Benoît Roblin has grown to the sound of the hurdy-gurdy at Vierzon in Berry. Formed by Laurent Bitaud then Alexis Vacher, Benoît obtains his DEM in traditional music in 2008 then embarks on the professional adventure accompanied by his old green wheel designed by Jean-Paul Dinota.
Benoît Roblin has developed his own game, inspired by viellists of different styles, working on energy and groove. He has always put traditional music to dance in the heart of his instrumental practice, those of Berry mainly with Decibal, the big trio, the Hervé duo and now in solo ball , through Poitou with Son de bouc, the Roblin duo. Pacher, the duo Jagueneau-Roblin and Tord Boyaux, Brittany and Vendée in the Roblin-Evain-Badeau Trio, and Gascony with Nòu.
Projects full head and fingers, Benedict continues to create over the meetings, always looking for new experiences.
Benoit Roblin : hurdy-gurdy, feet, singing.
This was a really lovely full on learning experience as participants we were offered a very full programme of learning experiences with the opportunity to dance in the evening. APR2019 Workshop Timetable . I learnt about playing and singing for dancing in Breton, Poitou and Scandinavian folk music over four days. To say that the experience was intense would be an understatement – I learnt a lot about playing styles, singing, call and refrain, playing by ear and much more.
My Mousnier Tenor Hurdy Gurdy which had it’s first outing on this trip. It was a challenge using a new instrument in a workshop situation however people seem to really like it’s low sound and roar.
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I attended music workshops at the Gaunts House Winter School over 4 days with Benoit Roblin, Gilles Chabenat, Julien Barbances and Lyset i Forsen the groups were very small and this made the learning process very quick and in depth. I also learnt to dance Scottische, waltz and Mazurka (thank you Jean for your remarkable patience). The Winter School is a nine day event which brought professional musicians, singers and dancers from all over Europe to provide a very rich and exciting program of dance and music workshops, concerts and bals. More info about the Emade organisation who put on the event can be found here http://www.emade.org.uk/winterschool.php the full programme is here programme winter school Gaunts House
I’ll provide details of the specific workshops and learnings in subsequent posts.
So far Hot Griselda, Eelgrinders, Tondo (Gilles Chabenat, Maarten Decombel, Fred Pouget), Ciac Boum, HRD, Lyset i forsen, trio Roblin/Evain/Badeau, Naragonia , Benoit Guerbigny, Julien Barbances, Rémi Geffroy, Gabriel Lenoir have confirmed their coming.
Dance workshop teachers include : Leif & Margareta Virtanen (Swedish dances), Anne-Cécile Dubois (tango and more), Maria Guerbigny (Lindy hop), Mike &Heidi Gibbs (rueda), Gabriel Lenoir (Dances from Wallony) & more (polska, Poitou, Bretagne, French mazurka…
The Folk Ball events and concerts were fantastic seeing top European Folk Musicians play in a dance context was invaluable. Dancing to the tunes they played a profound and deep level physical understanding of the function and dynamics of the music – magic!
Quentin Budworth Musician 