In the Ruins...

Haitian schoolchildren examining the palace called Sans Souci

- Cap-Haïtien

Citadelle Views

Scroll down or click here for more information about the Citadelle.

- Cap-Haïtien

Too Cool

It's not always about the girls. During my time at l'Ecole de Musique Sainte-Trinité's summer camp, I served as staff accompanist, which included a regular rotation with these guys. Les Petits Chanteurs had me in stitches regularly. I love how the smiles always peek through.

A looking point

Yesterday, I wondered if Marie-Norma was looking out. Today, I feature tourists, looking out, taking a break from the long climb up the Citadelle.

The Citadelle Laferrière was built shortly after the war for Independence, between 1805 and 1820, under the direction of Henri Christophe, ruler of the north. It was intended as a fortress, to protect Haiti from future attacks from France. As a consequence, the views are amazing, but the seven mile trek is arduous. These music students seem to be in pretty good shape!

Curatorial Sensibilities

I read an interview with Tamron Hall that resonated deeply this morning. In it, she describes wearing pieces obtained at Lena Horne's estate sale to celebrate being announced co-anchor of the Today show. So obviously, there are a few layers to read here: a news anchor collecting pieces for a personal archive that fire her perception of self as a particular sort of person. A self-articulated black woman. 

What's really interesting about this 2011 photo from Jacmel is its composition. Marie-Norma asked me to take this photo of her. She self-articulates by actively participating in the activities of l'Ecole de Musique Dessaix-Baptiste. Is she saying something about looking out, about lòt bò dlo (the other side of the waters), about vantage points? I don't know.

Keeping Up Appearances

A number of items have made their way across my desk that demand a post about the importance of appearances.

First up, an essence.com interview with Lupita Nyong'o. See the final bit about taking a picture.

Then, a sweet editorial by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, "Why Can't A Smart Woman Love Fashion?" in Elle magazine. Quotable: "I grew up, after all, in a world in which a woman's seriousness was not incompatible with an interest in appearance; if anything, an interest in appearance was expected of women who wanted to be taken seriously."

So you know where this is going, right? My beloved theory girls. They've remarked, with fascination, that I seem to care just as much as they do about what I wear while volunteering. Networks of affinity...

A Play on Words

I've been thinking about how salient symbolism can be, and how folks draw on the experiences of others to inform their own. For example, a soloist on Father Hayes and the Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer's "Worked It Out" singing "the water went up on both sides!" What does the Israelite escape from Egypt mean to African Americans in the 21st century? 

Here are a few pics from a play that I attended in Jacmel. Authored by Aime Cesaire, the play is titled "La Tragedie du Roi Henri Christophe" (Tragedy of the King Henri Christophe). The staging of this play in 2014 is a triumph of sorts, many times over. The tragedy is this: Henri Christophe, one of the leaders of the Haitian Revolution, established a kingdom in the north after independence, but committed suicide after falling both ill and unpopular. The triumphs? His Citadelle Laferrière remains (pictures of that another day!). The story of Haiti's birth inspired a 1963 play by one of Martinique's foremost public intellectuals (in the best, warmest sense of that term). And in these pictures, we witness the return of the play to the land of its ideological birth. 

Yet another way that Haiti represents. Haiti matters.  

Focus

Ah, focus...precisely what I need at this moment of proposal-writing/syllabus-drafting.

- Cange, Mirebalais, Central Plateau, Haiti

Out of the frying pan, into the fire

Weekend beach trips with freshly grilled fish, banann peze ak pikliz (pressed plantains with spicy relish)

- Jacmel, where I obviously struggled to take a picture before I ate

Fresh beginnings

Sometimes its good to start all over.

-Cap-Haïtien, beginning string session

The Empty Space

I took this picture before a student recital in the chapel where I often teach. See the upright piano in the corner? And the blackboard covered with notes on the opposite end?

I appreciate the symmetry in this shot.

-Cap-Haïtien

A Green Room for Rehearsal

I would be so distracted if rehearsing in this environment was the norm. Such beauty. But it's hot!

- Cap-Haïtien

Back to the girls...

If you look closely, there are little tags on each violin to keep track of the beginners. 

-Cap-Haïtien

Breaking Ground

Today's blog post highlights some work being done in Cap-Haïtien, by the folks at CEMUCHCA (a community music school at which I've taught during my summers). This is a ground breaking ceremony for a complex that will hold a performance space, practice rooms, rehearsal rooms, dormitories for visiting instructors, eating and meeting spaces, and a lot more.

Beautiful, no?

Pose

The tour is finished, and I woke up like dis, thinking about this particular picture and wanting to put it on the blog. I remember casually taking out a camera a couple of years ago before a recital, and girls of varying ages instantly assembling themselves for a photo shoot. The Kreyòl word "pòz" may mean stop, but they were all action as they adjusted each other, then let me know when they felt ready. I didn't make any further adjustments, just clicked the shutter.

- pre-recital in Cap-Haïtien