EMILIE JABOUIN
Stories & Testimonials
EMILIE JABOUIN
- Toronto, Ontario
- Haitian/Caribbean folk dance, contemporary, Afro contemporary
- Career Pathway: Specialized dance instructor
Emilie Zila Jabouin is a dance artist, researcher, communications PhD, and choreographer, who specializes in and teaches Haitian folk dance and rhythms through the philosophical and cultural principles of vodou. She is currently working on a piece about interrupted pregnancies, entitled The Release, and another about heritage, historical memory, and atonement: Haïti, au cœur de ma vie. Both pieces use storytelling and socio/political commentary through the Haitian folk dances of Yanvalou and Arenyen as their foundation.
EMILIE’S STORY
“During the pandemic and as a new member, DTRC provided me with funding to train with Peniel Guerrier in person in NYC in preserving and transmitting Haitian folk knowledge and dance, perfecting some of the dances’ and drum rhythms’ techniques, while developing my own pedagogical approach. This funding was crucial in shaping me into an instructor who breaks down the information, further explains the harmonization of movement, rhythm, breath/voice, and shares how traditional knowledge is fundamentally a portal to better understanding who we are and how we operate. In addition to transmitting what I knew in my body through class, I became an instructor who articulates a historically rooted concept that holds a class, connects the body’s movements to technical teachings, while supporting varying participants’ needs.
I was making a big leap by working with my mentor, Peniel Guerrier, to the capacity that I had chosen to do. My professional relationship with him and commitment to reconnecting with, preserving, and sharing Haitian folk culture, through dance and rhythms requires a lot of time, patience, financial and logistical resources, and extensive physical training. Therefore, DTRC’s funding was such a gift in this transitional time and during the initial stages of the pandemic.
DTRC’s services and financial support have made me more confident in my career and my capacities by enabling me to train diligently in the pedagogy of Haitian folk dance, a form that is not often taken seriously in professional dance circles.”
DTRC’S SUPPORT
- Counselling
- Skills Grant
