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
The Big Ukulele Syndicate Choir
They need no introduction… Our famous Big Ukulélé Syndicate is back in action with a brand-new show centred on the world of cinema and film music: Pop Corn! As on every occasion they’ve performed at La Belle, the artists asked us to reach out to the local community to recruit amateur volunteers to take part in their show. We replied with a resounding YES, and the B.U.S. Choir was born.
Open to everyone aged 8 to 99, this intergenerational choir will have three weeks to prepare. Four workshops have been organised to teach participants how to sing and perform one of the songs from the set list. The highlight will be a live performance on stage with the B.U.S. musicians and singers in front of an audience of 1,000 people...
To see them in action, come along on Thursday 8 October!
La Belle would like to extend its warmest thanks to the Maison des Habitant.e.s Chorier-Berriat and the City of Grenoble for providing the rehearsal rooms.
Little steps to the sound of oiZo
With little footsteps and artistic whispers, our early years programme is kicking off at the Mille Pattes nursery. As part of the oiZo show, taking place at La Belle on Wednesday 28 October, Marielle Imbert and Simon Drouot from the Fusées collective will be visiting the children for three half-day workshops. An introduction to music, creative activities centred on the visual arts, and an exploration of the overhead projector and how it works… The artists will guide the children through the elements of this musical tale, which will be illustrated and projected ahead of their visit to the show.
As Marielle has also worked with the Villeneuve early years centre, this second nursery group will be joining us on Wednesday 28 October for this musical journey, which will take us on the journey of a child, their grandmother and a bird. “Changing perspectives, shifting viewpoints, surprising families – so that the bird is seen as a symbol of freedom and of everyone’s ability to choose their own path, whilst looking after the group and their environment,” explains the Fusées collective.
The creative workshops received support from the DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and were organised in partnership with the CCAS of the City of Grenoble.
Music isn't a luxury!
La Belle Électrique and Point d’Eau: a collaboration that’s going from strength to strength! Our shared aim: to bring to life a collective, people-centred and deeply inclusive musical project.
Alongside professional musicians Arash Sarkechik and Benoît Hazebrouck, a group of around ten participants from the community supported by Point d’Eau are embarking on a unique artistic adventure: to imagine, compose and create an original repertoire together.
Driven by the richness of the participants’ backgrounds, ages, languages and cultures, this project is, above all, a space for connection and expression. Everyone finds their place, their voice and their rhythm within a collective dynamic where differences become a creative force.
The musical creation is built upon the group’s ideas, guided by Arash and Benoît: rhythms, melodies and soundscapes gradually blend together, accompanied by percussion, guitars, keyboards and other instruments, to give rise to unique pieces, shaped collectively.
The adventure is set to continue to Avignon, for a performance as part of the ‘C’est pas du luxe!’ festival in September, followed by a concert at Point d’Eau in the autumn.
An artistic and human project, where music becomes a shared language, supported by the Fondation pour le logement des défavorisés, Emmaüs Solidaire, the DRAC Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, La Belle Électrique and Point d’Eau.
The Sound of Drums • Balani Sound System in Varces
What if ancient rhythms were to enter into a dialogue with today’s machines? That is the aim of the project “Le son des tambours” (The Sound of Drums), led by Jérôme Pupier, a musician and singer with the band Balani Sound System.
Over the course of eight workshops, inmates at Varces Remand Centre will explore traditional music from different countries – trance music, repetitive loops, everyday songs – to blend them with contemporary sounds. Electronic drums, synthesisers and percussion instruments will be the tools for this exploration: listening, analysing, learning rhythms, writing, composing and rehearsing.
Jean Berthon, a bassist and sound engineer specialising in West African music, will join the project to guide the participants through the studio recording process and introduce them to the technical aspects of music production: mixing, mastering and sound recording.
This programme will culminate in a highlight: a live performance of the participants’ creations, followed by a concert by the band Balani Sound System at the remand centre. A friendly and inclusive event, inviting other prisoners and prison staff to come and share in this musical adventure.
A project supported by the DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Isère as part of the “Culture&Justice” initiative, in partnership with the SPIP in Grenoble.
For Babies Born Too Early • Songwriting at the Neonatal Unit
“Some children begin their lives in the neonatal unit. Time stands still during that period, between birth and returning home. What if we used this time to create songs for these newborns? To capture this unique beginning to their lives.” This is what Marielle and Florent, from the Collectif Fusées, are offering to parents of premature babies.
For the second year of this heartfelt project, La Belle Électrique is partnering with the initiative to enrich it and help it reach a wider audience. In addition to songwriting workshops and recording sessions, a listening station will be set up so that as many people as possible can hear the finished songs. Two presentations—one at the University Hospital and one at La Belle—will bring the project to a close. To discover the photographic work and the songs, join us on Saturday, November 21, at the bar at La Belle!
This artistic project is presented by the Collectif Fusées with support from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regional Health Agency as part of the Culture and Health program, coordinated by Interstices; the Department of Isère as part of the Shared Culture program; the Grenoble Alpes University Hospital; the Association for Neonatal Research; La Belle Électrique; and SACEM.
