Dance to Free Your Mind and Fill Your Heart

When I was nine years old, I was really into judo. I was good, really great actually. I had the orange-green belt with my three black marks on it. It was the ceremony when we could "upgrade" and go higher in the belt levels. I didn’t expect to be called, even though my belt was ready to be changed, I wasn’t old enough to have the green one. Then, during the ceremony, they called my name. All confused, I got up, went up to my coach as he proudly gave me the green belt. I looked at it, and then at him and I said "I can’t, I’m not old enough." and I gave it back. I’ve never seen an audience that silent during that kind of event. He awkwardly moved on to the next person, while I was there, wondering what I should do. Should I keep doing judo "for nothing" during a year or two to get my green belt or should I do something else. And, what will be that something else? Then, it came back to my mind, Tam Ti Delam’s show I saw the year before, and I knew that dance would be my next activity. Here I am, the 17 year old me who’s been dancing for my ninth year of being a full time dancer, part of the "Tam Ti famille" like we like to say. For those who wonder, Tam Ti Delam is a traditional dance troupe composed of multiple groups and ages, that performs two big shows every year and travels all around the world to share the wonderful culture of Quebec.

First, let me explain to you more in detail this wonderful dance troupe. Even though you might think that argument is useless, I have to say that Tam Ti Delam is way more affordable than any other dance troupes in Sept-Îles, even in Canada. Dancing in "La Troupe," which is the highest level, costs less than 300$, when it costs around 400$ to dance in hip-hop or ballet. Also, every two years or so, "La Troupe" travels all around the world to show our culture. Last summer, we went to Hungary, but they’ve been to Chypre, USA, France, Ukraine, and so many other places. Moreover, Tam Ti Delam is more about sharing and dancing together than competition, which is clearly not the case in other dance troupes. I’ve seen eight and nine year old girls crying because of auditions for some troupes here. The only audition Tam Ti holds is the get in "La Troupe." Finally, like I said, Tam Ti Delam is all about sharing, that’s why they are many different people, from different ages and levels of experience, some are in their fifties, while others are about 14 years old, some have been dancing for almost 40 years, while others have just started a few years ago, but that’s what makes it magic. In other troupes, everybody is divided by age and levels.

The thing I like the most about Tam Ti Delam is that we do so many different styles of so many countries and it changes every year. Even though some styles come back every year, like Quebecois (of course!), Russian and swing, we can also see special ones like Bollywood, Hungarian, Irish, African, Asian, Latino, German and so many more. We travel the world through dance.

Like I told you in the beginning, I started dancing in Tam Ti Delam because I didn’t want to do judo anymore and I saw one of my friends during her show a year before. Then I chose to continue on, because of everything Tam Ti taught me. It’s not all about the steps, I also learnt how it felt like to have a second family who has the same passion; it taught me about sharing and learning; that we learn at any age; that when we want, we can create something magnificent all together; that no challenge is too high; that we have to choose our fights. It made me a better person, it keeps me active, it makes me see the world, and even dance it. Tam Ti Delam has brought so much to my life.

There are many different groups that make the wonderful "Ensemble folklorique Tam Ti Delam." I’ll start with the youngest, which are called "Les Ateliers." Those groups are for the little kids and they are divided by age, so we have: the fours and fives, the sixes and sevens, and the eights and nines. Those only do the first show, which is made specially for them, so they can show their hard work and have some stage experience. Then, we have "La Mini-Troupe’’ that contains tens and elevens and they do the two shows. After that, we have ‘’La Relève’’ that combines twelves to whatever age and they also do the two shows. In the end, we have ‘’La Troupe," that is formed by multiple ages and experience levels. On the big show, we do about 20 dances on 24, the four others are for "La Mini-Troupe" and "La Relève," so yeah, we dance A LOT.

If you get a chance to come and watch our annual show, you’ll be impressed for sure. At the back of the stage, you can see a band playing traditional music live. The lights will shine as bright as the Sun to make every dancer glow. The sounds of the jigs or steps will certainly amaze you, while our energy will practically attack you. The diversity and quantity of costumes will surprise you. At the end, you will leave the room with a smile on your face. Like some people, you will maybe ask yourself how much effort it took to do this when it looks so effortless. Well, let me tell you something. Behind every single dance, we need the music. We base a lot of things on that main component. Then, you will need a storyline, that way it won’t only be steps and it will be more interesting for the audience. After, that’s when the steps and sequences are decided. When your choreography is done, you now have to teach it to about 20 people, if it’s not more. You and the dancers will have to practice it so many times, correct it, change stuff, correct it again and do it until it’s anchored in your brains. After all of that, you put on the costumes and show it to the world. 

If after reading this text you are interested in joining "La Troupe," let me give you some tips on how to succeed your audition. Let me warn you though, your chances increase if you’re a boy, because we always have more girls than boys. First step, be positive. Even if you don’t have the steps correctly, it’s not that of a big deal. Keep smiling and doing you best, it’s really the best thing to do. Second step, show you’re ready to learn. Like I said, it doesn’t really matter if you master all the steps or not, if you make them see you’re open about learning new things, you’re going to have good chances. Step three, do your best, if you just ‘’do it,’’ but nothing much, you’re not putting the chances on your side. You have to do your very best for every movement, the ones that you know and the ones that you don’t. After that, you just have to hope they choose you, and if they don’t, come back next year, show that you’re not giving up. I hope that if you get in, you will have as much fun as I do, and who knows, maybe we’ll have the chance to dance together one day.

Erika