Emerante Morse, also known as Emerante de Pradines Morse (born Emerante de Pradines; 24 September 1918 – 4 January 2018) was a Haitian singer, dancer and folklorist, and the daughter of Haitian entertainer

Auguste de Pradines Auguste Linstant de Pradines, also known as August de Pradines, Ti Candio or Kandjo (10 September 1879 – October 1947) was an influential Haitian musician who largely created the archetype of the Haitian troubadour. Over nearly five decades, d ...

(better known as Ti Candio or Kandjo).Richard Morse (2016). 'Pradines, Auguste Linstant de (“Kandjo” or “Candio”)' in ; This biographical article states that Emerante's father Candio was born in Paris, France, on 10 September 1879.

Early life

Emerante's mother, Amarante Jean Pierre, implored

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Our Lady of Mount Carmel, or Virgin of Carmel, is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order, particularly within the Catholic Church. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Ca ...

, patroness of the

Carmelite , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

order, to give her a child, a baby girl, "promising that in return she would devote this child to the virgin saint." Emerante was born when her mother was "on vacation at Rivière Froid".

Musical and dance career

De Pradines went to Washington, D.C. in 1941 as a featured singer and dancer in a troupe led by

Lina Mathon-Blanchet Lina Mathon-Blanchet (3 January 1903 – 11 March 1994) was a Haitian pianist, music teacher and composer. First director of the Conservatoire National, she was interested in Haiti's folkloric traditions and was one of the first performers to inc ...

. After her return to Haiti, de Pradines performed in a regular concert series at the Rex Theater in Port-au-Prince. She often sang renditions of traditional vodou songs, "then a novelty in Haitian social life". De Pradines sang Vodou songs in Creole on the radio when it was dangerous to do so, and was the first Haitian singer to sign a recording contract with a record company. She married Richard M. Morse, a Latin-American scholar and writer from the United States who she met while studying in New York with

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She wa ...

. Her albums were released internationally, including by Smithsonian Folkways in the United States. At a young age, de Pradines was a student of Martha Graham. Between 1978 and 1981 Emerante de Pradines Morse taught dance classes in the Athletic Department of

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. There, her students learned modern Graham technique as well as Haitian dance. Affectionately known by her Stanford students as Emy Morse, she choreographed several dance productions such as “Carnival!” for which she designed the costumes. Emerante De Pradines Morse made the costumes herself with the assistance of one of her students, Harvetta Silvarya Strozier, whom she taught how to make her designs out of fabric, raffia, ribbon, and other materials - without using purchased patterns. At

, Emy Morse was the epitome of beauty and physical fitness. In her late fifties and early sixties, she showed her students how to do all of her warm-up dance steps and stretches as well as every choreographed step and routine whether simple or complex. She stressed the importance of elegant movement and demonstrated in minute detail how such was to be done. Whether conducting a dance class, choreographing an extracurricular dance production, or observed elsewhere around the campus of

, Emerante De Pradines Morse always carried and expressed herself with the utmost grace and elegance.

Reception and later life

She and her husband had one daughter, Marise, and one son, Richard Auguste. Her son, also known as Richard A. Morse, also became a musician and prominent public figure in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, Haiti. De Pradines Morse was one of six women profiled in a documentary film by director

Arnold Antonin Arnold Antonin (born 1942 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a Haitian film director. A man of diverse careers, Arnold Antonin is known both inside and outside Haiti for his social, political and cultural commitment. He was honored for lifetime a ...

entitled ''Six Exceptional Haitian Women'' (''Six femmes d’exception''). She was also the focus of a 2017 article in the ''Journal of Haitian Studies''. One commentator wrote that "Given the time in Haitian social history when merante de Pradineschose to sang vodou songs, popular songs, she stands almost by herself in Haitian history."

Death

She died on 4 January 2018 at Saint-Esprit Hospital (Hôpital Saint-Esprit), rue Capois,

, aged 99. Her remains were cremated on 6 January after a private ceremony attended by relatives. On February 3, 2018, a thanksgiving mass was held in her honor at Holy Trinity Cathedral. At the mass, Emerante Morse's daughter in law Lunise Morse sang the traditional song "Carolina Caro", a favorite of the deceased. Emerante Morse was also remembered and celebrated for numerous philanthropic activities, including education of young people, founding the school ''La Ruche'' in Pelerin ( Pétion-Ville), and supporting other institutions such as Octane Deslouches Martissant and other schools and cultural centers outside the capital.

References

External links