Our People

Founder & President

Nicole Chantal
de Weever

Cultural Ambassador, St. Maarten

NYU Tisch School of the Arts Fred & Adele Astaire Award Cultural Ambassador, St. Maarten UN Youth Panel Speaker Oxford Dictionary of Caribbean Biography

Nicole Chantal de Weever is the Founder and President of the Art Saves Lives Foundation and a Cultural Ambassador of St. Maarten. She is a graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and holds a graduate credential in Arts Innovation from the Global Leaders Institute.

An internationally accomplished dancer and performer, Ms. de Weever is a recipient of the Fred and Adele Astaire Award for Best Female Dancer on Broadway and the ACCA Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus for the musical FELA!. Her extensive performance career includes appearances on The View, The Colbert Report, the 64th Annual Tony Awards, the BET Honors Awards, Broadway on Broadway, the Afro Pop Hall of Fame Awards, AUDELCO Awards, Dance Africa, and the West Side Story World Tour.

Throughout her career, Ms. de Weever has worked with some of the most renowned choreographers in the industry, including Katherine Dunham, Bill T. Jones, Joey McKneely, George Faison, Rob Ashford, Frank Gatson, Luam Keflezgy, Fatima Robinson, Tanisha Scott, Maria Torres, and Abdel Salaam. She collaborated with the American Library of Congress on a documentary exploring the life and technique of Katherine Dunham.

She served as assistant to VMA Award-winning choreographer Jeffrey Page on multiple Beyonce projects, including "Run the World (Girls)," "Grown Woman," the Billboard Awards, and Oprah Winfrey's tribute performance. Her screen credits include American Gangster (directed by Ridley Scott) and a featured role in Cirque du Soleil's televised Macy's Thanksgiving Day Special. She has also been featured in screen projections for Alicia Keys' Set the World on Fire Tour and Beyonce's Mrs. Carter World Tour.

Beyond performance, Ms. de Weever has spoken on a United Nations panel focused on youth, exploring how technology and the arts can address global challenges. Her biography is included in the Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography, an Oxford University Press publication used in courses at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Yale, in curriculum taught by Henry Louis Gates Jr.

"The arts have the power to transform: not just individuals, but entire communities."

39+

Teaching Artists

Art Disciplines

10+

Years of Programming

10+

Countries Represented

Faculty Spotlight

Artists Who Shape the World
and Then Come Here

These are artists who have performed at Carnegie Hall, on Broadway, and on international stages. Each one chose to invest their talent in St. Maarten's youth, because they believe in what this program stands for.

Alicia Graf Mack

Contemporary Ballet

First Black Dean & Director of the Dance Division at The Juilliard School (2018-2025). Artistic Director, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (2025-present).

A principal dancer with Alvin Ailey and Dance Theatre of Harlem, Columbia University B.A. in History, and 2023 Dance Magazine Award recipient. Alicia brought Juilliard-level contemporary ballet technique to St. Maarten youth across three programs.

George Faison

Choreographer / Living Legend

First African American to win a Tony Award for Best Choreography: The Wiz (1975). Emmy Award winner. Founder, Faison Firehouse Theater in Harlem.

A former Alvin Ailey principal dancer turned Broadway choreographer, George participated in a film screening and leadership discussion with ASL students, connecting the program's work to the full arc of American dance history.

Maud Arnold

Tap Dance

Co-founder of the Syncopated Ladies, with 100M+ viral views. Performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show with Pharrell Williams, collaborated with Beyonce. Columbia University B.A. in Film Studies.

Dance Spirit "Tap's Leading Lady," HBO's Boardwalk Empire actress, and co-director of the DC Tap Festival. Maud is one of ASL's most defining artists, returning five years to pour world-class tap education into St. Maarten youth.

Abiodun Oyewole

Poetry / Spoken Word

Founding member of The Last Poets, the groundbreaking group widely credited as a forerunner of modern hip-hop. Ph.D., Columbia University. Faculty, Columbia University.

Co-founded The Last Poets on May 19, 1968, the anniversary of Malcolm X's birthday. Author of Branches of the Tree of Life (2014). His presence at ASL links St. Maarten youth directly to the African-American oral tradition that seeded hip-hop culture.

Marlon Daniel

Music Director & Conductor

First African American to conduct the Cuban National Symphony in its 65-year history (2016). UN "Voice of the Artist" Award. Protege of legendary pedagogue Jorma Panula.

Founder of the Festival International de Musique Saint-Georges in Guadeloupe and the All Caribbean Youth Orchestra. Marlon brings a rare fusion of Caribbean cultural mission and world-class classical conducting to ASL's music program.

Chloe Arnold

Film, Directing & Business of Show Business

Founder and Artistic Director of the Syncopated Ladies, with 100M+ views. Howard University graduate. Co-founder, Chloe and Maud Foundation.

One of America's foremost tap dancers and a Film Studies graduate, Chloe teaches young artists the intersection of creativity and commerce. Her smartphone directing workshops equip students with skills to build an audience and a career simultaneously.

Our Teaching Artists, 2020-2025