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You'll see this everywhere: traditional Breton music and dancing
15.07.2024 - 21:13 / lonelyplanet.com
Jul 15, 2024 • 5 min read
It can be pretty intimidating to get involved with the Bretons once they hear the sound of a bagpipe — which usually sees them gather in a circle, lock pinkies, and set off for a little bit (or a whole night) of traditional dancing.
But it’s not that scary at Lorient’s Interceltic Festival.
A yearly event that gathers almost a million visitors and thousands of musicians and dancers from Celtic regions like Scotland, Ireland and of course, Brittany, the festival is a joyful celebration that is open to all. As I made my way from a street performance by Asturian musicians to one of the main stages to listen to an up-and-coming Breton band, I could have never anticipated that I’d find myself, hands locked on both sides with total strangers, in a large round of dancers expertly jumping from one side to the other.
Perhaps it was the couple of local beers I’d had earlier with my moules frites (mussels and fries), or the fact that both musicians and spectators patiently showed the steps to those who were novices. But even as a born and bred Parisian, I had never felt more like I got it.
It’s difficult for anyone who is not from Brittany to fully grasp how important traditional singing and dancing are to the region. Of course, they are visible everywhere — from Friday evening gigs at the local bar to region-wide music and dance championships. But beyond the fun, they are also one of the essential ways in which the Bretons have defended their identity over the centuries.
Breton music and dance go back to the Middle Ages, and find their roots in Celtic tradition. As early as the 14th century, Breton sonneurs appeared — local musicians who typically played wind instruments like the bombard, a type of oboe, and the biniou, which is similar to the bagpipes. Sonneurs would play for people to dance at all kinds of social and religious events like weddings and threshings; as they multiplied through the centuries, they became a central piece of everyday Breton life.
By the 19th century, Brittany had a rich and lively music and dance scene that some intellectuals began to theorize constituted key components of a Breton culture — a claim to identity that came just as the French state started cracking down on "regional languages," including Breton language, which were banned from schools.
Traditional music and dance were progressively abandoned by the Bretons in the first half of the 20th century. The region’s thriving culture, which was perceived to be despised by the central state, suffered a setback — a decline that worsened in the immediate aftermath of the wars.
But a new major period of revivalism started in the 1950s; as musicians and dancers took a fresh interest in Breton history and identity, a
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