Culture pour tous

The Fridolinades

A Theatrical Adventure or Transforming an Elementary School Year

This is the story of a school, a Maison de la culture and a cultural mediation project – with a very happy ending. It takes place in Montreal’s Sud-Ouest borough. Initially they wanted to get kids interested in art, “they” being the teachers and the Maison de la culture team.

It all started in 2007 when École Dollard‑des‑Ormeaux was preparing for the students’ end‑of‑year show, which is held in May each year at the Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay. Although the kids were motivated, many of the teachers agreed that there was a growing need for them to have more professional training for their end‑of‑year projects.

That’s where the team at the Maison de la culture Marie‑Uguay came in. They were facing a big challenge: trying to get the citizens to frequent their Maison de la culture in a borough that is split up by a railway, a canal and highways. The team's main mission is definitely to bring arts and culture into the lives of the borough’s residents. It’s a long-term endeavour whose benefits are seen when the residents learn at an early age to attend their Maison de la culture and bring their family and friends along with them. The idea of a new cultural mediation project gradually took shape in a series of discussions between the Maison de la culture's cultural agent, Martin Philippe Côté, and the people in charge of École Dollard-des-Ormeaux. Its implementation was made possible thanks to the Ville de Montréal's cultural mediation program for the Montreal boroughs.

The project appealed to the school officials, particularly grade 4 homeroom teacher Johanne Pelletier. It was an excellent chance to study a classic Quebec play and learn about the culture and history of the province at the same time. Les Fridolinades by Gratien Gélinas would be a good choice. Claire Jacques, an instructor with the Dynamic Theater Factory, created a 50-minute adaptation of the play. She also gave the students acting training and directed the play. The students attended workshops two hours a week, from January to May, until the final performances.

The kids being nine years old, they had to be kept motivated. And it wasn’t easy getting the project up and running: fewer than a third of the parents turned up for the project information meeting. Luckily, the person in charge of the project, the Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay’s cultural agent, was determined and the instructor was talented and tenacious. The initial objectives were clear: primarily to get the kids interested in culture and to teach them teamwork by means of professional training.

What makes this project special is that their five months of hard work paid off with spectacular results, far exceeding expectations. The students have become much more comfortable with speaking in public and reading, and some have become more motivated in their school work thanks to their involvement in the play. Several are learning to project a stage presence. The class has developed a new sense of solidarity, and new talents have been discovered. There’s widespread enthusiasm. In May 2008, following the first performance at the Maison de la culture – there were four in all, for the parents, friends and the public –instructor Claire Jacques said, “It was very moving. There are so many people involved in a project like this. It’s like a mosaic that is formed by different pieces of coloured glass and different textures that all go together to make it work… I hope it will give them a feeling of pride in a job well done.”

The results can be gauged from the year-end wrap-up meetings and comments from the parents and students. Everyone agrees that the experience was worthwhile from an educational, academic and personal viewpoint. The objectives were more than met. “Projects like this give meaning to my work,” says Martin Philippe Côté. “They produce tangible, measurable results.”

Building on the enthusiasm generated by this first experience, École Dollard-des-Ormeaux has undertaken a second cultural mediation project: Les Fridolinades II. An adaptation of different sketches will be staged in 2009 with a new group, grade 5 students. “The program has been enhanced with a creation component: the kids will be encouraged to try their hand at writing sketches,” explains the project coordinator, Danièle Renaud. “They’ll give their take on society based on current events, just like Gratien Gélinas did in his famous Fridolinades.”