The Kairos Festival is back for a 4the editing. More than a hip-hop dance festival, this event, launched by dancer and teacher Ford Mckeown Larose, aims not only to bring dance to the Saint-Michel district, but also to bring together different neighborhood organizations and create, especially for young people, a moment of communion.
“I didn’t think I would do several editions of the festival. Basically, it was to be my last big event, ”recalls Ford Mckeown Larose. Indeed, it was after several months spent in France that the idea of the festival came to him. “When I was there, I really liked the welcome, the respect and the community spirit that reigned among my friends. It made me wonder about “And me, where do I come from?”. When I got home, to my neighborhood, to Saint-Michel, I wanted to create something big and unifying,” he continues.
Thus, in 2019, Mr. Larose decided to build bridges between several neighborhood organizations to develop a hip-hop dance festival. The Pearl found and the House of Haiti embarked very quickly. Ford Mckeown Larose, with his company Forward Movements, had already produced several events at the Maison d’Haïti.
Indeed, since 2015, with the co-founder of the company, Anaïs Gachet, they have been setting up different types of activities related to hip-hop culture. “We did several creative projects, on video and on stage: Organic Geometry, Amalgam and God 3 », explains the co-founder. The dancer also set up Mad, Motion and Dynamics, a battle of hip-hop dances which took place at MAI (Montreal, intercultural arts) in 2019. The Creative Interactions project, born in 2019, took place at the Maison d’Haïti, still in 2019. An event that now has 14 editions. “These are small events, not expensive at all, sometimes battles dance, sometimes showcasesmost often in the neighbourhood,” adds Mr. Larose.
More recent projects include Ford Mckeown Larose’s Full Circle training, a streetdance teaching program that focuses on boogaloo and popping styles. The first edition took place in autumn 2021. “I have been traveling around the world for more than 10 years in order to deepen my knowledge and understanding of these styles. In addition, I love to share, so teaching came to me in a natural way, ”explains the one who grew up watching shows and music videos from the 1990s-2000s.
Thus, for its first edition, in 2019, the Kairos festival offered battles of dance, a conference on creativity in hip-hop, as well as dance workshops.
Community impact
After the first edition of the festival, which was to be the one and only, Ford Mckeown Larose finally decided to continue the experience. “It was super family-friendly, warm, seniors from the neighborhood came, several young people too; people came to thank me, told me that they had been caught up in the experience, that it was “hype”. It really brought something to people and it made me want to continue. It was the community impact that it had that stimulated me,” he explains.
For the 2e edition, which took place in the midst of a pandemic, the Kairos festival offered a series of five online conferences. In 2021, in the middle of summer, it was the return of the face-to-face festival, with battles, discussions and workshops. Other organizations in the neighborhood have embarked on the adventure, in particular the Lasallian socio-educational center of Saint-Michel and its director, Paul Evra, at the head of the organization for four years. “Ford wanted young people to have free access to dance and we have several spaces that can be used for that. It was only natural to form a partnership,” recalls the centre’s general manager.
For 18 years now, this socio-educational center has been helping families in the neighborhood by setting up various projects “to enable young people to find what interests them”. Thus, a “Space Teknö” was created to “bridge the digital divide in the neighborhood”, or even an “emergency trades” program. “After Black Lives Matter, we realized that there was often a lack of diversity among firefighters, police officers, paramedics… We looked for systemic barriers and with this extracurricular program, we supervise young people to help them in their procedures, in exams to pass…” explains Mr. Evra. Same approach with the “Apprenti.es chef.fe.s” project, which invites chefs to train young people interested in the profession of cook. “They learn a trade, but it also allows them to give back to the community. All the dishes they prepare are donated to homeless people and families in the neighborhood,” continues the general manager.
“Paul and I have the same vision. We want young people to be able to see and experience as many things as possible. Together, with its space and our ideas, we can offer rich artistic and cultural proposals and participate in the development of our community, our neighborhood,” explains Ford Mckeown Larose.
“Breaking down barriers”
In addition to the community aspect that is close to their hearts, Ford Mckeown Larose and Paul Evra also came together for their love of culture. For the general manager of the Lassalien center, who grew up in Saint-Michel, did slam for several years and rubbed shoulders with battles of dance. “Art can be a platform, especially for young people. Culture brings people together, art has no language, especially dance! Culture makes it possible to break down barriers and ensure that people understand each other, but also express themselves,” he says.
Same observation on the side of the co-founder of the festival, who has worked with young people for more than a decade. “Sometimes all it takes is a fleeting moment to change a life,” he says. It is for this reason in particular that the vast majority of the festival’s events are accessible free of charge to all young people in the district. “We want to change things. There are plenty of talented, inspiring young people who have dreams, but whom they put aside because of their family or social environment. Sometimes they don’t have a choice, so we try to allow them to keep the doors open, to go towards their dreams,” explains the popping dancer.
With the Kairos festival, Ford Mckeown Larose also hopes to “restore the image of the district”. “The media only show negative aspects, shootings, poverty… While Saint-Michel is much more than that! It’s beautiful and people are united, he concludes. It would be great if the biggest hip-hop festival took place not in the city center, but in Saint-Michel and everyone came! »