Cultural Actions
Between entertainment and poetry, cultural action at La Belle Électrique is accessible to all, through encounter and practice, by making the public the own actors of cultural creation in their school, their neighborhood, their city...
Cultural Actions
At the heart of the Belle Électrique project since its inception, cultural activities take various forms to offer the widest possible audience access to artistic experiences!
We encourage everyone to express themselves, discover, learn and share through encounters with artists and contributors from a variety of disciplines. Through our cultural activities, we promote individual fulfilment and empowerment for all audiences.
Implementation
Visits, introductory music workshops, parties for children and adults, participatory creation... Each proposal is tailor-made! Our projects are co-developed with one or more artists and our partners, in accordance with their wishes and needs, combining encounters, practice and audience experience whenever possible.
In an effort to reach as many audiences as possible across a wider area, our activities take place both inside and outside our walls!
Audiences
At the crossroads of audiences, we work with more than thirty partners each season and engage with:
- school audiences, from nursery school children to students
- early childhood and families
- popular education organisations
- social action organisations
- medical organisations
- prisons
- the general public, people of all ages and backgrounds!
Current projects
Les Petites Cosmogonies • Soundscapes in nurseries and kindergartens
After an initial round in the spring with two nursery classes from Simone Lagrange School and the Chorier-Berriat Early Childhood Education Centre, Bertille Puissat and Franck Litzler are returning to the neighbourhood. In connection with the show Cosmogonie de poche, which will be presented at La Belle on Wednesday 1 October, the Duende collective is offering a series of workshops based on a range of instruments combining world instruments and loopers. Children from the Charrel and New York nurseries will have the opportunity to experiment with music before discovering the show!
This journey through the elements, combining soundscapes and lullabies from here and elsewhere, will be presented in three performances at La Belle, to the delight of young and old alike!
This project was made possible thanks to the support of the DRAC Auvergne Rhône-Alpes.
Voix Intérieures • A podcast made in Varces prison
Last July, La Belle Électrique set up shop in the prison for two fantastic concerts by Lwanbé. Now we're back for the second part of the partnership: a project to create a music podcast!
From September to December, Erwan Flageul (musician) and Clémentine Méténier (freelance journalist) will accompany a group of inmates in the production of an original radio programme, combining sound creation and journalism. Over the course of the sessions, the participants will take on a collectively chosen editorial theme and carry out all stages of production: writing, research, interviews, as well as sound design and radio formatting.
Beyond technical and creative learning, this project aims to give prisoners the opportunity to take full control of their choices and expression, while promoting access to artistic creation in a collective and supportive environment.
The result will be presented to the public, and we will be sure to keep you informed!
A project within the framework of the Culture & Justice programme, supported by the Ministries of Justice and Culture, in partnership with the SPIP in Grenoble.
Grési'Muse • Astroficus and Sumac Dub in XXL version
La Belle Électrique is delighted to be partnering with the Grésivaudan community of municipalities and the Isère department this season on an ambitious new project: Grési’Muse! Grenoble-based bands Astroficus and Sumac Dub have been chosen to teach several of their songs to around a hundred schoolchildren. The result will be an enhanced concert! Astroficus will be accompanied by a big band put together for the occasion, as well as students on guitars, percussion and keyboards. Sumac Dub will be accompanied by a string ensemble and choir, as well as students on computer-assisted music.
See you on Saturday 18 April at the Espace Bergès in Villard-Bonnot to discover this extraordinary concert!
This project was initiated and funded by the Grésivaudan community of municipalities and the Isère department.
Mapping on stage • mapping creation for students at the Cité Internationale
Second round for Mapping en scène, VJing workshops with Johanna Rousseau and students from the Cité scolaire internationale! Following last year's success, we are back with the high school's visual arts programme, but this time middle school students will also be joining this immersive artistic adventure. They will discover 2D animation and VJing techniques, embark on the creation of media and finish with mapping. Two life-size presentations will showcase the work of these budding artists, the first at La Belle, the second on the school building! Thanks to a subtle interplay of light, form and movement, the images hug the contours of the building and create the illusion that the space is transforming before our eyes...
These workshops receive financial support from the Department of Isère as part of the Isère Collégiens and Pass Culture programmes.
Backstage
Our desire to be as close as possible to our audiences is expressed in many ways at La Belle, and the En coulisses program is one of them. These regular gatherings enable us to meet the artists programmed in the venue, to visit the building and to attend the sound check, a stage of work usually closed to the public.
So it is that a singer like Faada Freddy decides to improvise a composition accompanied by 6th graders, that the Usine à jazz composer begins to give "tips" to high school music students, or that the singer HK embarks high school students on a real fake demonstration...
These privileged moments blur the boundary between artists and spectators, and offer a unique insight into the world of music. Most of the time, the artists are not to be outdone in their curiosity: they love these encounters and ask lots of questions in return...
