MONT-CARMEL — Tapping feet. Fiddle music. Quick-witted comedy.
Acadian culture takes centre stage when Chuck and Albert perform. The duo makes heritage come alive through high-energy music, dance and skits.
“Nobody’s going to come and see something that’s dead – unless it’s a wake,” says Chuck Arsenault.
“We’re big on those too,” quips Albert Arsenault, without missing a beat.
Chuck and Albert might have audiences laughing too hard to fully realize how much work goes into their shows.
Last night in Charlottetown, the duo won the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation Wendell Boyle Award for outstanding contribution to heritage through performance.
Chuck and Albert, former members of the Acadian group Barachois, chatted about the award during a recent rehearsal in Mont-Carmel.
“We don’t treat our heritage and our culture as something that’s in the past,” Chuck explains. “The music that we work on, the dances that we perform, the skits that we do, our interaction with people that come to the shows – it’s all very representative of P.E.I. and it’s all stuff we like doing. It just so happens that it helps continue some of the traditions... of Acadian culture.”
For example, when they go looking for new traditional songs to perform, their main reference is a collection of Acadian songs and folklore captured mainly in the 1970s by Island historian Georges Arsenault. 
“Like Barachois, they certainly do a lot to bring new life to these old melodies,” Georges said in a phone interview.
“And most of them have been forgotten by the recent generations. It would be their grandparents or great-grandparents who were singing them. They’re bringing them back to life.”
Chuck and Albert have also brought Acadian culture to a larger audience by travelling throughout Canada, as well as the United States and Europe. They sing the traditional songs in French but speak English during shows to English audiences so the show is accessible.
Chuck notes they don’t wake up thinking about how to win awards, but he’s grateful the foundation has recognized their contribution.
Why do they think they won?
“We were probably the only ones in the category. They were probably desperate,” Chuck jokes.
“A couple of bribes,” Albert adds.
But after a few jokes, he sums it up. “We promote P.E.I. and Acadians everywhere we go.”