La Toussaint

Citation.

 
   Halloween is synonymous with October 31st in most Americans' minds; to the French la Toussaint means November 1st. To the kids I'm teaching it means today is the Friday before break, so it's tough to pay attention. Unless there is candy involved. They're learning about Halloween, so as long as they play along and trick or treat they get some well traveled Reese's. Peanut butter is a strange food to French people; my students didn't complain, though.

     Toussaint is a contraction of the words tous and saint, which means "all saints." To start off my lessons this week I asked the kids why France celebrates Toussaint. Many of them had no idea. Since I grew up in southwest Louisiana, I'm quite familiar with All Saint's Day. It's a holy day of obligation in the Catholic church, and since France was once predominately Catholic the holiday is still a national day off.

     More traditional French families will gather at their family's cemetery to honor their ancestors and place chrysanthemums on their graves. Chrysanthemums signify death and remembrance in France. Usually when you go to a French person's home you bring flowers as a gift. You never bring wine, unless asked, because if you're going for dinner your host probably paired a special wine with the particular dishes being served. You should also avoid chrysanthemums it would seem.

Chrysanthemums, in case you weren't sure what they look like.  Don't buy these as a gift in France.

     In Louisiana's Cajun country many families go to cemeteries for All Saint's Day. Families leave flowers, but they will also repaint and clean the graves. In other countries, like Mexico, All Soul's Day is when you would visit the family cemetery. Since November 2nd isn't a national holiday in France, the French go with the 1st.

     La Toussaint is the first major break in the school calendar. The kiddos started school on September 4, and they now have a two week break starting today. We start school again on Monday, November 12. It's a long break! So I've worked for two weeks, and now I have two weeks off. Not a bad life.

     I'm headed to London tonight to stay with a Davidson friend who is teaching at an American school there. A day trip to bath and a Ravens v. Patriots pub session are in order this weekend. More on the rest of my break later, but until then happy Friday!

Emile Friant, La Toussaint, 1888, oil on canvas. A beautiful depiction of a family headed to the cemetery. Citation. 

Stravinsky et la danse...a little culture.

Poster from the original Stravinsky et la danse performance. Citation. 

     Last night, Elizabeth and I had our first Toulouse opera/ballet/orchestra experience. All at the same time. We watched Stravinsky et la danse on opening night, which was made more special because Elizabeth actually knew one of the dancers. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) was an extremely influential Russian composer, and he also worked in both America and France, in the early twentieth century. His works transitioned from super modern to neoclassical, and the ballet last night was a combination of both.

     Stravinsky et la danse was performed by the various musical and artistic groups connected with the Toulouse Opera to inaugurate the new ballet director's first season. It was pretty amazing hearing the opera singers chime in with the bellowing violins and pianos of the symphony while the ballet dancers interpreted the sounds above on stage. Beautiful. Strange, but beautiful. If you're looking for those classical lovely lines you usually see in ballet, you won't find them here. Instead of pointed toes the dancers leap with flat feet, and pre-robot moves replace the gracefully uplifted arm.

     This particular interpretation of Stravinsky and the Ballet Ruses included three different ballet sets. First was Pulcinella, who is a member of the comedia dell'arte- the very specific masked character types of Italian Renaissance theatre (starting in the 16th century) that influenced the structure of theatrical performances throughout Europe for centuries- distinguished by his white outfit and long-nosed mask. His temperament is usually mean and crafty. In this version, the clown-like figure tricks his love by having various members of the community dress exactly like him. It's sad and heart-warming at the same time.

     Symphonie de Psaumes was written in 1930. Stravinsky started writing in Nice and finished in Switzerland. The piece is based on Oedipus Rex, and it was written for both a choir and orchestra. The dancers wore simple costumes and used various formation changes for emphasis. This piece was less light-hearted than the former piece; the dramatic choir voices made it sound like the start of a war scene in the Lord of the Rings. Sorry if that comparison offends anyone.

     Noces means "wedding," so this ballet is an interesting interpretation of a wedding ceremony. There are multiple brides and multiple grooms, and all of the brides are carried off stage in interesting body positions that make them look like confused mannequins. The ballet first premiered in 1923 in Paris.

     Stravinsky's musical groundbreaking followed on the heals of the Art Nouveau movement at the turn of the century in Paris. Art started going toward a less representative form of real life and leaning toward abstraction. The same happened with music and ballet.