La Belle outside the walls
Because not everyone can get to a cultural venue, La Belle Electrique reaches out to those who don't necessarily frequent its concert hall by organizing showcases, 45-minute mini-concerts followed by a time of discussion with the artists. So it's that after lunch, EHPAD residents regularly see a technician transforming the refectory into a warm and inviting place to listen to music, or the sound of music at the end of a corridor in the St-Egrève public mental health facility, or a festive moment at the Point d'Eau association, a day care center for the underprivileged. Alone or in small groups, the artists surprise the site's users by offering a musical interlude and a close encounter with the public!
Past projects
Maria Luma • A musical and puppet show to mark the start of the new school year at Joliot-Curie School
The Parents' Association of the Joliot-Curie school approached us this year for a festive event: to organise a back-to-school concert for the children and their families. We jumped at the chance and suggested that our most cheerful artist perform in Vizille! Maria Luma enchanted young and old alike with her Brazilian sound garden, but that wasn't all... A small band of animal puppets had also invited themselves along. Carried by six children, the wolf, monkey, frog, dolphin, parrot and panther came to life in a magical parade. There was also plenty to eat and drink at the association's crêpe bar.
In short, it was a truly successful first event that got the school year off to a joyful start.
Decibels • Creative sounds for hospitalised children
Since March, the paediatric ward at Grenoble University Hospital has been transformed into a songwriting incubator! Thanks to musician and author Auren and composer David Debray, hospitalised children and teenagers are giving free rein to their creativity through songwriting and music workshops. Individually or in groups, the young people explore words and their sounds, while creating songs live. These moments offer a unique space for expression, allowing them to approach their illness in a different way or to escape into personal themes. The project will conclude with two concerts, the first at the CHU and the second at the Belle bar on Saturday 17 May, offering participants the opportunity to share the fruits of their labour with their loved ones.
A big thank you to the paediatric teams at the Couple-enfant Hospital for their commitment.
A project supported by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regional Health Agency, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, as part of the regional Culture and Health programme.
Scène libre • A concert organized by inmates for inmates
The Belle Électrique team is back at the Varces prison! Accompanying a group of volunteer inmates in the organization of the concert of their choice, we offer a discovery of the trades and organization of the show. Programming, production, communication, technical aspects and reception are the main items to be handled by the ten participants in the project, assisted by the La Belle team. The ambition is to welcome the concert and its audience in the best possible conditions, from sound adjustments to dressing room preparation, from creating the poster to welcoming co-inmates! After Les Pythons de la Fournaise in 2022, which band will our budding programmers choose to perform in Varces? We can't wait to find out!
This project is part of the Culture & Justice program, supported by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Culture, in partnership with the Grenoble SPIP.
Kaléidoscopes
Kaleidoscopes is a chance for youngsters to get to grips with music and movement arts without pricking themselves! Three sessions to touch, listen, feel, look and, above all, create by interweaving sound and dance. Accompanied by a contemporary music artist and a dance artist, who have devised a hands-on discovery program for the occasion, children experiment with what music produces through their bodies.
A partnership between La Belle Electrique and the Centre Chorégraphique National de Grenoble, these workshops are aimed at both groups of children in leisure centers and individuals. These three workshops take place alternately in the CCN dance studios and in the Labo de la Belle practice room, for children aged 8 to 12, subject to registration.
Radio Project at Fantin Latour Secondary School • Transition Town: secondary school pupils take to the microphone
As part of the Transition Towns Biennial, two classes from Fantin Latour Secondary School are taking part in a radio project run by La Belle Électrique. Year 9 pupils are conducting investigations into water: vox pops, interviews with researchers, visits to the Radio Campus Grenoble studios, etc. Year 7 pupils are imagining the city of 2050 through audio fiction combining storytelling, sound effects and musical creation. Combining journalism, science and artistic creation, they are exploring the possible transformations of their environment. Come and discover the results on Friday 16 May at Parc Paul Mistral, during a live radio broadcast as part of the ‘Ville en Transition’ Biennale.
Project supported by the Department as part of Isère Collégiens.
Adèle & Robin • Music workshops in Tullins
Accompanied artists, Adèle & Robin are also involved in cultural action! Since January, they have been working regularly in Tullins on a 100% music project with the pupils of 2 CM2 classes and students from the music school. The project has several objectives: to compose a song, from lyrics to musical composition, as well as to rearrange two songs by Adèle and Robin. These different sessions between students and artists will cover all the stages involved in creating a song, culminating in a performance in front of what we hope will be a large audience! On Tuesday April 1 in Tullins, professional artists and amateurs will share the stage, and you're all welcome!
This residency was made possible thanks to the “residency for creation and cultural action” scheme funded by the CNM and the Département de l'Isère.
Mothership • DIY or the art of sound synthesis
Mothership, the latest musical project from rock band MNNQNS, celebrates an electronic musical instrument that's making a comeback: the modular synthesizer. More than just a concert, the musicians of MNNQNS are offering workshops to learn how to build a module of the instrument and explore the world of sound synthesis. Guided by Robin (sound engineer) and Grégoire (drummer), some fifteen participants will learn the basics of sound design, assemble modules and explore a world of new sounds! As a result, some of the pieces composed in the workshop may well be included in the concert on the big day!
