05 juin 2017

Bulletin mensuel juin 2017

Chers Amis,

The next meeting of the Cercle Français de Belfast will be …

on Mercredi 7 juin 2017 à 19h.30 
in Dark Horse Coffee House, 
30-34, Hill Street Belfast BT1 2LB
Topic: From haute cuisine to la cuisine
Speaker: Hélène GUILLET et Philip McGRORY

Hélène and Philip serve up a bi-lingual presentation in which they consider Haute Cuisine and its influence today in France and closer to home.


Dr Tariq Ramadan at the Crescent Arts Centre

As part of the Belfast Book Festival the Crescent Arts Centre welcomes Tariq Ramadan for a lecture and Q&A surrounding the ideas presented in his book Islam, The Essentials.

Every few years France gets swept up in a controversy over Tariq Ramadan. Hardly a day goes by without the mention of Islam. And yet, for most people, and in much of the world, Islam remains a little-known religion. Whether the issue is violence, terrorism, women's rights or slavery, Muslims are today expected to provide answers and to justify what Islam is - or is not. But little opportunity exists, either in the media or in society as a whole, to describe Islam: precisely the question this short and extremely accessible book sets out to answer.

Dr Tariq Ramadan is Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University, President of the think tank European Muslim Network (EMN) in Brussels and a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.

This event takes place in ..
Crescent Arts Centre
on Thursday 8th June at 5:30pm. 
Tickets are £7 and £5 concession.

For tickets and further details see:


Bal Feirste's monthly Workshop/Bal 

Date: Sunday, 11 June
Venue: Sunflower Club, Union St, Belfast (upstairs)
Dance workshop: 17.00-17.30
Bal: 17.30-19.00
(this is a free event, donations welcome - live music throughout)
Dance workshop - no experience or partner needed. This month a chance to learn to dance the Gavotte de Montagne.
Bal - a time to practise your moves, not just the dances of this month, but others we have covered to date guidance will be given where necessary.

À bientôt, Philip

10 mai 2017

Dîner annuel 2017


Annual French Dinner







You are cordially invited to our annual French dinner on Wednesday 31 May 2017, 7:30pm for 8:00pm at Harlequins Rugby Football Club, 45a Deramore Park, Belfast BT9 5JX


The cost is £29.50 per person for which we provide a glass of wine on arrival and choices of entrées, plats et desserts with an inclusive cheese course and tea or coffee. 

You will find full details on the flyer attached.

If you wish to attend the annual dinner please print out and provide details on the attached form and return it together with payment by Friday 26 May 2017 to:
 Ray Largan, CFB Treasurer,9 Dalboyne Gardens, Lisburn BT 28 3BX 




07 avril 2017

Bulletin mensuel: avril 2017

The next meeting of the Cercle Français de Belfast will be …

on Mercredi 12 avril 2017 à 19h.30 
in Dark Horse Coffee House, 
30-34, Hill Street Belfast BT1 2LB
Topic: Debussy and friends
Speaker: Hilary HEADLEY

Debussy's music was considered by French society to be not quite acceptable and, in one case, outrageous. The Belle Époque, however, brought revolutionary changes in music, art and writing. Debussy was among its leaders, and his influence had a very long reach. 


Bal Feirste's monthly Workshop/Bal 

Bal Feirste's monthly Workshop/Bal will take place on:

Date: Sunday, 9 April
Venue: Sunflower Club, Union St, Belfast (upstairs)
Dance workshop: 17.00-17.30
Bal: 17.30-19.00
(this is a free event, donations welcome)

Dance workshop - no experience or partner needed, devoting our time to a Breton dance -the "Pach Pi".
Bal - a time to practise your moves, not just the dances of this month, but others we have covered to date guidance will be given where necessary.


Christine Bovill: Piaf

Friday 28th April 8.00pm
Áras Mhic Reachtain
283-289 Antrim Road
Belfast

As part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival Christine Bovill, Scotland’s Little Sparrow and multi award-winning songwriter and performer returns to Áras Mhic Reachtain with her triumphant show Piaf. Bovill is the world’s best Piaf performer! No pretence. No gimmicks. Simply a voice. Pure and majestic. Singing of life’s triumphs and tragedies, resisting the temptation of retelling her life story, Piaf focuses instead on the music.
Support from Eve Belle
Tickets £10 - MORE THAN HALF ALREADY GONE! To purchase tickets click here.


Both Sides

The Dark Horse
Sunday 7th May 3.00pm & 7.30pm
Tickets £8

Our friend Jane Coyle returns to the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival with a new play 'Both Sides'.  It is a development of 'Me Here, Me', the Beckett-inspired monologue which was at CQAF last year. You will see a big difference now that a companion piece - 'Before Before' - has been added.  The two musicians, Mark and Annette, will be involved again playing their atmospheric French dance music.

For further details and to purchase tickets click here.


Cercle Français de Belfast Annual Dinner

When going to press with our programme we still had not settled on the date for our annual dinner so you might like to note in your diary that this year  Cercle Français de Belfast's Annual Celebration Dinner will take place on Wednesday 31st May.


Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday evening.

À bientôt, Philip


05 mars 2017

Bulletin mensuel : mars 2017

The next meeting of the Cercle Français de Belfast will be on mercredi 8 mars 2017 à 19h.30 in Dark Horse Coffee House, 30-34, Hill Street Belfast BT1 2LB

  • Topic: The Paris Commune       Speaker: Seamus McKEOWN

Seamus will recount the story of three months of bloody confrontation on the streets of the French capital following the siege and fall of the city to the Prussians on January 28, 1871.


  • Bal Feirste presents their next French Bal with French Pianist - Valentin


This month's Bal Feirste's Workshop/Bal will be a special event with a change of venue and a very special guest performer …. Valentin Barray.

Valentin Barray creates a beautiful ambience through-out his Bal Folk performances.  He is a pianist and composer with a glittering array of achievements and accolades from his formal studies and performances in Europe.      


www.facebook/valentin.barray

Venue:     An Droichead, Cooke St, Belfast, BT7 2EP
Date:        Sunday 12 March 2017  
Time:       Doors open             17.30 ~ BYO
                 Dance workshop   18.00 ~ 18.45
                 Bal (Dancing)        19.00 ~ 22.00
Cost:         £5 to members ~ £8 to non-member



  • Eddie Izzard at the MAC
One of our members, Brian, has drawn my attention to the fact that Eddie Izzard is coming to the MAC for one night soon.  His show Force Majeure” is on Thursday 16th March, and some members may be interested. He presents his show in 3 languages consecutively, an hour each, German, then French and finally in English. Tickets are required for each separately and the English version is sold out but, at the time of writing, there are still tickets available to the performance in French.




  • Mois de la Francophonie en Irlande

To celebrate French language and cultural diversity, the Month of La Francophonie 2017 will showcase from March 1st to April 2nd a series of cultural events involving music, literature, film and history along with talks, debates and contests. 
You can find a full list of events at …
http://www.ambafrance-ie.org/The-Month-of-La-Francophonie-in-Ireland-2017-Programme but perhaps of most interest to us will be Franco-Irish Literary Festival (1st -2nd April) … more information to come later this month.



  • Cercle français de Belfast Annual Dinner
When going to press with our programme we still had not settled on the date for our annual dinner so you might like to note in your diary that this year Cercle Français de Belfast's Annual Celebration Dinner will take place on Wednesday 31st May.


Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday evening.


À bientôt, Philip