movement turned into a movement BY CYNTHIA VASQUEZ
“Y
ou can leave me anywhere. I’ll find my way back,” That’s one of the first ways ballet dancer Sanford Placide, describes as the uniqueness of who he is. This Haitian born performer has showcased this innate ability while developing his career as a professional ballet dancer, and activist for Haitian arts and culture. He took some time to tell me about who he is, how he got here, and what he’s fighting for. He enters the small French café in Jersey City, where our interview takes place. He’s dressed in a white button-down shirt that slightly exposes his collarbone with a pair of fitted, ripped jeans and red-bottom moccasins. Others stare with brief interest or curiosity as he moves with swiftness and poise. His free-spirited, light-hearted nature is an open invitation for people to continue visuallypiecing him together. It was that same spirit of inquiry that drew me to him. “My dad was always like, ‘You have to be proud of where you come from.’ Because, at the end of the day, that’s the one place you can always talk about,” Sanford explains in between sips of his coffee. “My first experiences are down on that island. So, I don’t know anywhere else better than that island. I think that has helped me in my career because then people have a better idea of who I am.” Growing up, his parents required him and his siblings to be skilled in at least one art form. R
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ealizing he wasn’t the best pianist, he gravitated to dance, finding a love for ballet that opened a plethora of doors, opportunities, and relationships to a new life he learned to appreciate away from home. Our waiter returns, placing another coffee in front of him. A couple of seconds go by, and Sanford inhales as he collects his thoughts before giving a detailed account of his life before receiving
THE SQUEEZE
