Twenty dancers gathered in a leafy garden in Port-au-Prince on Saturday for an event called “Dance is life,” to demonstrate that their culture and music are resilient despite Haiti's security crisis.

From all ages and backgrounds, the dancers performed under the guidance of Pascale Durosier, a dance teacher and the choreographer of the performance.

Durosier is an engineer and a qualified dancer who owned a dance studio in downtown Port-au-Prince, but the constant attacks by violent gangs in the neighborhood forced her to shut down three years ago.

After admitting her heart wasn't in it anymore, she said the idea of gathering a community of dancers made her feel that dance could bring hope to people.

“I always say that dance is my language, how I can express what’s deep inside, what I can’t speak out loud. It’s my way to express myself and forget about everything else. It’s my way of coping with the situation,” Durosier said.

According to the U.N., an estimated 90% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is now under the control of criminal groups, which are expanding attacks not only into surrounding areas but also beyond into previously peaceful regions.

For the dancers gathered in Petion Ville, an upscale part of the capital that has, so far, been relatively safe from gang activity, their dedication is a form of identity and resistance that started with the Bois-Caiman Vodou ceremony in the 18th century.

This event is seen as the beginning of a revolution that led to the only successful slave revolt in history, resulting in the founding of a free nation.

“In Bois-Caïman, you have the Petro dancers (dance associated with Haiti's Vodou spirits), you have the drums, you have all the spirits with us. It was through dance. So, dance for me is a revolution. Dance for Haitians has to mean power. Dance has to be identity – to know who you are,” said Durosier.

Vodou was at the root of the revolution that led Haiti to become the world’s first free Black republic in 1804, a religion born in West Africa and brought across the Atlantic by enslaved people.

The syncretic religion that melds Catholicism with animist beliefs has no official leader or creeds. It has a single God known as “Bondye,” Creole for “Good God,” and more than 1,000 spirits known as the lwa — some that aren’t always benevolent.

AP Video by Pierre Luxama.