Martial Roumain

A native of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, Martial Roumain is a dancer, choreographer, educator and actor residing in New York City.

Martial was born in August 1951 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He immigrated with his mom and a brother to Brooklyn, New York in 1965. After the death of his mother in 1968, he was taken in by a Jewish family. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1969. He completed his BFA degree on Dance at The Julliard School of Music in 1975.

At the age of 15, he made his debut with the Chuck Davis Dance Company (1966-1970). At 17 he was licensed to teach dance by the New York City Board of Education. Since that time he has taught throughout the United States. He began in 1970 at the Eleo Pomare Dance Company. He was the ‘Torch Bearer’ of Pomare’s works but is now bearer of the legacy. He was Master Teacher at Quebec Ete Dance (1983-1984). He continued his teaching career with Geoffrey Holder (1982-1992), Academie de Danse Guadeloupeen (1980–1996) with Lydia de Hauteurs, Lehman College (1975-2004), and Florida A & M University FAMU(2000-2008).

Martial also taught outside the USA from 1970 to present in different part of the world: Amsterdam, Holland; Australia; Barbados; Canada; French Guiana; Guadeloupe; Haiti; Italy; Japan; Martinique; Mexico; Paris, France; Puerto Rico; St. Croix; St. Thomas; Trinidad; and Taiwan.

Mr. Roumain studied and trained in the following fields under the following artists:

BALLET

• Delores Brown, Alfredo Corvino, Edwina Fountain, Elizabeth Hodes
• Tanaquil Le Clercq, Genia Melakova, Joan Miller, Maria Nevelska
• Janet Penetta, Harold Pierson, Karl Shook, Lavinia Williams, Hector Zaraspe .

MODERN

• Chuck Davis, Mary Hickson, Kazuko Hirabayashi, Hannya Holms,
• Daniel Lewis, Jose Limon, Barbara Lloyd, Milton Meyhers,
• Eleo Pomare, Diana Ramos, Bertrom Ross, Joyce Trisler,
• James Truitte, Ethel Winters, Helen McGeehee.

JAZZ

• Alvin Ailey, Tally Beatty, Fred Benjzman, Pepsi Bethel, Chuck Davis
• Chuck Davis, Jerry Grimes, Thelma Hill.

AFRICAN

• Chief Bey, Chuck Davis, Syvilla Fort, Charles Moore, Oluntungy, Pearl Reynolds.

HAITIAN Folklore:

• Lavinia Williams.

EAST INDIAN

• Islne Pinder

DRAMA

• B. Baily, Catherine Gaffigan (Stanislavsky-Plus).

LITERATURE & MATERIALS OF MUSIC:

• George Quincy, Elizabeth Sawyer, Craig Shuler, Stanley Sussman.

LABANOTATION:

• Billie Mahoney

DANCE COMPOSITION:

• Martha Hill, Kazuko Hirabayashi, Daniel Lewis, Jose Limon, Eleo Pomare, Janet Soares.

Martial also performed as a soloist with the Eleo Pomare Dance Company (1970-2008), the Fred Benjamin Dance Company (1968-1969), the Jose Limon Dance Company (1971-1972), Contemporary Dance System (1972-1973), the Alvin Ailey Reportory Dance Theater (1973-1974), the Forces of Nature Dance Company (1975-1976), the Kazuko Hirabayashi Dance Theatre (1976-1984), and the Joan Miller’s Dance Players (1982-2004) for whom he is also ‘Torch Bearer’ of her legacy.

Martial served as artistic director of the Alpha-Omega Theatrical Dance Company and also served as assistant to Mr. Eleo Pomare at the Eleo Pomare Dance Company and Mr. Geoffrey Holder for Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballet Hispanico and the Ballet Folklorico De Mexico productions.

His Broadway credits include: Treemonisha as lead dancer, West Side Story as Chino and Pepe, Bubbling Brown Sugar as young Checkers, Raisin, The Wiz where he was presented the Broadway gipsy robe, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Your Arms are too Short To Box With God as Judas, Timbuktu in the role of Munshi and lead dancer as the bird of Paradise.

Mr. Roumain performed in such operas as The Medium in the role Toby, Ariadne Auf Naxos and Porgy and Bess at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Mr. Roumain’s choreography has been seen on such companies as: Chuck Davis Dance Company, the Mafata Dance Company, The Jubilation Dance Company, The Joan Miller’s Dance Players, The Alpha-Omega Theatrical Dance Company, Ballet Guadeloupeen, The Trininadian Dance Theatre, Orchesis Dance Company and Tsai Jui-Yueh International Dance Festival.

His off Broadway productions are: Carmencita, Marine Tiger, El Jardin, Mescalito, The Passion and Women, a benefit performance at The United Nations for the women of Dafur, Sudan.

Mr. Roumain’s choreography has won first and second prize in Europeans competitions. His awards include: Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges (Juilliard 1974-75), Valores Destacados (1980), Outstanding Young Men of America (1987), and Jewels of Haiti (2004) in celebration of Haiti’s bicentennial.

Mr. Roumain also appeared on the big screen: Warriors, Legal Eagles, Miami Blues and The Interpreter. His television credits include: Tell it like it is, Ailey Salute Ellington, Conversation on Black Dance, The Jerry Lewis Telethon, The Equalizers and Law and Order TV series, Fr3 specials in Paris and Guadeloupe.

As part of the Beckles Dancing Company Martial Roumain's name is mentioned in the Lineage of the Company along with Eleo Pomare whose legacy he now carries.

Alan M. Kriegsman of the Washington Post wrote on December 16, 1987 about the performance of MAFATA's Promise: "Martial Roumain's "Letter to Helen" was a neatly devised mini-drama about the pain of lost love."


Martial Roumain through his professional life worked with the following choreographers:

Alvin Ailey	Tally Beatty	Fred Benjamin	Chuck Davis	Katherine Dunham
George Faison	Martha Graham	Kazuko Hirabayashi	Geoffrey Holder	Hanya Holms
Lucas Hoving	Louis Johnson	Sheila Kaminsty	Daniel Lewis	Jose Limon
Donald McKayle	Joan Miller	Harold Pierson	Eleo Pomare	Jerome Robbins
Abdel Salaam	Anna Sokolow	Joyce Trisler	Joyce Trisler	Others

References

This article "Martial Roumain" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Martial Roumain. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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