Molière workshops: when pedagogy, history, dance, and music come together at school

It is 9 am in Vanves and the school is slowly waking up to the harpsichord notes of Florian Carré and the warm-up of Hubert Hazebroucq, ready to welcome the CM1 class of the Jacques Cabourg school for 2 hours. Some twenty students enter the room, and there is already excitement at the idea of attending a cultural activity that departs from the usual school setting.

 The workshop takes place in a friendly and lively atmosphere that encourages dialogue between the artists and the students. The alternation between questions and answers allows us to retrace the history of comédie-ballets and more specifically of Molière (who never performed at the Moulin Rouge, to answer the questions of some students!). Inspired by images, paintings, and engravings of the period, we talk about music, dance, history …

The pedagogical scope is clear. It is a matter of (re)discovering historical dance and baroque music through this leading figure, Molière, and the great historical names who accompanied him during his career, such as the composer Lully and King Louis XIV (who unfortunately was not born in "1960" according to some of the people in the audience). These pedagogical workshops do not emphasize spoken Molière but rather danced Molière, the Molière that is sung and acted through theoretical and then practical experience in the second part of the intervention.

Armed with this knowledge, the students had the opportunity to practice the harpsichord on a few notes, sometimes in surprising ways for these future musicians. This practical dimension of the intervention allows the children to associate a sound with a touch, a music with an image, a dance with a story. There is a real desire to share a multi-sensory experience that places not only the artists but also and above all the children at the heart of the music and dance.

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 Finally, under the kind and patient guidance of dancer and choreographer Hubert Hazebroucq, the children were also introduced to historical dance: first and second position, pas chassés and pas balancés, the students were able to discover the beginnings of Baroque dance to the rhythm of a gigue and a counter-dance performed by Florian Carré on the harpsichord.

We take away from this experience a beautiful synergy between the children and the artists, curious and proactive pupils in the course of the workshop. The observation is quite unanimous, the experience is appreciated by both sides (guests and school), with a real desire to disseminate these educational projects more widely, in the continuity of the educational and cultural values widely supported by the Philharmonie de Paris and our Foundation. And when the children were asked at the end of the session if they had any questions, here is the one they asked: "When will you be back?”

 To conclude this educational and cultural journey, a school concert will be given in the main hall of the Cité de la Musique on Friday, October 7, 2022, again as part of the educational continuity of the Ateliers Molière. Beyond the walls of the school, the children will be able to enjoy a quality concert in unique conditions, immersed in the heart of the Cité de la Musique.

School concert : Molière and his music