Traditional valley dances were performed on the Montreal stage

Last November, a Gleaner article told of dancer and choreographer Kerwin Barrington's journey to the valley in search of ancestral dances.

That search led to a dance party last early November, where Barrington and his band had the opportunity to spend time with Pierre Savaria and Les Loisir Folklore, as well as people from the Brysonville School.

The fruits of this research were presented this past weekend in a 20-minute production called “Synapse” by L'Université du Montreal's recreation program. Suivre les Racines Pour Trouver la Terre.

Synapse is an extracurricular course run by Barrington that is open to the public and allows people from any program or lifestyle to experience dance.

The premiere took place at the JA De Séve Pavilion; It was beautiful to watch the free flowing forms in popular traditional patterns. The music, consisting of drums, electric guitar and cello, was similarly very different and suited the choreographed pieces very well.

During the Q&A session after the show, Barrington explained that they took reels and other tunes from their Valley parties, and then they built the music from those beats, choosing the right timing for each segment of the performance. The main thing was to respect and introduce rhythm.

A unit was called Moon and Sun in the centerLast week's total eclipse held special symbolism.

To achieve the final result, the group spent six months practicing call and response, improvisation and different speeds and volumes of music.

Barrington also noted how he realized the dancers were referencing each other; that is, they began to recognize the group as a whole, not their position on the stage – square dancers are connected with this.

Barrington wants to complete the scope of this project. He now hopes to find an opportunity or place to showcase his art in the valley.