During the fur trade era, Voyageurs who could lead the brigade in songs would earn extra pay, and we still greatly value songs: historical paddling songs such as “Au chant de l’Allouette” or “V’la le Bon Vent,” heritage songs such as “Mes Souliers sont Rouges” or “La Vielle” and songs that lift our spirits “Il Pleut il Mouille” (Let's party in the rain.)
Song and dance are a big part of the Lac du Bois adventure. Whether you're dancing to popular Francophone music at a village dance, learning to play the djembé, singing French classics like Champs-Elysées or writing an original camp song, you’ll find yourself learning language and culture while expressing your spirit of performance through the music of la Francophonie.
Villagers perform as part of an a cappella workshop.
Learning a song is a great way to learn a language, and at Lac du Bois, we sing all day long! Beyond traditional French music, we learn a variety of Lac du Bois-specific songs, many of which have been sung at Lac du Bois for decades. We sing about le nettoyage (clean-up after meals), la Poste de Lac du Bois (our internal postal system), la journée intérnationale (International day), and even la salade! Additionally, villagers often make up their own French songs and sing them at our soirée de talent (talent show) to share with all of Lac du Bois.
Dances at Lac du Bois aren’t just for fun: learning a dance is a good way to learn vocabulary for actions and parts of the body. The camp dance night is a highlight of every session, but we don’t limit ourselves to one night a week! We dance during opening day, during different dance-themed activities (la danse orientale, for example, or le ballet), we dance on International Day…and sometimes we dance during the middle of meals, just for fun.
At Lac du Bois, you can learn to plan instruments from all over the French-speaking world. Villagers can try out the sanza (thumb piano), djembé, tama, and the tam-tam (drums), the chekeré (shakers)…or the more familiar piano and guitare. Villagers who play an instrument at home are welcome to share their musical talents with the rest of Lac du Bois – many villagers choose to practice during free time and share their talents at the soirée des talents.