Jean-Michel Guilcher

Jean-Michel Guilcher was born on 24 September 1914 in Saint-Pierre-Quilbignon, Finistère.[1][2][3] One of his grandmothers, who was from Aber-Ildut, sang the gwerz.[4]

Guilcher was educated at the Lycée de Brest.[4] He graduated from the University of Paris, where he studied natural history.[4] He also took dance lessons from Alick-Maud Pledge.[4] Later, he was mentored by the ethnologist Patrice Coirault, and he attended classes taught by Jacques Chailley with Constantin Brăiloiu.[4] He subsequently earned a PhD in Dance Studies.[4]

Guilcher worked for Jeune France, a traditional dance organization in Lyon, from 1939 to 1942.[4] During that time, he researched the traditional dances of villages near Lyon.[4] He subsequently worked for Paul Faucher, where he edited Père Castor, a collection of children's books.[4] After the war, he began researching the traditional dances of villages in Brittany.[4]

Guilcher began working for the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in 1955.[4] He later worked for the Musée national des Arts et Traditions Populaires, where he founded a section about dance.[4] He was a professor of ethnology at the University of Western Brittany from 1969 to 1979.[5] He subsequently served as the director of a research centre at the University of Western Brittany and the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.[2]

Guilcher was the author of eight books about the traditional dances of Brittany.[1][2]

With his wife Hélène, Guilcher had three children.[1] They resided in Meudon near Paris, where he died on 27 March 2017.[2][3]

• Guilcher, Jean-Michel (1963). La Tradition populaire de danse en Basse-Bretagne. Paris: La Haye. OCLC 558839438.
• Guilcher, Jean-Michel (1965). Les Formes anciennes de la danse en Berry. Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose. OCLC 844311445.
• Guilcher, Jean-Michel (1969). La Contredanse et les renouvellements de la danse française. Paris: La Haye. OCLC 718073031.
• Guilcher, Jean-Michel (1984). La Tradition de danse en Béarn et Pays basque français. Paris: Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme. ISBN 9782901725633. OCLC 433206768.
• Guilcher, Jean-Michel (1989). La chanson folklorique de langue française : la notion et son histoire. Créteil: Atelier de la danse populaire. ISBN 9782907567015. OCLC 24554549.
• Guilcher, Jean-Michel (2003). Rondes, branles, caroles : le chant dans la danse. Brest: Centre de Recherche Bretonne et Celtique. ISBN 9782901737544. OCLC 231983772.
• Guilcher, Jean-Michel (2009). Danse traditionnelle et anciens milieux ruraux français : tradition, histoire, société. Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN 9782296082588. OCLC 470618327.
• Guilcher, Jean-Michel (2009). Danses traditionnelles en Pyrénées centrales. Paris: Cairn. ISBN 9782350681085. OCLC 690402066.