Artist in Residence: Jean-René Delsoin

In partnership with Haiti Cultural Exchange, the Garden hosts dancer-choreographer Jean-René Delsoin as artist in residence from August to September 2022.

During this five-week residency, Delsoin’s study of BBG’s gardens, plants, trees, and wildlife informed dance choreography created in collaboration with NYC-based dance and drum practitioners.

Haitian culture, traditions, and heritage serve as further inspiration for two performances of this work, to debut in the Water Garden at 3 p.m. on September 17 & 18.

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Haiti Cultural Exchange is a nonprofit organization founded in 2009 to develop, present and promote the cultural expressions of the Haitian people.

About the Artist

Jean-René Delsoin is a dancer-choreographer with 34 years of dance performance and instruction experience in his native Haiti and abroad. Born in Port-au-Prince, Delsoin studied in Haiti, the National School Dance of Jamaica, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, among other prestigious institutions.

Credits include appearances with American choreographer Kevin Iega Jeff’s Jubilations! and a two-year Latin American tour with Dominican singer Angela Carrasco. In 1987, Delsoin founded and codirected Artcho Danse Repertoire and its affiliate school. In 2004, he formed the Jean-René Delsoin Dance Center and the Compagnie de Danse Jean-René (COJRD).

COJRD brings the richness of Haiti’s cultural expression and dances to the world, having produced more than 50 works by Delsoin and guest choreographers using modern, jazz, contemporary, and Haitian dance techniques. They have been featured at the Biennale de la Danse-Martinique and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China, as well as in the U.S., Taiwan, and Trinidad. The company fuses various techniques to champion the vision of a contemporary Haitian who critically acknowledges his traditions and mores while living in the present and building his future.

Support

Art in the Garden is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.