Québec solidaire passed a motion on Thursday unanimously for the jig to be designated as intangible heritage of Quebec.
All parties in the National Assembly accepted the party’s motion, which speaks of this dance as a Quebec tradition that has endured over time.
It was the member for Mercier, Ruba Ghazal, the party’s spokesperson for culture and communications, who introduced the motion.
According to an information document from the Government of Quebec, the jig is of British, Scottish and Irish origin. She would have arrived in the province in the 19th century, with the waves of immigrants from these territories.
This dance is said to have first become popular with logging workers. The dancers were traditionally accompanied by fiddlers, accordionists or harmonicists.
The jig is mostly practiced with the feet, and can be danced solo or in a group.
Among Quebec’s best-known jiggers are the Grenier brothers, who appeared on numerous television shows to showcase their talents from the 1960s to the 1980s.
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