Fortierville, the dancing village

Choreographer and director Maude Lecours has been traveling across Quebec since 2017 to make communities dance and create a music video. We followed her to Fortierville, a small village of 677 tightly knit souls.

Bertrand Habel did not expect to perform a few dance steps in front of a camera when he burst into the Le Tournesol grocery store, opposite the church, on Rue Principale in Fortierville.

“I’m a shy guy…”

Maude Lecours quickly reassured him: nothing complicated, two or three movements, no more. The customer and the cashier, Laurie Demers, would just have to follow her. When the music filled the grocery store – Boogie Wonderland from Earth, Wind and Fire – Bertrand Habel started to sway his hips like a Travolta from the good old days. Without any embarrassment…

The trucker is undoubtedly a fake shy guy. But Maude Lecours knows how to be persuasive. The 1^er Last June, she and cameraman Alex Chabot crisscrossed Fortierville, a small village in the Centre-du-Québec region located halfway between the river and Highway 20. The goal: to make a music video featuring residents dancing all over the municipality. “To bring joy, to come together and to have a beautiful memory to keep,” explains the choreographer.

The message was heard. Throughout a shoot full of laughter and emotion, the people of Fortierville enthusiastically agreed to dance in front of the choreographer’s camera, to an original song composed by two of their own.

The music for the video was composed by a local artist, Jean-François Lemieux (aka Jeff Lemieux), who co-wrote the lyrics with hairdresser-singer Gaby Beaudet based on themes or phrases suggested by residents. “It was a lot about family, inclusiveness, fun, the great outdoors, understanding and peace,” explains the musician.

And the choreography? It’s improvised. in situ by Maude Lecours, depending on the circumstances and the level of mobility (or shyness) of the participants. For her, the important thing is to capture the moment in all its fragility and spontaneity. The precision of the gestures and the grace of the dancers are of no importance.

“I want people to be 100% themselves. I want to create a moment where people can connect to their bodies in a space of joy and letting go. It’s very simple and very human. It breaks the rhythm of our lives that pass in performance and speed.”

A unifying project

The mayor, Julie Pressé, contacted the choreographer after discovering her company, called Faire danser un village, on Facebook.

The mayor admits that it took some time to convince the city council and citizens of the value of this initiative (100% funded through various subsidies). But it is clear that once convinced, the Fortiervillois embraced the project with enthusiasm.

Each stopover of the film crew gave rise to magical moments. Starting with the employees and volunteers of the CHSLD who danced while entertaining the residents. Some of them smiled at the overflowing joy that resonated in the large common room. Sparks lit up in the eyes of others. The employees laughed. A lot.

“It’s for these smiles that I’ve been working here for 36 years,” says Lucie Bouvet, a leisure technician at the CHSLD. “It was very energizing. We gave them a moment of happiness this morning.”

Inside the Sainte-Philomène church, there were about twenty people dancing gospel-style and clapping their hands to the music of the Temptations: a real festive outpouring! Among them were members of the Cercle des fermières as well as volunteers who ensure the upkeep of the church or who keep the village’s interpretation centre running.

The latter is dedicated to the village’s patron saint, Sainte-Philomène, and to Aurore Gagnon, the little girl who was sadly famous for having been martyred by her stepmother in the 1920s. To the point of dying at the age of 10. The house where this horrible abuse took place still stands at the entrance to the village, a stone’s throw from the local canteen.

This canteen is also the only place where Maude Lecours’ contagious enthusiasm met with a little resistance. The three teenagers in charge of serving at the counter refused to dance. No and no again. Fortunately, the owner saved the day by performing a few moves while she was preparing one of her pizzas (which are said to be famous, by the way!).

A moment of shared spontaneity

This moment of shared joy took place in a very friendly atmosphere. Some residents came on horseback to the linear park to do a little musical trotting or galloping. One resident, Chantal Gagné, spontaneously performed a jig number of her own. For a moment, the soccer players were transformed into dancers…

Children also performed in front of the church square the line dance choreography they had learned at primary school (located in the neighbouring village). Among the dancers was young Mohammad, whose family was welcomed in the region after a stay in a refugee camp in Syria. Around these laughing young people, nearly a hundred Fortiervillois encouraged them by beating time to Good Time by Alan Jackson.

“I found this day magical,” he explained to The Press André Bélanger, a great volunteer for the municipality, unfortunately passed away between the day of the report and the day of publication (see box). “At first, this project surprised me a little, but I loved it. It was very well organized. It brought us closer together, I think. There was a great sense of brotherhood among the participants. Usually, I’m not comfortable dancing, but this one was fine!”

“Fortierville is more than a village, it’s a family,” adds Analie B. Laquerre, who is a clinical nurse at the CIUSS, a member of the board of directors of the organization La Clef de la galerie, president of the recreation committee and, incidentally, responsible for accounting for the local garage that belongs to her in-laws.

Alejandra Gonzalez confirms this. “We are originally from Mexico and we arrived in Fortierville last June,” explains the mother. “It’s very pretty here. We were very well received. It was important for us to come dance today.”

Without being asked twice, the new Fortierville family joined this dancing humanity gathered in front of the church for the final choreography. Encouraged by Maude Lecours, the participants raised their arms to the sky and greeted the drone that passed by to immortalize this day to be marked with a white stone. For the Fortierville residents, all that remains is to wait for the village festival in December, when the video clip will be unveiled…

Visit the Make a Village Dance website

A tribute to a great Fortiervillois

On June 24, Fortierville lost one of its most beloved and involved citizens: André Bélanger died at the age of 84. The man who ran the village grocery store for several decades was at the heart of Fortierville life, explains the town’s general manager, Annie Jacques. “He had been involved in the church for years; he watered the skating rink that now bears his name… He was a fervent PQ supporter who died on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, a celebration he helped organize for years in the village…” The video clip directed by Maude Lecours will pay tribute to him.

Who is Maude Lecours?

A dance and yoga teacher, Maude Lecours likes to bring these disciplines to unusual places, whether they be penitentiaries, retirement homes or primary schools.

The 34-year-old co-founded the organization Faire danser un village in 2017, supported since then by friends who lend her a hand on camera or in editing.

She has made several towns and villages (including Longueuil and Magog) dance, as well as community organizations and workplaces.