Une Soirée Guinguette

Wine, dancing, and summer evenings go together better than the red, white, and blue of the French tricolour. Alliance Française's "Une Soirée Guinguette" will bring the feel of guinguettes—small, suburban French watering holes—to Minneapolis and give you the opportunity to skip your typical bars for the night and experience a culture and a form of dancing that doesn't mean getting groped by some sweaty guy on the dance floor. Named after locally produced sour white wines, guinguettes traditionally were one of few locations where relatively isolated rural citoyens (a.k.a. citizens) could cut a rug and have a drink. Although they declined in numbers severely in the middle of the 20th century, they have undergone a mild nostalgic resurgence in recent years. At Alliance Française's guinguette, revelers can learn traditional dance steps, and old-timey accordion player Steve Stillman will provide culturally appropriate tunes. It might be closer to the Mississippi than the Seine, but you can pretend you're summering in the French countryside. Bring food or wine to share with the group; it's a French potluck.
Sat., Aug. 16, 7-10 p.m., 2008