This event brings our global community together for food, dance and cultural exchange, as we raise awareness about the challenges facing the young people of Haiti.
The mission of Jean Appolon Expressions is to use dance to advance Haitian cultural expression and to empower young people. JAE seeks to elevate Haiti’s artistic heritage and celebrate its universality through innovative dance performance and community programs.
The Boston-based Haitian contemporary dance company is one of the few in the world that synthesizes Haitian folkloric dance and Modern technique. As an ambassador of Haiti, and the Haitian, Caribbean and African diasporas, JAE showcases artistic expression of a specific cultural community and is also a medium of cultural diplomacy. With the third largest Haitian population in the U.S., Boston and its cultural landscape are greatly enhanced by the presence of JAE.
JAE also conducts community and youth classes, workshops and performances in the Boston area and beyond, with the goal of enriching and enlivening communities through authentic cultural events and programming. JAE’s Teen Program recently concluded a Spring Break Intensive, April 18 – 22, 2016 at The Dance Complex, free to all participants thanks to generous support from Massachusetts Cultural Council and Cambridge Arts Council.
Each July JAE conducts The Jean Appolon Summer Dance Institute in Port-au-Prince. Sixty young Haitian dancers, age 12 or older, are selected via an open audition process to participate in a free, high quality and intensive dance program directed by Jean Appolon. Begun by Jean Appolon in 2006 and based at Ecole Nationale des Arts (ENARTS), the annual Institute moved in 2013 to an open-air dance studio constructed at the Hotel Oloffson. The 2016 summer institute has concluded. Read our report back.
If you have not yet made your annual gift to JAE, please join us today by visiting our website to make a contribution: jeanappolonexpressions.org/support-us/. Or, if you would like to send a check made payable to Jean Appolon Expressions, you can mail it to Jean Appolon Expressions, P.O. Box 391173, Cambridge, MA 02139.
Thank you for your tax-deductible donation to help make The 2017 Jean Appolon Summer Dance Institute a reality.
Your support will be the gift of a life changing experience for 65 Haitian young people who deserve a chance to thrive!