     I first learned about Stravinsky my sophomore year in college during my two-year long Humanities program. His music is striking and strange, but I really enjoyed this performance. Toulouse has a really nice deal for anyone younger than 26, so the opera is very accessible. The cle jeune capitole and the chequier jeune allow you to access museums, the AirBus factory, cinemas, and the opera in Toulouse for 18 euros a year. The cle capitole is an additional 10 euros, but you get access to three performances in the Capitole whether they be ballet, orchestra, or theatre. If you're young and living in Toulouse, do like the brochure says and "free your couch." Buy the chequier. You won't regret it.

A view of the beautiful Theatre du Capitole from the inside. Elizabeth and I got last minute student tickets 15 minutes before the show for 10 euros. We were on the second row in the Orchestra section. Not too shabby. Citation.

   

Week 2...I'm actually teaching!

     It is the week of October 22nd. My contract with the French government began on October 1st. It only took 22 days for me to lead a class on my own. Success! What did we talk about? Halloween and the presidential elections! Both are pretty scary subjects in France in my book.

     Here's my lesson plan for the week:

- I start every class off with a volunteer. One person writes the day as we would in America. In France the date is written day/month/year, and it is said, "le 23 octobre." Another volunteer draws the weather, le meteo, and everyone says something they did the day before or over the weekend. It's a warm up to get everyone in English mode and allows them to use both present and past tenses within the first five minutes.

- Halloween- I wanted to incorporate an introduction and description element to my Halloween lesson plan. I also wanted to talk about Halloween with each class, and because the levels of English are quite varied I made the lesson general and fairly simple.

Citation.

     * First, I asked the class what holiday was fast approaching in both France and America. Halloween! La Toussaint- All Saint's Day- is the French holiday, which falls on November 1st. Traditionally people visit cemeteries to lay flowers on loved ones' graves, and they pray to their patron saint. It's a Catholic tradition that is also celebrated in Mexico and other Latino countries, Dia de las Muertas. Louisianians paint tombs, clean cemeteries, and lay flowers to pay their respects as well. 

     * Next I described the history of trick or treating in America. Do you know why we wear funny costumes and ask people we don't know for candy? Halloween is actually a tradition brought to us from Ireland with the wave of Irish immigration in the 1840s. It was a pagan holiday celebrated around harvest time and the changing of the seasons, and people believed that at this particular time of year spirits roamed the Earth. All Hallow's Eve, Hallow E'en/Hallow Evening, is that witching hour of midnight on October 31st when the dead rise and grim grimmy ghosts come out to socialize. The religious holiday eventually replaced the pagan ritual, but people continued to leave offerings of food and drink outside their doors to appease the spirits. Everyone caught on to this and many decided to disguise themselves in an attempt to get some free food. Trick or treat.

     * I had to teach the kids the trick or treat poem, but I taught the non-"I'll pull down your underwear version." It goes:

Trick or treat. Trick or treat. Give me something good to eat. Give me candy, give me cake, give me something good to take.

     * Once everyone had that down, I passed out slips of paper with traditional costume names- black cat, bat, witch, ghost, vampire, werewolf, mummy, etc. We played a little game where each student had to visit "my house," recite the poem above, and then describe their costume. If I guessed what they were then in theory they got a treat. I brought Reese's along from the States, but I decided not to give them out for fear of peanut allergies. 

     * Halloween was popular in France for about ten years in the 90s, but it's lost popularity. Most of the kids had never dressed up, but I asked them to think of a costume idea anyway. A blue chicken was the most interesting response I heard.  

-Presidential Elections- We had a little time at the end of my first class to discuss the elections. Everyone knew Obama's name, but Mitt Romney was a little harder to pull from them. The French, adults, are super interested in the elections. I've read fully translated transcripts of each debate in French the morning after all three. I have yet to meet anyone who isn't a fan of Obama. They also want to know who I'll be voting for, but that I'll never tell. 

     

     As a lagniappe, in browsing for lesson plan ideas I found this gem. Scared Canadians, grown men and teenage boys for the most part, caught on hidden camera. Click here immediately. I especially like 11, 13, 20, and 28 (date night gone wrong?). Made me laugh out loud in my apartment.