Rhythms and Rhymes
A tribute to Aimé Césaire with Tiga & Tchaka and Michèle at Toukouleur
Friday, May 23rd, at 8pm
“Everybody always asks me “Who are you?” I don’t know anything about that. When I want to know myself, gain some insight, I re-read my poems. It is through the poem that I know myself. The poem for me is what allows me to descend within myself, to wander among my phantoms, among my fantasies, my dreams, my terrors. It is through the poem that I gain knowledge.”“A Césaire poem explodes and whirls about itself like a rocket, suns burst forth whirling and exploding like new suns—it perpetually surpasses itself.” Sartre
Rhythms and Rhymes that flow from the heart…
James “Tiga” Jean-Baptiste
Percussion and Woodwinds
Michèle Voltaire Marcelin
Spoken word & Poetry
Rhythms…
Choosing a tree for a drum, one must say a prayer for the tree’s spirit that will make its home in the drum after the tree is dead.
& Rhymes….
“Spoken word”, an age-old tradition, is literature’s oldest form. Some say that the secret at the heart of all sorcery is simply understanding that the entire universe is made of words, and if you know the words that the universe is made from, then you can do with it whatever you wish.
Tiga & the musicians from Tchaka, Michèle, and Francesca who organized the event.
“We are luminous, we human beings. We are alight in that we have been given a light through our creator, through a gift of nature. Everyone is born with this logos/light. The light is, as it were, sealed in the protection of our flesh – inscribed like a secret text of nature. Because of this gift, we have the capacity to make visible the light of divine meaning in our common life.”
(Elvee, 1988)
Breaking bread with friends in a convivial atmosphere with the added enjoyment of inspired poetry and music
(Elvee, 1988)
Breaking bread with friends in a convivial atmosphere with the added enjoyment of inspired poetry and music
At the end of the evening, we’ve all connected on a deeper level:
Carine, Michèle and Phedra
Mademoiselle Francesca who organizes the cultural evenings at Toukouleur, with Tiga and Michèle
Archives
Subscribe to Lidous via Email
jmc strategies
- Primer on the Anti-Immigrant Forces Determined to Hijack American Politics
- Immigration: Waiting for Godot Need Not Be Policy
- Baby Doc is Dead, Duvalierism Lives On
- Human Rights in Haiti in the Manigat Era
- Dealing With Statelessness in the Dominican Republic
- Haiti: It Started with a Bang…
- The Duvalier Case: What Is at Stake at the Court of Appeals
- Another day of reckoning for Jean Claude Duvalier?
- Will Duvalier’s Victims Have Their Day in Court?
- Will Duvalier Regain Access to Illicit Funds Pilfered from the Haitian Treasury?
Michèle Voltaire Marcelin is a poet/writer, performer and painter who was born and raised in Haiti, sojourned in Chile, and currently lives in the United States. The publication of her first novel “La Désenchantée” (CIDIHCA, Montréal-2006) was followed by its Spanish translation “La Desencantada” and two other books of poetry and prose: “Lost and Found” and “Amours et Bagatelles” (CIDIHCA, Montréal-2009) - translated into Spanish by Editorial ALBA as "Amores y cosas sin importancia" - all of which garnered rave reviews. Her writings are also featured in 3 anthologies published in France: "Cahier Haiti" (published by RAL'M-2009), "Terre de Femmes" (Editions Bruno Doucey-2011) "Revue Intranqu'îllités" (2012). She speaks and writes fluently French, English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. She has a BFA from the Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts at CUNY and a Masters from The New School for Social Research.
Leave a Comment