© Sol Nis
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
Techno rodéo #2
Following the success of the first edition of the ‘Techno Rodeo’ project in collaboration with Hadra, we’re doing it all again! Residents of the Foyer des Béalières in Meylan are set to take part in seven workshops on music creation and performance at the Labo de La Belle with artists Hamcat and Dïa. Writing a song together, working on their voices, choosing a track to cover, discovering electronic music, learning to perform on stage in front of an audience – in short, preparing for a concert – these are the goals for 2026. And the participants are really keen! After performing on the terrace of La Belle’s bar last year, this season you can catch them… on stage at La Guinguette Électrique on Thursday, June 25 !
As part of a cultural initiative organized with the Foyer des Béalières by the Hadra association, La Belle Électrique, and the AFIPH, supported by the DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Department of Isère.
We Will Rock You • A Cover by Our Seniors
Accompanied by Lucie Botalla-Gambetta, a singer, songwriter, and composer, 12 participants in the PAGI (Center for Gerontological and Intergenerational Activities) program at the Maison des Habitant·e·s Chorier-Berriat embarked on a musical journey! Through breathing exercises, listening exercises, body awareness activities, and vocal exploration, the artist guided them in gradually embracing song as a language of expression.
Working as a group, the participating seniors were invited to rewrite and reinterpret one of Lucie’s songs, focusing on the themes of beauty and the passage of time. Through guided improvisations, lyrics and melodies intertwine, rooted in Lucie’s jazz-soul style and shaped by each person’s voice, identity, and sensibilities.
A human and artistic experience, where everyone creates and shares something unique.
Astroficus and Sumac Dub with the Grésivaudan music schools
This season, La Belle Électrique is joining forces with Le Grésivaudan – Communauté de communes and the Department of Isère to launch a major project! Two bands from Grenoble, ASTROFICUS and Sumac Dub, have been invited to share their musical world with around fifty local schoolchildren. Following several workshops focusing on reinterpreting their songs, an enhanced concert will be organised to round off the project!
Join us on Saturday 18 April at the Espace Bergès in Villard-Bonnot to experience this extraordinary concert!
A project funded by the Grésivaudan Community of Communes, the Department of Isère, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs (DRAC) and La Belle Électrique.
Starter x Game A Prod • From Writing to the Studio: When Words Become Music
From June 8 to 12, the mission for the 14 students in the STARTER program and the UPE2A at the Guynemer vocational high school in Grenoble is to create a song. From writing the lyrics and choosing a backing track to working on their vocals and then recording in the studio, the goal is simple: to experience the music-making process from composition to recording.
This week of work follows several introductory sessions organized at La Belle Électrique. The students were able to tour behind the scenes of the venue, attend a concert, and meet the artist The Doug during a discussion about his career, his craft, and his creative process.
Through this project, participants explore a world they often know as listeners but rarely from the inside. It’s an opportunity to move from listening to doing and to discover the professions and steps behind music creation.
The project will conclude with a group listening session, where the young people will be able to share their musical creations with their families, teachers, and a few guest students.
This project was funded through the “Pass Culture” program.
Music of nature • Musical creation by pupils at Diderot School
This autumn, the two classes of older and middle school pupils at Diderot School met the artist Léonino and his tenor guitar. Together, they set themselves the challenge of creating a song about nature, using sounds recorded outdoors! Working in small groups, the pupils began by creating a sound bank, capturing sounds themselves using a zoom. Pebbles clattering, leaves rustling, branches creaking, the wind blowing, birds chirping... At each session, between learning a melody, listening and recording sounds, the children's ideas flowed! The next step is to transform this sound material into an original musical creation that celebrates nature in all its diversity.
Come and discover it on 20 January 2026 at the Belle Électrique bar, during a sound-themed afternoon tea with the children and Léonino.
Project supported by the Diderot school, the city of Grenoble and SACEM as part of the Fabriques à musique initiative.
Olympic ringtones • Ringtones created by secondary school pupils
The five Year 9 classes at Collège Olympique are diving into the world of electronic music and computer-assisted music (CAM) thanks to musician Augustin Garnier. Their mission? To create future ringtones for their school! On the agenda: discovering Ableton Live software, an introduction to electronic composition techniques and first steps in mixing and mastering. At the end of the workshops, several original ringtones will be created. They will be put to a vote by all the school's pupils and teachers, and the two winning creations will become the new ringtones heard at every break and change of class.
The students will also enjoy a tour of La Belle Électrique, where they will get a behind-the-scenes look at a concert hall.
Project supported by SACEM as part of Les Fabriques à musique.
At home in Saint-Bruno • A project with Terrenoire
The profound changes in our society and the social and climate challenges we face are prompting us to rethink our practices. How can we forge links with the regions we visit on tour? The solution: taking our time. The Saint-Étienne-based duo Terrenoire decided to stay for several days before their concert in each of the regions they will visit during their ‘protégé.e’ tour.
La Belle Électrique offered them a series of writing workshops with different audiences, culminating in a live radio broadcast on New's FM. For a week, the artists met with users of the PAGI, students from the Starter class, undocumented families supported by the Social Centre and the Maison des Familles, as well as local residents. The aim was to create a space for discussion on the theme of ‘At Home in St Bruno’. This goal was achieved with a live radio show at the Gisèle Halimi Library, which brought together local actors, residents and artists, and brought the project to a successful conclusion on 7 November!
In partnership with the Chorier-Berriat Community Centre, the Chorier-Berriat Social Centre, Cap Berriat, the Starter programme, Média major and the Gisèle Halimi Library. A big thank you to them, as well as to the associations Cuisines sans frontières, Beyti ma maison and Histoires de.
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.
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.
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