She signs a resounding return. In festivals, on the floor of your wedding ball, on the port of Rouen, under the arbor of the Hellfest campsite or in the streets of Saint-Brieuc, the caterpillar has once again become a must for festive evenings. Made famous by the release of the song La Bande à Basile in 1977, the dance enjoyed hours of glory before becoming old-fashioned. Sent back to the attic, she resurfaced a few years ago. With a sweet musty scent that makes the charm of old times, it has even become the object of frantic quests. Established last year on the sidelines of the Art Rock festival in Saint-Brieuc, the record for the largest caterpillar in the world was smashed ten days ago in Rouen. As part of the Armada, 3,940 people marched through the port to set a new world record. Wednesday evening, Concarneau could not do better. But 500 people formed a long caterpillar in the streets of the closed city of Finistère. Why does this once cheesy dance know such hype? Investigation.
“I will have to add a star to the shirt”. On Monday June 12, Vincent Piguet was at the head of the largest human caterpillar in the world in Rouen. Quite a symbol for the one who presents himself as the first (and probably the only) caterpillar teacher. Last year, this Paris-based comedian created the Chenille School Academy, which earned him the interest of several news sites. The report produced at home this week by BFM has given him exceptional popularity since his broadcast on social networks. “I wanted to dust off the tail-leu-leu by creating synchronized caterpillar courses. I am convinced that there is potential,” explains Vincent Piguet.
Renowned for being an ambianceur, this actor and director has a concrete explanation for the renewed interest in the caterpillar. “You don’t need to know how to dance to practice it. No one will be judged, people all know how to do it. The caterpillar, it accepts everyone”. Knowing that he is the object of ridicule, the professor fully assumes his new passion which has the merit of making people talk about him. That’s probably what he was looking for. “Some people find it corny. But, these people are having fun, even if they don’t participate. Seeing people having fun, laughing, it has virtues. Everyone needs to make contact, to have fun in order to decompress”.
The caterpillar teacher “puts his hand on the shoulders”
Arnaud is the other caterpillar specialist in France. This metal lover is the head of the Macumba, a kitsch nightclub that settles unofficially on the Hellfest campsite. When he saw the images of the “caterpillar teacher”, he cringed a little. “The guy calls himself a caterpillar teacher and they all put their hands on their shoulders”. In the original song, the lyrics are clear: “hang your hands on my waist”. In 2022, the Rennais had led the wandering which had obtained the world record. In the streets of Saint-Brieuc, 1,387 people marched in line behind him. “I don’t think it’s a throwback to caterpillar fashion. It’s wider than that. It is rather a return to festive moments, to simple things, to popular festivals. We feel like we’re serious all year round. People are looking for the link, everyone wants to let go, ”says the tall bearded man.
Host of the “after parties” on the Hellfest campsite, the Rennais knows better than anyone how to give birth to a caterpillar. The simplest way is obviously to broadcast the original song of La Bande à Basile, but other means exist. “It works very well on The Masked Ball too. And on the track “Disco” by Ottawan because it rocks well. As soon as you have a guy in mind who starts, it’s on. For him, the success of the dance would also be linked to everyone’s freedom to participate in it or not. “You can choose not to go, no one is going to judge you. But if you decide to go, you know you’re going to have fun”.
Philippe Steiner is a sociologist. If he is not a caterpillar specialist, the researcher has on the other hand looked into the mechanisms of the festival. On several occasions, he spent whole days observing the Bayonne festivals and their famous paquito, a Basque and seated version of the caterpillar. “These dances are just the exacerbated behavior of humans celebrating. The party has this something extra-ordinary that makes you dare. It’s a moment outside of everyday life, a space that is not as usual,” explains the sociologist.
It is this exceptional aspect that would push people to come closer to each other, without fear of being judged. Imagine the paradox. While fleeing the world, looking for the least crowded metro train, we like to hang the size of a complete stranger in the evening. “The party is like that. We often arrive there in groups and we meet other people. We agglomerate, we break up. We don’t do the caterpillar in the metro because the place is not conducive to it, because the people present don’t share anything. During the party, we are in a bubble of noise. At the Bayonne festivals, people feel relatively safe, they let go, because the space is closed, everyone is there for the same thing, “explains the author. of the book “Partying, sociology of joy” appeared a few months ago.
The alcohol ? A facilitator but not mandatory
OK for the sociological explanation Philippe, but the party hadn’t really stopped during all these years when the caterpillar had almost disappeared. So what is this return of hype? “Fashions all have this cyclical side that makes it come and go. We see it for the clothes. For the party, it’s the same. Because we live it in the present but we feed on the past. We will always hear childhood friends reminiscing about old memories. Or colleagues from different generations say: in my time, it was like that”. And the alcohol in there? Impossible not to address the issue in a country where the party is so associated with the aperitif. “It’s a facilitator, it unties and it allows us to get closer. Offering someone a drink is a way of socializing. But I have seen very big parties without alcohol, ”says Philippe Steiner. In India, Mexico, in particular. In France, it is more complicated.