The troupe of dancers, drummers and singers is fundraising for the St. Joseph family of homes for children: the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince, Wings of Hope in Fermathe and Trinity House in Jacmel. Both the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys and Wings of Hope were damaged beyond repair and need to be rebuilt.
The troupe, made up of eight members travelling to Canada, started out of the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys, a Christian-based home made up of boys from the streets of Port-au-Prince, and often, former child slaves.
Their performances tell the story of Haiti, with narration as a backdrop to the dancing and drumming.
“It’s showing the celebration of the arts in Haiti and how the arts are used to overcome poverty, to educate and to celebrate,” said Deidre Pereira, a chaplaincy leader at St. Joseph Secondary School in Mississauga who is organizing the troupe’s visit with the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board.
“Their mandate is to get out there and, through the expression of the young people, to help people celebrate Haiti because it’s always known as the poorest country in the Western hemisphere — and that hasn’t changed.
“But they also want to celebrate what’s good about their culture and they do that through dance.”
The dance troupe’s first performance is Oct. 16 at St. Mary Star of the Sea parish in Mississauga and its tour will culminate with a public performance at Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre Oct. 30. The tour will take the troupe to four other parishes in the archdiocese of Toronto and various Catholic high schools and elementary schools in Dufferin-Peel.
Dancers Eddy Lundy and Gerald Joanis
photo courtesy of Renee Dietrich
“I don’t think Haiti is on the front page of the news any more so it seems Haiti has been forgotten,” said Cangas. “We are coming to Canada to bring awareness… And we are hoping to teach people about Haiti through dance.”
The troupe’s rehearsal space was also destroyed in the earthquake, said Cangas.
“We want to rebuild a special place so we can have dance rehearsal,” he said. “And when it’s time for a dance performance, we can have a space to do that.”
The group caught the attention of the board following a performance at World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto, Pereira said. Since then, the dancers have performed in Canada three times: in 2004, 2007 and 2009. And while the focus is now on rebuilding its home, the group’s tours in Canada and the United States over the years have greatly helped fund programs run by the St. Joseph’s family with all the proceeds benefiting the homes, she said.
“They are performing to give us hope and to let us know that they were certainly a hopeful community before and they continue to be a hopeful community as they rebuild what they lost,” said Pereira.
Free-will offerings will be accepted at public performances. For information, contact Pereira at pereiradeidre@yahoo.ca or see www.heartswithhaiti.org or www.broken-wings.ca.