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Métis culture and dance at Red Deer’s downtown library

Red Deerians saw some fancy footwork while learning more about Métis culture Thursday night.
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Gilles Allard speaks at Thursday night’s Let’s Talk About The Arts event at the Red Deer Public Library downtown. (Photo by Sean McIntosh/Advocate staff)

Red Deerians saw some fancy footwork while learning more about Métis culture Thursday night.

About 60 people came out to the Friends of the Red Deer Public Library’s Let’s Talk About the Arts event about Métis dance and culture at the downtown branch.

Laura Allard, who danced alongside her brother Daniel at the event, said she always loves performing in front of crowds who aren’t too familiar with Métis dancing.

“It feels really special to share the culture,” said Laura Allard. “It’s needed to promote the culture and share the arts with the community.”

Laura and Daniel Allard have performed across Canada, including a performance at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, and in Mexico.

Laura Allard said the dancing, which is performed to fiddle music, is a form of step dancing derived from different cultures - Scottish, French and First Nations.

Before and after the dancers and musicians performed, Gilles Allard, Laura and Daniel’s father, spoke about the Métis culture.

“This evening is about sharing the uniqueness of the Métis culture,” Gilles Allard said. “We hope to continue to encourage this kind of relationship with the city and area.”

It was great to see so many people come out to the event, he added.

“We have to embrace and cherish the opportunity for people to want to see what is unique about the Métis culture and this provides a venue just for that,” he said.

READ MORE: A night of Métis dance

Anita Thomas, Friends of the Red Deer Public Library secretary, said this was the most well attended Let’s Talk About The Arts event the group has ever held.

“We’ve been doing this for three years,” she said. “It feels like we’ve hit something that has a broader appeal.”

This was the first Let’s Talk About The Arts event that had a demonstration part to a lecture. Thomas said the group will continue to go in this direction in the future.

“I already have a few ideas for some future events, so we’ll see what happens,” said Thomas.

All profits raised at the event will go to the Red Deer Public Library.



sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com

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Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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