Thank you for visiting our piece of cyberspace!
Tonel Lakay is a Creole phrase for arbor of the house. A tonel is most often found in the countryside. It is considered as a gathering place where the young and the old can honor their ancestors through songs and dances. Thus, we name our dance theatre, Tonel Lakay because we are committed to the preservation of traditional dance and music.
The Tonel Lakay Dance Theatre which is a dance company for children consists of a group of working professionals working together to achieve the following purposes:
reach out to the youngsters and encourage them to develop their hidden artistic talents.
help our Haitian American youngsters maintain their cultural identity through artistic means such as dance, poetry, music, and drama.
relay realistic messages occurring within our society through the performing arts.
Through our art, we have been able to interact with other well-known Haitian artists such as Myriam Dorisme (singer), and Master Drummer Frisner Augustin, who is presently the coordinator of the Drum Ensemble in Tonel Lakay.
A year after it was formed, our dance theatre took off and made its debut performance at St. Augustine church. Through perseverance, encouragement and support from the parish community of St. Augustine, Tonel Lakay continued to perform for various churches and community organizations at the cathedral of St. John the Divine, The Miller Theatre at Columbia University, The Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Brooklyn Museum, Hunter and Brooklyn College, the Restoration Plaza, Festival Center in Washington D.C., the Brooklyn Children Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, Cornell University, and Pace University.
Tonel Lakay, founded in 1988 under the leadership of Marie Edith Jean, is a non-profit organization registered in the state of New York. Our organization operates through the help of generous people like you.
We hope
you will help us keep our
culture alive!
Join Us ! Marie Edith Jean Timeline What do we do? Executive Board Meet the 1st Generation
Performers Master Drummer Frisner Augustin In the News... Events