I am a dance artist and visionary creator of afro-descendance from Ayiti (Haiti). A story-teller, a healer, dancer, choreographer, I think about the bigger picture first when engaging in an artistic piece. I like to explore the historical context in relationship to my personal experiences and position: what is going on in the world and how does this impact people whose voices are under-represented? I am interested in the social dynamics and the layers that are peeled back on an individual and collective level, as well as on a local and global scale. My purpose as a dancer, choreographer and producer is to tell raw stories, and to support the artists I work with get to the depth of their work, and fully express their creative voices into a vision through movement. I am interested in the deep, the complex, the specific and relatable, as well as the relationship between the ancestral and the terrestrial.
As someone committed to living, sharing, and preserving my Haitian folk heritage by incorporating live music and singing in my dancing, I am drawn to collaborators who work from the wholeness and resourcefulness of diving into our roots. With many examples of revolt in my heritage, from the successful anti-slavery revolt initiated in 1791 on the island of Hispaniola to women’s entrepreneurship in my family lineage, I carry that legacy of advocacy, challenging norms, voicing taboos, and expressing multiple layers of the question at hand in my work.
My work challenges the idea of “contemporary” by grounding my dancing and story-telling in folk culture (and characters), historical references, metaphors, and songs—all of which are simultaneously traditional, contemporary, and future-focused. I also strive to keep my work living and contributing to current socio-cultural and political conversations, like the relationship between bodily autonomy and the struggles around ancestral land and connection.
My creative process is guided by listening and absorbing peoples’ stories. I also follow messages I receive from my lineage and guides to fulfill my purpose. I gravitate towards artists and people who do work that falls outside of the ordinary, or that is simply authentically them, in a very indigenous way. I often wonder, what are the possibilities that ‘language’ expresses about who we are? How do we access the “past” to nurture and protect the future of our lineage? What is my relationship to land and place, and how does it affect my being? How do we restore balance, in the body and in life? How do we reimagine and connect with worlds beyond this one?... and so I dance.
I work on projects that articulate themselves and can only be understood in manifestations of the body in combination with historical research to give it grounding and direction. I strive to produce in tangible ways the passion I see, hear, and feel in my thoughts, while asking: how do we tell difficult stories with care for transformation and for a grounded present, a healed/or complete past and a balanced future?
In rhythm, I invite us all to “explore, heal and manifest”!
Zila/Emilie
