Kriyol Dance! Collective (KDC) debuts a new, original work titled Rasin San Bout (“Endless Roots” in Haitian Creole) exploring ideas of immigration, migration politics, and acculturation as critical factors influencing the health of Caribbean immigrant communities, in particular Haitian immigrants.
Following the performance, join us at 6:30 p.m. for a reception on the WCMA Patio. Galleries will remain open until 8 p.m.
At the core of their work, KDC seeks to investigate the question: what does it mean to be well? Rasin San Bout poses this question of wellness in relation to the health of Caribbean immigrant communities, in particular Haitian immigrants whose status as “immigrant” remains endemic in global and U.S. political news, and whose sheer numbers make up what may be the bulk of the immigrant population in KDC’s rapidly gentrifying hometown of Flatbush, Brooklyn. Throughout this performance, themes of immigration, migration politics, displacement, mobility, acculturation, cultural identity, and solidarity emerge to shape an immersive dance journey.
Kriyol Dance! Collective (KDC) is a collective of artist-leaders working on one platform, to advocate for the unapologetic voices of Black arts through collaborative community organizing work and performance-based intervention. KDC uses art—dance, music, and spoken word—as a tool for commentary creating original work focused on the preservation of Black diasporic culture and Haitian culture. KDC exists as a platform to promote community collaboration and wellness.
Connecting to the galleries
Artists over time have been documenting, remembering and imagining the movement of people across physical and political borders. Throughout the galleries at WCMA, you will see examples of artists, from Mary Ann Unger to Guadalupe Maravilla, thinking about human migration and considering—as in Rasin San Bout—what it takes to heal from such a journey.
Through their performances and teaching, Kriyol Dance! Collective use music and dance to celebrate and preserve Haitian and other Black diasporic cultures. In Frantz Zephirin: Selected Works, scenes of people dancing and playing drums as part of spiritual rituals similarly highlight the role of music and dance within Haitian and Vodou culture and relay important stories about the loa (Haitian Vodou spirits).
Watch an interview with Véronëque Ignace ’15:
Watch a video of KDC’s rehearsal at WCMA here.