User:Micheljacques

Michel Francois Jacques As a very young man, Francois began his career by learning basic dance movements at an early age in his hometown of Les Cayes-Haiti. To him, it was a very natural part of his lifestyle and he considered it an entertaining and challenging hobby. In 1980, he began his exploration of ballroom dancing at the Policar International Dance Institute in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In a short time, Francois also developed his skills and talents in music video productions at Tele-Haiti, where he gained invaluable expertise in that field. To him, the role of dance was unique in maintaining a national and cultural identity. In 1984, Francois ventured to the United States to pursue and further develop his career in dance. He was invited to join the Arthur Murray Board of Ballroom Dance educators in its rigorous teaching training program. With the demands and challenges of the program, and as an associate social dance instructor, Francois achieved a greater understanding of the significance and impact dance would have on his life. He arduously studied and graduated with a Music and Video Business degree (MVB) from the prestigious Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and developed a teaching system that conveyed to his students an understanding that musical rhythms are cultural representations, applied to body language emerging as communication of and for different ethnic communities. His love for the art of dancing, and the valuable knowledge he acquired, led Francois, in 1989, to conduct specific research studies in the International Ballroom and Latin style dances with eminent coaches,like Francois Szony as well as a number of other well-known professional in Europe, while he pored over volumes of written works on the origins of music and dance at Nova University's research library. As a graduate in business ownership and management, his career brought him in contact with the owner of one of the largest ballroom/nightclubs in South Florida, Kay's Starlite Ballroom, Inc. in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Through his efforts at this establishment, Francois was instrumental in bringing the Haitian community together in celebration and demonstration of their ethnic and cultural unity. At this time, he began development of a multicultural club organization that would embrace and bring together people of all ethnic backgrounds and offer the opportunity to exchange cultural diversity through the art of ballroom dancing.

Six years later, he successfully founded The New Millennium Ballroom and registered it as a member of the International Dance Council with its primary objective as the inclusion of dance as a fundamental part of education in the school system, beginning at the elementary level. It is Francois's firm belief that dance is the architecture of human movements. The analogy can be drawn to an architect who uses diverse materials to construct his creation in a particular place. Likewise, a choreographer uses intangible forms to create an impression in place and time. Their work is parallel and similar in the artistic sense. Professor Raftis Alkis, President of the International Dance Council in Greece, said: "An architect has two dimensions: he is an engineer because he thinks rationally in contrast to the sculptor (who also creates his work in a particular place.) In as much, his work must have usable value.

His creations are based on an understanding of the behavior of his materials. He is a technician and also an artist because he seeks to achieve an aesthetical, pleasing result."   The choreographer, as an architect of movement, is, first of all, a technician. He knows the possibilities of the body (anatomy, physiology and pathology.) His knowledge is based on experience, since he has sweated on the dance floor, as a good architect has paced, for many years, on the scaffolding of his building sites. And, of course, he must delight the spectators and make them think. The making of both, choreographer and architect require specific criteria: (a) extensive practical training "taking the clay in their hands" or "dancing and teaching dance" and (b) extensive study, research, reading and reflection to gain the necessary theoretical equipment.   How, then, can we explain the perplexing paradox? Whereas there are university schools for architects in every country in the world, there are no equivalents for choreographers and dance teachers! One can count on one's fingers, the countries where young people have the opportunity to simultaneously continue their dance studies, practical and theoretical, beyond the age of eighteen. Further, even in the few available educational institutions that exist, they are under-funded and have scarce and limited resources.

Francois's primary personal objective is to be resolute and unwavering in pursuing the answer to the paradox. He is steadfast in his continued advancement of his knowledge in business management and media law and he is eager to create advanced instructional dance and management programs for artists, dancers, and musicians in Haiti, South Florida and abroad. In Francois's own words, everyone has the ability to hear music and enjoy him/herself without the need to visit a studio for a dance lesson, in the same way that everyone learns to speak and understand a native language prior to attending any school. It is a natural progression of tradition and cultural mores. Dance, the first way to communicate, is the unique creation for people of all cultural backgrounds to express themselves through music. The multi-cultural study of dance presents a distinctive opportunity to enhance and enrich our understanding and communication with others.

It is an exciting opportunity for our young people to combine their natural ability and talents with their knowledge of the fundamental subjects taught in school. Learning this art form and exploring it to its highest possible level will offer our lives an added dimension with benefits beyond the physical and mental well being. Learning to dance well is the equivalent to speaking a language fluently. The skill of communicating in a language fluently may lead society to peace. Over the past twenty years, Francois has been instrumental to the success of many ballrooms, clubs and dance studios in South Florida by providing his specialized programs, management, choreography, music video production and much more. In 1998, Francois introduced mambo/salsa and the Caribbean rhythms to the International Dance Teachers Congress in Hamburg, Germany. Recently, he presented the Merengue/Compas Dance to the 19th world congress on Dance research in Lanarca, Cyprus as the new social Dance art form of Haiti. And founded the National Dance Council of Haiti, the official Umbrella organization for all forms of Dance in Haiti...Author of the Merengue/COMPAS Social thge visual dance art form of Haiti in honor of the creator of Compas Music, Nemour Jean-Baptiste.