LEWISTON — Quebecois folk performer Benoit Bourque will offer two free programs in French Canadian song and dance traditions, respectively, as part of a local community residency at the end of this month.

On Thursday, July 29, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library, Bourque will conduct a French-Canadian folk dance workshop for students age 12 and older in which they will learn an assortment of fun and easy Quebecois contra and square dances.

No prior dance experience is required, according to Bourque, who has taught French folk dance styles at dozens of venues in his travels as a member of the Montreal-based group La Bottine as well as with his past bands, Le Vent du Nord and Matapat. The library is located at 200 Lisbon St. at the corner of Pine Street in downtown Lewiston.

On Friday, July 30, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in Room 170 at Lewiston-Auburn College, Bourque will lead a French-Canadian song session during which participants will have an opportunity to sing some of the chansons à repondre (response songs), which have become favorites among Maine’s Franco-American community. They will also be introduced to some less familiar, “new/old” songs which have their roots in 16th-century France.

Lyric sheets for the choruses will be provided so anyone can participate regardless of their fluency with the French language, according to Annette Dorey, chairwoman of the board of directors for the Franco-American Collection at LAC.

The collection’s reading room will be open to visitors for a half-hour before and following the song session. L-A College is located at 51 Westminster St.

Participants in both workshops will have an opportunity to share a bit of what they’ve learned at an Old-Time French Soirée at 7 p.m. Friday, July 30, at the Franco-American Heritage Center, 46 Cedar St. Bourque – who is a multi-instrumentalist as well as a singer and dancer – will be joined by a multi-generational cast of Maine Franco-American musicians and dancers in a program of French songs, fiddle tunes and jigging, with audience participation encouraged.

Admission to the soirée is $10 for adults, $5 for youth age 12 and under, and tickets may be purchased in advance via the FAHC box office at 689-2000, online at www.francoamericanheritage.org, or in person at the center’s box office weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The box office will open at 6 p.m. on the evening of the show.

All three of the activities are part of a three-day community residency by Bourque, funded in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. Joining the FAHC, L-A College and the library as partners in the residency project are the Fortier Chapter of the Association Canado-American, the DownEast Friends of the Folk Arts and New England Celtic Arts.

More information on any of the events is available by calling the project’s coordinator, Cindy Larock, at 782-0386.