1. The story of Jan Mapou: Lost love, suffering, abandonment and reconciliation
- Collection:
- Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
- Contributers:
- Mullin,Corinna (Author)
- Format:
- Newspaper Article
- Publication Date:
- 1999-03-31
- Published:
- Miami, FL
- Location:
- African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Journal Title:
- Caribbean Today
- Journal Title Details:
- 4 : 15
- Notes:
- "There was no trial. No formal accusations. They just dumped all of the prisoners like animals into a cage," [Jan Mapou] recalls. "they stripped us and then crammed 14 of us into a small cell. We had no idea if we would ever see our families again. We had no idea if we would even be alive from one second to the next." Tell no one "When I first started working with Jan Mapou and the Sosyete Koukouy, I knew very little about the meanings of the daces I was performing," says Nancy St. Leger, who is now the dance troupe's choreographer. "Mapou opened me up to the significance of each dance. He didn't want the dance troupe to perform anything we didn't understand." "What Mapou is promoting through his work is not just Haitian culture but what Haitian culture represents," says [Yves Colon]. "He keeps alive those ideas of beauty, harmony and black pride which are all a part of what Mapou believes is Haitian culture.