{"id":515,"date":"2013-05-27T13:56:31","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T13:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/?p=515"},"modified":"2015-04-27T13:56:53","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T13:56:53","slug":"documenting-ponum-dance-steps-for-history-book-by-new-york-city-firm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/2013\/05\/27\/documenting-ponum-dance-steps-for-history-book-by-new-york-city-firm\/","title":{"rendered":"Documenting Ponum Dance steps for history book by New York City firm"},"content":{"rendered":"

GREAT BAY\/MARIGOT<\/span><\/strong>, St. Martin (May 10, 2013)<\/strong>\u2014<\/span>The New York firm Milestone Architecture PLLC recently filmed rehearsals of the Ponum, St. Martin\u2019s only \u201cnational dance,\u201d said Jacqueline Sample, president of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).<\/p>\n

Milestone plans to use the video footage to develop the illustrations for the Ponum book based on the scientific \u201cdance notation\u201d method called\u00a0labanotation.\u00a0www.milestonearchitecturepllc.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Clara Reyes, a leading choreographer and author of the upcoming Ponum history book, coordinated the Ponum dance, song, and music rehearsals that were filmed, said Sample.<\/p>\n

The Ponum master\u2019s thesis of Reyes was accepted last year by HNP for publication in book form. The publisher has since been in preliminary discussions about the book\u2019s illustrations and design with Milestone president Margaret Matz, said Sample.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Margaret and her team\u2019s input, the idea has evolved toward designing a book that would be an authoritative history text and a dance choreography manual of St. Martin\u2019s only surviving folk dance. The Ponum is arguably at least between 165 and 200 years old,\u201d said Lasana M. Sekou, HNP\u2019s projects director.<\/p>\n

The filming of the Ponum Dance steps is the second of two recently concluded pre-activities of the St. Martin Book Fair, which is speeding along to its set date of May 30 \u2013 June 1.<\/p>\n

Sample said that Book Fair 2013 has made it possible to bring the Milestone team of Matz, Martha Luciano (administration), and Joe Flinder (videographer) to the island to work with Reyes, dancers Rudy Davis,\u00a0Dashaun Prince, and Clifford Henry; master drummer\u00a0Hellier Coquillas\u00a0and fellow musicians\u00a0Albert Pierre and Claudine Dessert; and\u00a0videographer Eric Boyer.<\/p>\n

The videography and photo-shoots of the Ponum, and a Reyes interview, took place between April 22-26, just as Carnival was heating up, said Sample. The cultural project venues included John Larmonie Center, Laser 101 FM radio, and outdoors at the property next to the historic Diamond Estate on the Union Road\/Bellevue Road.<\/p>\n

\u201cHNP would also like to thank Francis Carty and his Laser 101 personnel, Phyllis Meit and Darin \u201cVersatwizy\u201d Hodge; the Honorable L.C. Fleming;\u00a0Denis Glisa-Vandepul; and book fair coordinator Shujah Reiph, for contributing to this part of a cultural project that we think will make the people of our island very proud,\u201d said Sample.<\/p>\n

Conscious Lyrics Foundation and HNP are organizing the 11th<\/span> annual St. Martin Book Fair in collaboration with the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau and the University of St. Martin.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Clara Reyes (2nd R), author of upcoming Ponum history book, following videography of a Ponum rehearsal at night near the Bellevue Frontier Monument, L-R: dancers Dashaun Prince, Clifford Henry;\u00a0Hellier Coquillas\u00a0(master drummer), Claudine Dessert (shak-shak),\u00a0Albert Pierre (Boula drum); and dancer Rudolph Davis.(HNP photo)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Milestone team to the Friendly Island, Margaret Matz (L), Martha Luciano, and Joe Flinder (standing).\u00a0(HNP photo)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GREAT BAY\/MARIGOT, St. Martin (May 10, 2013)\u2014The New York firm Milestone Architecture PLLC recently filmed rehearsals of the Ponum, St. Martin\u2019s only \u201cnational dance,\u201d said Jacqueline Sample, president of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP). Milestone plans to use the video footage to develop the illustrations for the Ponum book based on the scientific \u201cdance notation\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-fair-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":516,"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515\/revisions\/516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/houseofnehesipublish.com\/sxm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}