Residency
Ekspresyon – PROJECT // Entwospeksyon (Introspection)
Jun. 30 ⇾ Aug. 09 2025 (Monday – Saturday)
Regular Residencies
Biography
Aïka Mathelier is a dance artist, choreographer, performer, and teacher. A member of the dance troupe ekspresyon since 2011, she took on the roles of choreographer and teacher in 2014, then became artistic director of the collective in 2019.
Aïka trained at the Haitian-American Academy of Ballet and the Arts (HAMABA) and the Haitian-American Contemporary Dance Theater (HACDT). She also completed an intensive program at Ballet Divertimento. In 2009, Aïka won a gold medal at the Festival DansEncore and received the Prix de la relève en danse (Emerging Dance Artist Award) from the Centre des Arts de la Maison d’Haïti in 2024.
Her artistic practice is deeply rooted in Haitian culture, blending tradition and innovation. She draws from her background in traditional Haitian dance, ballet, and modern styles while incorporating urban, jazz, and contemporary elements. Through her work and projects, Aïka embraces a collaborative approach with diverse artists, bringing a unique and culturally rich perspective to each performance and choreography.
Aïka trained at the Haitian-American Academy of Ballet and the Arts (HAMABA) and the Haitian-American Contemporary Dance Theater (HACDT). She also completed an intensive program at Ballet Divertimento. In 2009, Aïka won a gold medal at the Festival DansEncore and received the Prix de la relève en danse (Emerging Dance Artist Award) from the Centre des Arts de la Maison d’Haïti in 2024.
Her artistic practice is deeply rooted in Haitian culture, blending tradition and innovation. She draws from her background in traditional Haitian dance, ballet, and modern styles while incorporating urban, jazz, and contemporary elements. Through her work and projects, Aïka embraces a collaborative approach with diverse artists, bringing a unique and culturally rich perspective to each performance and choreography.
Project Details
Entwospeksyon is an immersive, multidisciplinary choreographic work inspired by the novel L’espace d’un cillement by Haitian author Jacques Stephen Alexis. It explores the sensory and political dimensions of migration while highlighting the resistance and struggles of the Ayisyen (Haitian) people and their diaspora. Dance and video projections interact to offer an intergenerational and intersectional perspective on the reality of immigrants, their sensory memories, the role of their cultural heritage in their lived experiences, and their fight for survival.
It all begins with a march. This walk symbolizes much more than movement—it embodies exile, hope, struggle, and resistance. Step by step, the journeys of three generations of immigrant women intertwine.
Entwospeksyon is the choreographic story of these steps, a tribute to migratory paths, caught between pain and reinvention.
It all begins with a march. This walk symbolizes much more than movement—it embodies exile, hope, struggle, and resistance. Step by step, the journeys of three generations of immigrant women intertwine.
Entwospeksyon is the choreographic story of these steps, a tribute to migratory paths, caught between pain and reinvention.
Visual Documentation
Anna Semenova
See also
Tuesday, 18 ⇾ Wednesday, Nov. 26 2025