Chelsey St. Pierre – The Suburban LJI Reporter

The Lachine borough held a community concert last Thursday evening at Lachine’s cultural center, “L’entrepot” where it launched a video entitled “Making Lachine Dance”. Directed by Maude Lecours, creator of “Making a Village Dance”, 230 Lachine residents are featured in the video dancing in various symbolic places throughout the borough to a song Au rythme de l’eau composed by Lachine resident, singer-songwriter, Joseph Boonen.

The video highlights maritime, heritage and industrial attractions unique to Lachine. It highlights the collective culture native to Lachine residents inclusive to persons of all ages, ethnicities and religious backgrounds. Elected officials, borough staff, firefighters, merchants and residents gathered in a variety of locations to demonstrate their attachment to Lachine by dancing.

“Composed by a young singer-songwriter from Lachine, this video is a great way to celebrate a sense of belonging in our community,” Maja Vodanovic, Mayor of Lachine told The Suburban. “We are so happy to participate in this project which celebrates our collective pride in being ‘Lachinois’.”

Boonen says that he was glad to answer the call to bring people together. “It was easy for me to find inspiration. I am proud of my roots as a French Quebecer and ‘Lachinois’,” Boonen said to The Suburban.

The Making a village dance project was launched in 2018 by Maude Lecours and Marie-Claude Lord to demonstrate the joy of living in the Brome-Missisquoi region. At the end of May 2018, the team produced and directed the first video in a series by filming people dancing in their community in Cowansville, Dunham and Frelighsburg.

The duo continues to expand the project to other regions by encouraging Quebec communities to dance in order to promote themselves and gain a sense of pride as members of a collective community.

Lachine is the first borough of Montreal to join the movement.