins, which currently has several hundred members and supporters.
The rehearsals always take place in the same premises provided by the city of Longueuil, which has helped support the troupe since its creation.
The international component of Les Mutins de Longueuil troupe has taken them all over the world. The mutineers of Longueuil