dialogue between Ireland and Cotentin with Les Jupons de Mémé

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The show Little Ireland from Dublin to Cotentin will be played on Sunday November 10, 2024, at 3 p.m., in Port-en-Bessin-Huppain (Calvados), under the marquee of Music under the Spray festivalas part of Goût du Large, the festival of scallop.

This show was born from the meeting between LaCaDanses, an Irish dance and tap school in Paris, and a trio of musicians from Cotentin, Les Jupons de Mémé. Little Ireland, from Dublin to Cotentin took his first steps on stage a year ago, almost to the day.

A round trip between the Channel and Ireland

“We played just after the Ciaran storm, in Saint-Martin-de-Bréhal, and in Les Pieux,” explains Simon Leterrier, multi-instrumentalist and leader of the group Mémé’s Petticoats.

The idea is really to offer a meeting between musicians from Cotentin, who have been influenced by Ireland, and Irish dancers. As if going back and forth between these two territories which share somewhat the same identity, at least in terms of landscapes.

Since then, the troupe of dancers and musicians from La Manche have not had any new opportunities to re-present this creation, called Little Ireland, in reference to The Hague and to his landscapes which evoke so much the Emerald Isle.

“The show is not intended to be replayed regularly, because of the geographical distance between the group and the dancers. It is therefore a unique opportunity to attend it on Sunday in Bessin. »

Cotentin folk and traditional Irish music

To set up this project, the directory of Granny’s petticoats was enhanced with additional Irish music so that the dancers could show off the full technical range at their disposal. With rapid steps, spectacular jumps, dictated by the liveliness of this music, and which always cause a sensation with the public.

To add another touch of Ireland to the band’s sound, Mémé’s Petticoats has enlisted the services of an Irish bagpipe player, Jacky Beaucé. A musician who does not set foot in unknown territory since he is one of Simon Leterrier’s teammates within the group My shoes are red. And one of his compatriots, residing in the Channel, which ticks all the boxes!

Meetings in bars

Mémé’s Petticoats were born from the meeting of enthusiasts of Irish and world music, during sessions played in the bars of Cherbourg. Simon, his accordion, his voice and his guitar, brought in their wake the violinist Yves Aquilina and the banjoist Christophe Escudier, who became the three pillars of these “oxen” (to popularize) which are, to say the least, codified.

• Video : The wait – Les Jupons de Mémé

“We started by covering Irish tunes before really starting to compose our own songs. But also songs on the maritime theme and on life in the Cotentin. All in French and in a folk style, with touches of Celtic, Eastern or even Louisiana music. »

Telling about life in Cotentin

This life in the Cotentin told by the three friends of the Jupons is full of contrast between the postcard made of breathtaking landscapes, and the sometimes harsh life for its inhabitants. The public will be able to hear it in particular in the song Le troquet des marins.

There is this life by the sea, this invigorating air that we can envy. A very rich territory, between the sea, its very varied coastline, and the land, its forests, its fields… We see beautiful things in the Cotentin. On a human level, we have a good-natured, friendly and convivial side. But we see human distress, misery, like everywhere else.

Les Jupons de Mémé are thinking of an album. It would be the ideal medium to tell these stories, especially since “it’s something that people ask us. »

The public’s enthusiasm for folk seems to be growing, between balls and concerts. “In the south Manche, there are always the diehard Strand Hugg (Editor’s note: born in the mid-1980s in Granville), But, in the north Cotentin, there are fewer and fewer of them or, in any case, the groups are struggling to survive,” notes Simon Leterrier.

Mémé’s Petticoats therefore contribute to ensuring that this music that takes people on a journey lives in northern Cotentin. In space and in time. Towards a life made of direct contact between people, around music and dances, far from the era of social networks.

Little Ireland, from Dublin to Cotentin, Sunday November 10, 2024, 3 p.m., in Port-en-Bessin-Huppain. Single price: €15. Ticket sales until November 8, 12 p.m., at the Port en Bessin-Huppain Cultural Center and at the Cultural Space of the Leclerc shopping center. Online on the site portenbessin-huppain.fr from November 9. On site, at 10 a.m.

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