Some history
The Gaie Famille was born in Charvensod, a village on the left orological side of the River Dora Baltea in AostaValley, 2 Km far from Aosta, in december 1964, thanks to the efforts of 11 local girls and 23 local boys, who desired to search, revitalize and diffuse the good old rustic traditions.

The motto of the folk-group is: “live today a bit of yesterday for tomorrow”!

At the beginnings the Gaie Famille is a choral group, that joins in different manifestations as for example the Carnival in Aosta, but soon the interest expands to the theatral performances, where the Gaie Famille represented regional plays, written by local authors and acted in patois, the local dialect of Aosta Valley: the themes are characteristic for the village life in the country-side with some suggestions of Aosta Valley present-day politics and history.

The choral group became a folk group, which, through dances and folk songs, tells us about the hard but intense rural life in the past. So more and more old customs are being revived in dances and folk-songs with a bit of nostalgia: for example the children’s plays, the young boys’ incursions in the neighbouring villages to pursue nice girls, the important role of the woman in the family, the tie of relationships in the family and so on, are being revived in typical songs as

“No sèn allà a Pollein” (“We went to Pollein”) “Su et bas” (Up and down), “Les femmes toupies” (The whirligigh-women), “La tresse de Mamma Grand” (The grandmother’s plait).

Contact
Adress: Folk Group La Gaie Famille
Loc. Capoluogo, 65 – 11020 – Charvensod (AO) Italy
Tel.: +39 3283398576 (Susi Lillaz)
E-mail: lagaiefamille@nosracines.org