Emilie Jabouin

Emilie Jabouin is a PhD candidate  in the joint Toronto Metropolitan/York University Communication & Culture program. Her doctoral dissertation explores Black women's intellectual histories, organizing and expressive cultures in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century English-Canada. Her research has grown under the supervision of Dr. Cheryl Thompson, whom she assisted in her SSHRC-funded project, “Newspapers, Theatres, and the Spaces of Black Performance in Toronto, 1880s to 1930s”, with whom she has co-published on media reporting on the black arts. Emilie’s peer-reviewed article “Black  Women Dancers, Jazz Culture and ‘Show Biz’: Re-centering Afro-culture and Re-claiming Dancing Black Bodies in Montreal, 1920s-1950s,” received an honourable mention by Canadian Historical Association Jean-Fecteau prize for 2022. As a multidisciplinary academic and dance artist, Emilie merges research and performance to share stories with the public that are under-explored and silenced. Digging through the archives, her work explores early twentieth-century health and black Canadian dance history. In 2020, Emilie began to use her research in choreography and dove deeper into learning, sharing and preserving Haitian folklore – drumming, song, and dance under the guidance of master drummer and choreographer Peniel Guerrier. In manifesting her vision, Emilie founded Emirj Projects, a multi-faceted research, performance, and production company inspired by the dance process of curiosity, intuition and exploration, (www.emirj.ca).