“In order to return focus to our Carnival and traditional artforms, it is important to vest the knowledge of these traditions in our young people and lay the foundation for preservation of the cultural artforms that are intrinsically T&T.” Vacation camp Zante! founder, Dara Healy made the statement as she explained why the camp focuses … Continue reading
Tagged with Mas …
Looking beneath the surface of traditional Mas (March 22, 2019)
The mas presentation Belmont Baby Dolls, conceived by choreographer and designer Makeda Thomas, was an attempt to reinterpret the Baby Doll mas in a way that subverts the usual presentation. The small band performed on the road on Carnival Monday and Tuesday 2019. Thomas said her main inspiration for creating the band was seeing how … Continue reading
George Bailey’s legacy lives on (February 6, 2019)
An atmosphere of energy and purpose surrounds the Bailey mas camp, as descendants and peers of legendary mas man George Bailey prepare to launch the band Bailey Dynasty Mas. The presentation, Tribal Fantasy, is being built by Bailey’s brother Albert, niece Leeann and grand-nieces Allendra and Amanda, along with Dexter MacLean and Geoffrey Serrette. The … Continue reading
The sky’s the limit for Lil Bitts (January 31, 2019)
“I’m a creative body and I feel like artists should not limit themselves.” This is the reasoning behind Shivonne “Lil Bitts” Churche-Isaacs’ expansion of her creativity into other spheres, with soca releases, a section in Ronnie and Caro’s mas band and performances with the National Theatre Arts Company of T&T. Churche-Isaacs has released two soca … Continue reading
Santimanitay – playing mas in a whole new way (April 23, 2017)
The launch of the Trinidadian board game, Santimanitay: Race to the Stage, featured live-action representations of the characters featured in the game, as well as traditional mas characters such as Jab Molassies, Pierrot Grenade and Midnight Robber. The launch event at Daaga Auditorium, UWI St. Augustine on April 5 drew a large crowd of appreciative … Continue reading
Stick-ey Desires musical continues at UWI (April 2, 2017)
T&T’s first original soca musical, Stick-ey Desires, will be performed this April by students of the Department of Creative and Festival Arts (DCFA), UWI St. Augustine. Head of Department and Director Louis McWilliams said the play centers around Peter, a mas-man who plays in a steel band, his decision to move to New York and … Continue reading
Independent Mas speaks (March 19, 2017)
Independent mas practitioners gathered at Granderson Lab in Belmont on March 7 to talk about their experiences during Carnival. They discussed ways of rethinking Carnival and its past, present and future configurations. Speakers on the panel included host Atillah Springer, designer and leader of the Vulgar Fraction Independent Carnival Mas[querade] group Robert Young, Wendell Manwarren … Continue reading
Edinburgh trip benefits T&T artists (October 2, 2016)
Three T&T arts practitioners – Patrice Briggs of Arts-in-Action, Damien Whiskey, who portrays the Midnight Robber, and Mtima Solwazi of the Oral Tradition ROOTS Foundation, represented T&T at the 2016 Edinburgh Arts Festival. The opportunity was part of a program by the Division of Culture in association with international organizations ACPCultures+, World Cultures Connect and … Continue reading
Rapso, theatre and mas: Wendell Manwarren speaks on his life in the arts (June 12, 2016)
(I’ve added some pieces here that I had to leave out of the newspaper version. