Article Information

• ARTICLE_POSTED_BY: Haiti Place
• ARTICLE_POSTED_ON: Nov 16, 2014
• Views : 928
• Likes : 2
• Category : Art & Culture
• Description :

  Jean Appolon Expressions - a dancing company based in Boston is putting on amazing shows for the world to enjoy. Many of them are inspired by the Haitian folklore. They have dancers and drummers on stage, and breathtaking performances that tell stories of courage, of hardship, and of human strength.

Overview

• Jean Appolon
  of Jean Appolon Expressions performing
  Photo Credit: Jean Appolon Expressions

  Jean Appolon Expressions - a dancing company based in Boston is putting on amazing shows for the world to enjoy. Many of them are inspired by the Haitian folklore. They have dancers and drummers on stage, and breathtaking performances that tell stories of courage, of hardship, and of human strength.

  The shows bring an amalgam of feelings, but you would never guess what is the story behind the choreography, what is the story behind this dance company, and what drives it forward.

  The answer lies in the following questions:

  Can a Haitian child who dreams of becoming a dancer conquer the world? Can that child protect his dream in a culture where being a dancer is not what a family would normally approve, especially for a boy? Can he overcome his conditions and build a new life?

  Fighting for his dream

  As a child, Jean Appolon has always loved to dance as he saw his grandmother, aunt, and cousin perform. He became totally fascinated by it when he saw on the Haitian television Lavinia Williams, a renown African American dancer that was teaching dance in Haiti.

  "I was maybe 7 or 8 years old and I was fascinated by her. I used to watch her on TV and I was pretty much taken by the movement," remembers Jean.

  When he was 14, he received a scholarship for the Folkloric Ballet of Haiti. He was the only boy in the class who raised his hand when they asked, “Who wants to study dancing?”.

  As it often happens in Haiti, Jean's family was against him pursuing this path. They feared that as a dancer he would not be able to make a living out of it and that his live would be chaotic. After eight months of heavy pressure from his family, he had to quit the ballet school and return to a normal school. But he did not quit on his dream.

  The breakdown

  Jean says that Haiti taught him lessons on strength. And it did. The hard way.
  Times were getting tough in Haiti, and fighting for your dream was not a priority. Survival became the priority.

  In 1991, during the first coup that overthrew President Aristide, Jean's father was killed and burned. "It was very tragic because they also came to burn our house and to also kill us," says Jean.

  Jean and his brothers had to deal with their new lives. Jean has found his peace in dancing.

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