Jane S. Peck 4221 Dupont Avenue South Minneapolis MN 55409 (612) 823-0776 revels@pclink.com Work Samples Video: video clip 1 (higher bandwidth, DSL, ISDN, T1) video clip 1 (lower bandwidth, 56K) video clip 2 (higher bandwidth, DSL, ISDN, T1) video clip 2 (lower bandwidth, 56K) To view the work samples, Windows Media Player is required. If you do not have it installed, you can download it for free here: Download Windows Media Player

Dance Revels Moving History French, French-Canadian, Metis (French-American Indian) dance Dance Revels performs the folk dance and musical heritage of the French-related cultures in Minnesota. This rich cultural heritage comes from the Voyageurs during the fur trade, their Métis (French-Indian) descendants, French-Canadians from Quebec, and French immigrants. Our show, "A Voyageur's Tale," with two costumed dancers and a fiddler, includes lively jigs, reels, and stories from the days when Minnesota was New France, along with Métis dances that are still enjoyed today. Audiences can participate in singing, dancing, and paddle-spinning. If desired, we can perform shows of the folk dance and music of Brittany, France, or the French Renaissance, or the humorous commedia dell'arte French folk theater. These shows include a larger group of dancers and musicians. We not only offer shows, but also workshops, school shows and classes, and community barn dances. Dance Revels has been delighting audiences around Minnesota since 1990 in colleges, concert halls, festivals, schools, and museums. Several of the group work as artists in residence. Available: Anytime, anyplace; need lots of advance notice Space: Uncarpeted floor or stage, minimum 20 by 20 ft.; one mirophone; two chairs Fee: Negotiable

Additional Information:
Members of Dance Revels came to the group for the combination of interest in folk dance and folk music, and to create credible performances. Their work is, to a degree, a mixture of dance archeology and study with living masters. However, documentation of French-based dance in North America through history is sparse, making it necessary to study existing evidence to learn the principles of the form. One then uses knowledge of the principles to reconstruct French dance in North America over the generations.
Jane Peck is the founder of Dance Revels. Her interest in French Canadian culture stemmed, first, from her family, whose first members arrived in Minnesota in the mid-nineteenth century. Growing up, Jane was intrigued by family stories about surviving in the early days of the territory. These stories involved the voyageurs, who traveled through the up-north wilderness over land and via canoe, to buy furs from Native Americans on behalf of businesses who would turn the skins into garments.
During college, Jane lived in France for a time. She took a class in eighteenth century French Dance, which reminded her of her interest in French Canadians. She wondered what kinds of dances French Canadians were doing, how these dances were connected to French dance in France, and how French-based dance traditions combined with the dance traditions encountered in North America. Her research led her to experts who either had first hand knowledge of French Canadian dance, or who knew of older manuscripts referring to French Canadian dance.
Through it all, Jane encountered good descriptions of French Canadian trappers performing musical theater pieces for each other around the campfire. This led to study in Brittany and with a musical ethnologist in Paris who helped track down a melody that went with the lyrics of a specific dance that Jane had read about. To learn about the French/Native American connection, Jane visited Turtle Mountain, Montana to study contemporary Métis dance w/ Sandy Poitra.
From all of this research, Dance Revels comes up with performances that at times follow closely the documented traditions of French Americans, and at other times extend the French American dance traditions. Regarding new material, the group is inspired by visiting such events as the annual Festival de Voyageur in Winnipeg, an event which presents past and present French Canadian culture, and from other French-related events and dancers in and around Minnesota.