HAVIVRA, a new work by Alum Alexandra Déglise, opens Feb 5th!
Havivra: A Jazz Cabaret Musical Exploring Migration, Memory, and Resilience
Free Performances February 5–6, 2026 in the Ruth Caplin Theatre
University of Virginia Drama Building
Reserve your FREE tickets here!
Charlottesville, VA — Havivra is a cabaret-style musical performance that reimagines the story of Havivra Da Ifrile, a young Martinican woman cast adrift at sea in a canoe following the catastrophic 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée. The volcanic disaster destroyed the Caribbean capital city of Saint-Pierre and claimed the lives of more than 30,000 people.
Through music, storytelling, and historical imagination, Havivra traces a tale of survival, emigration, and self-determination. Drawing on interdisciplinary humanities research by doctoral student Eren Jaye, the piece illuminates the deep musical and historical ties between Antillean biguine—a vibrant Creole dance music born in early-20th-century Martinique—and its developmental successor, New Orleans jazz.
Generously supported by the UVA Arts Endowment, Havivra is currently in early stages of development, offering audiences a rare opportunity to engage with a new work in progress. The work centers the voice of a young woman navigating loss, exile, and possibility, offering a poetic meditation on resilience and cultural continuity across the Atlantic world.
Creative Team
Alexandra Déglise is a French Caribbean-American actor, playwright, stage director, singer, and media professional from Martinique. She holds an M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Virginia (Class of 2016) and a master’s degree in journalism from Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 (2007).
Déglise lived in the United States for 12 years, working as a financial television and radio journalist, including live reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Her theatrical training includes the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Terry Schreiber Studio (Reynolds Technique Body Dynamics certification, 2011), and intensive training in Japan with the renowned Butoh company Dairakudakan under Akaji Maro, a leader in the avant-garde dance-theatre tradition. She performed with the company’s Golden Show in Nagano in 2016.
After returning to Martinique in 2018, Déglise founded DALA CompaNY, a theater company dedicated to building artistic bridges between Martinique and the United States. Her multilingual play Raphael’s Islands—written in French, Creole, and English—has been presented in Avignon, Montreal, Prague, and at UVA, and was produced at the National Theater of Martinique in 2023 and at Médiathèque Les Pitons du Nord (Le Carbet) in 2024.
Maher Beauroy, accompanist, is a Martinican pianist whose musical journey began at age five. He trained at SERMAC, the cultural institution founded by Aimé Césaire, where he discovered jazz before continuing his studies in Paris and later at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Beauroy holds advanced degrees in jazz performance, musicology, and arts administration, and has received multiple accolades, including a Berklee Performance Division Piano Award. His debut album WASHA! (2019) was named a “Revelation” by Jazz Magazine. His subsequent projects—GLOBAL (2021) and INSULA (2022)—explore diasporic identity, anticolonial thought, and musical exchange between Martinique, Haiti, Guadeloupe, Algeria, and beyond.
About the Performance
Havivra transports audiences to the bustling streets of Saint-Pierre at the turn of the 20th century, immersing them in the soundscape of early biguine music, infused with polka, mazurka, and Creole waltz. These traditional rhythms ground the story historically while underscoring Havivra’s modern desire to break free from the social constraints of her time.
As Havivra’s story moves from the Caribbean to New York and New Orleans, the musical language evolves to include jazz, pop, and contemporary influences—mirroring both personal transformation and transatlantic exchange.
Rooted in French and Franco-Caribbean Creole, the piece will be presented in both French and English.
Content warning: This piece contains mature language and content, including reference to sexual assault.
Performance Details
All performances are free and open to the public. The performance is approximately 80 minutes long and is presented without an intermission.
- Thursday, February 5, 7:00 PM
Performed in French with English subtitles
Reception to follow - Friday, February 6, 7:00 PM
Performed in English