Votia

Marie-Claude Lambert Philéas has been on stage since the age of 13, first in the family group led by the illustrious and legendary Gramoun Lélé, her father, a zarboutan (pillar) of Reunion culture, then in those of her brothers. His band, Votia (named after his mother, originally from Madagascar), plays the traditional music of Reunion Island, the maloya, in its most powerful and fastest expression, that of the east of the island. Africa and India are all close, and we can hear them not only in the instruments (n'goni, tanpura, tama, bansuri, takamba, djembé…) that the group has mixed, here and there, with the voices and percussions that constitute the essence of maloya. Percussion and voice. Here, all percussionists are singers, and polyphonic arrangements serve writing and voice - what a voice! - by Marie-Claude. With her, her husband, two of her children, a nephew, a niece, and cousins: a family affair, a business of transmission. A connection to loved ones already gone, too. On stage, Marie-Claude is at home, and we feel it immediately. Not surprisingly, with Gramoun Lélé, she has played in Brazil, Canada, Japan and all over Europe. And among the Phileas, maloya is not just music, it is a way of life: music is simply inseparable from their being. This music is powerful, engaging, in its incredible energy as in the slowest tempi: music of trance, it is first used in ceremonies of homage to the ancestors. The life of the family is not exactly a long, quiet river, and Marie-Claude has much to say, to pass, to tell. In Malagasy and Reunionese Creole, its maloya is a cry and a blues, but also and above all a celebration of the joy of being, singing, playing and dancing, and sharing, with authentic generosity.