To find out more about Mothership, come along to L'Ampérage on Friday, February 21!
Tatalia • Imersion in music and water for toddlers
We're delighted to welcome Flaca Boonse back this season for his next creation: Tatalia! An immersive performance in an aquatic universe, Tatalia takes toddlers on a journey through an electro ambience inspired by Argentinean lullabies and improvised melodies. To fine-tune the show, musician Flaca Boonse and dancer Agnès Canova took over the EAJE La Goélette dormitory for exploratory sessions... Over 4 mornings, the children took part in early-learning workshops, discovering with wonder the scenography composed of video projections as well as various objects: fish, luminous devices and other pompons.
The show will soon see the light of day, and you'll be able to discover it at La Belle Électrique!
A project supported by DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
Cie Les Entêtés • Cultural action residency at the college
From October 2024 to January 2025, students in 6ᵉ4 and 5ᵉ4 at Lucie Aubrac middle school enjoyed a unique artistic experience: composing their songs and putting them into images! Guided by 3 professional artists, they explored all the creative stages. With Vincent, it was songwriting: theme, lyrics, rhymes, melody. With Mathieu, they used body percussion to give rhythm to their songs. Then, thanks to Elise and her camera, their songs were brought to life in video clips. A screening at La Belle in January, shared with pupils from Les Buttes school, celebrated their creativity and talent as they put the finishing touches to their work!
The project was spearheaded by the Lucie Aubrac secondary school teaching team: Noémie Pinéro, Katy Magnasco and Jimmy Dorelon, the Les Entêtés company and La Belle Électrique, and was supported by Isère Collégiens, Cité Educative and Pass Culture.
Digital symphony
Strongly committed to schemes linking Culture and Health, we are continuing our partnership with the Centre Hospitalier Alpes-Isère through an ambitious project: Symphonie numérique. With the aim of discovering two artistic disciplines, digital arts and electronic music, two artists will accompany participants in the creation of a visual and sound work tailor-made for a hospital building.
Since June, Johanna Rousseau and James Leonard have been running participatory workshops open to all CHAI patients. The result will be a monumental sound and light projection that will bring the chapel's façade to life! We look forward to seeing you in December...
With the support of the Agence Régionale de Santé Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the Ministère de la Culture - DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Département de l'Isère, as part of the Culture et Santé regional program run by interSTICES.
40 guitars on a drunken boat
Bringing together 40 electric guitars on a contemporary score inspired by Rimbaud's poem Le Bateau ivre (The Drunken Boat) is the crazy challenge launched by Gilles Laval in Grenoble and Chambéry! For almost six months, 20 musicians from each city will rehearse in parallel, then together, to give two exceptional concerts in June 2024. Initially composed for 100 guitars, this "eco-poetic" musical creation explores the theme of the ocean, and invites us to use the guitar in different ways (with the help of wooden chopsticks, for example...). We can't wait to see the finale of this wonderful adventure!
An adventure led by the APEJS, the Chef Menteur association and La Belle Electrique, supported by the DRAC AuRA and carried out in partnership with the CROUS de Grenoble, the Ecole Nationale de Musique de Villeurbanne, Savarez Electric and Ebows.
Funk at the Petites Roches with Cocotte !
This spring, we invited the musicians of our favorite band Cocotte to get some fresh air and a bit of height! Direction: Saint-Bernard du Touvet. The group will be stopping off there in April and May to take over the "Foyer des Petites Roches", an associative dance, theater and music school. For this creative and cultural residency, the members of Cocotte composed a song especially for the school's contemporary music section, and invited the students to produce their own video clip! To find out more about this work, come and see us in June, when we'll be holding a concert and projection to round off the project!
Cocotte is supported by La Belle Electrique and Les Abattoirs. This project was financed as part of a residency for creation and cultural action supported by the Département de l'Isère and the CNM.
Harmonies contées
For the past few weeks, a strange project has been brewing at the EHPAD du Bon Pasteur in Saint-Martin d'Hères. Milena, a Franco-Armenian pop artist, Alderaan, a psytrance DJ, a dozen residents and lots of equipment: microphones, guitars, controllers, zoom recorders, computers, word boxes... Between discovering electronic music, writing and singing, the EHPAD is hosting 6 workshops to create a sound composition around the theme of the seasons! After exploring the acoustics of the chapel, capturing the sounds of the garden and recording at Le Labo, the residents will present their work accompanied by our two artists on Friday April 26 over an aperitif...
A project supported by the ARS, DRAC, Département de l'Isère and Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, as part of the regional Culture and Health program run by interSTICES.
Get in touch with Émeraude
Are you an artist, a social structure or part of an association ? Are you willing to organise a tour of La Belle Électrique, to build a project together or simply talk to us ?
Émeraude will be pleased to discuss with you!
- Émeraude Gomes, Cultural Actions Manager
- action.culturelle@la-belle-electrique.com
- 04 69 98 00 33
© Stevens Drean