Martial Roumain: A native of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, Mr. Roumain is a choreographer, dance educator and actor. At the age of 15, he made his debut with the Chuck Davis Dance Company. At 17 he was licensed to teach dance by the New York City Board of Education. Since that time he has performed as a soloist with the Eleo Pomare Dance Company, the Fred Benjamin Dance Company, the Alvin Ailey Repertory Dance Theater, the Josè Limòn Dance Company, the Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theatre, Contemporary Dance System, the Joan Miller's Dance Players and the Forces of Nature Dance Company. Martial also served as assistant to Mr. Eleo Pomare at the Eleo Pomare Dance Company and Mr. Geoffrey Holder for Dance Theatre of Harlem and Ballet Hispanico productions.
Mr. Roumain has taught throughout the United States, Canada, the West Indies, Europe, Australia, Africa, China and Japan. He is currently the Artistic Director of The Eleo Pomare Dance Company. Mr. Roumain is a graduate of the Juilliard School.
Pity Party
choreographed by Guest Choreographer Rosie Herrera
This piece was originally commissioned by The American Dance Festival in association with the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 2010.
Rosie Herrera: Recently described by The New York Times as "the Pina Bausch of South Beach" at her company's New York debut, Rosie Herrera has emerged as a choreographic force to be reckoned with on the contemporary performance scene. A dance graduate from New World School of the Arts, she is also a classically trained coloratura soprano having performed with the Performers Music Institute Opera Ensemble, and has worked extensively in theater, opera and dance for over a decade. As a Miami-based artist, her choreography has been commissioned by The Miami Light Project, in association with the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing in Miami where she has also worked with interdisciplinary performance projects ranging from circus to the burlesque. She has also collaborated on productions with The South Miami Dade Cultural Arts Center, New World School of the Arts, Zoetic Stage and with theater artist Rudi Goblen as well as filmmakers Adam Reign and Lucas Leyva. The American Dance Festival commissioned two major works from Herrera in 2010 and 2011, respectively where she premiered Pity Party and Dining Alone to sold out audiences. Rosie was a 2010 MANCC choreographic fellow at Florida State University and a 2011 Miami Dance Fellow. Rosie Herrera Dance Theater is fresh off their NYC premiere at the Joyce Theater as part of the Focus Dance Festival and is set to return in April to the Baryshnikov Arts Center for the NYC premiere of her newest work Dining Alone.
