Through January 2022, the Kanaval project will have a series of exciting events as a companion to the documentary that was released in February, 2021.
Mark your calendars for the events below, and sign up for the Kanaval email for further details on these events and weekly content on the Kanaval blog.
Tuesday May 18, 2021 – Haitian Flag Day – A studio session and performance from Paul Beaubrun & friends recorded in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Video premiere at 7pm ET. Information about where to watch it here. Audio broadcast at 10pm on WXPN.
Wednesday June 23, 2021 – Free Screening of Nou La: The Haitian Diaspora in Philadelphia. Details coming soon.
Saturday September 18, 2021 – XPoNential Music Festival in Camden, NJ, featuring performances by Paul Beaubrun and Lakou Mizik
Friday December 10, 2021 and Saturday, December 11, 2020 – The Philadelphia premiere of Leyla McCalla’s Breaking The Thermometer To Hide The Fever. The performances will be free and held at Fringe Arts in Philadelphia.
Breaking the Thermometer to Hide the Fever is a multidisciplinary performance set to new music by Haitian-American singer-songwriter McCalla. The project explores the legacy of Radio Haiti-Inter, Haiti’s first privately owned Creole-speaking radio station, and the assassination of its owner, Jean Dominique, in 2000. The title is derived from a proverb used by Dominique to describe the spirit of Haiti’s marginalized poor in the face of violence and political oppression.
Directed by Kiyoko McCrae, Breaking the Thermometer combines storytelling, dance, video projection, and audio recordings from the Radio Haiti Archive housed at Duke University and is anchored by McCalla’s original compositions and arrangements of traditional Haitian songs. We see Haiti through Leyla’s eyes as she grapples with the harsh political realities of its people and the journalists, like Dominique, who fought to uplift their voices.
RSVP information and details coming soon.
COMING IN JANUARY, 2022 – The Kanaval Ball featuring Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Boukman Eksperyans, RAM, dancers, DJs, and special guests. Information coming soon.