Libète: Celebrating Haitian Art & Community

Jean Appolon Expressions (JAE) is a nonprofit, contemporary dance company, with a vision to teach and share the liberating power of Haitian-folkloric dance to cultivate hope and healing towards a more expressive and socially just world – a world where everyone, across all identities, can thrive. Founded in 2013, JAE works to achieve this vision by leading the development and implementation of professional performances, educational programming, and dance training opportunities that uplift Haitian-folkloric culture. With these efforts, JAE seeks to nurture a global dance community that works to advance social justice, community well-being and civic engagement by engaging people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds – particularly Black and Indigenous people of color, and people who are experiencing poverty.

Jean Appolon is the choreographer, founder, and artistic director of Jean Appolon Expressions (JAE), who shares the liberating power of Haitian-folkloric dance to cultivate hope, healing, and justice. A bold visionary and master teacher, Appolon is intrinsically moved to preserve Haitian-folkloric dance - a portal for the majesty of Vodou culture - and make it accessible to all. His original choreography includes Vwayaj, Angaje, and Traka - all which center social justice themes such as immigration, LGBTQ rights, and mental health as a necessary dimension of healing. His training began in Port-au-Prince with Vivianne Gauthier and the Folkloric Ballet of Haiti. Appolon’s education continued with Harvard and Radcliffe Dance Program (1995-1996), Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (1996-1998), the Joffrey American Ballet School (1998-2003), and a bachelor’s degree from The New School (2002). He has previously performed with Elma Lewis Productions, Marlene Silva, North Star Ballet Company, Black Door Dance Company, and the Atlantic City Ballet Company. A 2014 inductee of the 1804 List of Haitian-American Changemakers, he has received numerous awards and recognition in media outlets including The Boston Globe and NPR.

Val Jeanty, also known as Val-Inc, is a Haitian Afrofuturist, drummer, turntablist, and professor at Berklee College of Music. Jeanty is a pioneer of the electronic music subgenre called Afro- Electronica (also called "Vodou-Electro") incorporating Haitian Folkloric rhythms with digital instrumentations by synergistically combining acoustics with electronics and the archaic with the postmodern. Jeanty’s Afro-Electronica performances include the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and internationally at the Venice Biennale in Italy and the House of the World’s Cultures in Berlin. Jeanty has worked with a diverse group of artists including Geri Allen and SunRa’s drummer Francisco Mora Catlett. Jeanty is the recipient of various grants including the 2017 Van Lier Fellowship, NYSCA/Roulette 2019 Residency Fellowship and the 2022 Toulmin NYU/CBA Fellowship.

Jean Dany Joachim is a poet, past Cambridge Poet Populist, Poet In Residence at First Church in Cambridge, Director of the City Night Readings Series, and in residence at Little Crepe Café in Cambridge. He has three published collections of poetry, Crossroads / Chimenkwaze (2013), Avec des Mots (2014), and Quartier (2016). Jean Dany is also a 2017 Massachusetts Cultural Council grant recipient for his play: Your Voice Poet.

Rocky Cotard, born in Mirebalais, Haiti and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, is an illustrator and fine artist that finds color in everything. His work delivers a cultural awareness highlighting his origin hoping that other people feel compelled to look into their own. Cotard draws inspiration from a list of artists: Gontran Durocher, Phillipe Dodard, Ronald Mevs, Van Gogh, Kehinde Wiley and Jordan Casteel. Cotard returns to Haiti as often as possible as he feels it is his well of creativity. His body of work depicts the perspective of the Haitian diaspora, in defiance to the narrow representation of it through the media. Cotard received his BFA in 2018 at Lesley University in illustration minoring in fine arts. Since then, he has been very active as a freelance illustrator publishing a few collaborative books, The Revolution that Gave Birth to Haiti and The Call. In May of 2022, Cotard was a winner of the Mural Masters competition in Cambridge. That same year he was invited to the Ishibashi Gallery at the Middlesex School for a solo show. Currently Rocky is making work in his basement studio

James Adius Pierre is a passionate advocate for access to the arts in his hometown of Cambridge and the Greater Boston Area. His passion for advocating for the arts led him to found the Adius Arts Initiative, a platform with programs and events designed to intentionally highlight Black arts culture.

James is an avid lover of the arts and started drawing at a young age. James considers himself an arts advocate and has greatly contributed to the arts culture in Boston. Working with organizations like The Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, The Museum of Fine Art Boston, The Community Art Center, The Cambridge Arts Council Hibernian Hall, The Central Square Theater, and The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. James is dedicated to sharing his passion and resources to spread the joy of art.