The mixture of gospel, R&B, ‘50s Doo-Wop, Brazilian forro and French chanson were musically merged to entice an audience of 138 members at the Chic Gamine concert on Nov. 13.

In June, Chic Gamine released their first album and on Nov. 13, the group performed a plethora of original songs, covers and individual projects incorporating the languages of English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Their energetic performance brought to life some of their original songs like “I Don’t Lie,” “Pioloto Autmatico,” “Shake Your Worries” and “Days and Days.”

Photograph by Kate Olsen

Hailing from Canada, the group is comprised of four women, Ariane Jean, Andrina Turenne, Alexa Dirks and Annick Brémault, and one male, Alexandre Sacha Dauoud, the drummer and percussionist of the group. Each member is in their early twenties and they combine a variety of different types of musical styles, along with their voices and rhythms to create their own unique style.

“We are so glad to [be] here in Wisconsin,” Dirks said. While the crowd laughed, Dirks added with a smile, “We are, we don’t know why everyone is laughing.”

This stylish and playful Winnipeg/Montreal-based group chose their band name while on tour.

“We composed a list that would work in English and French,” Brémault said. “We liked the word Chic and the word Gamine.”

According to dictionary.com, gamine is defined as “a girl of impish appeal,” while chic refers to attractive and fashionable.

“Now we have to dress nice every time we get on stage,” Brémault said.

Audience members were impressed with the fact that the band members were so young, but very talented.

“Chic Gamine’s ability to write and perform music in different languages is very impressive,” Tiffaney Hess, senior theater major, said. “Although the musicians are very young, their use of different languages alludes to their fascinating life experiences as well as their cultural diversity.”

Even though the audience was smaller than other performing arts series events, those who attended were very pleased with the performance choice by the Center For the Arts.

“The Platteville community is lucky to have such acts grace our little corner of the state,” Russell Braby, UW-P study abroad adviser, said. “I appreciate that the CFA is able to bring such diverse acts as this, which otherwise would never come to a town as small as Platteville.”

Members of the group have also taken on different projects outside of the band since forming in 2007. Alexa sings with an R&B group called Little Boy Boom; Sacha plays in a Brazilian Funk group called Gaia; and Ariane, Andrina, and Annick founded the award-winning vocal ensemble, Madrigaiaen.
To find out more information on Chic Gamine, visit their Web site at chicgamine.com or their Myspace page, myspace.com/chicgamine.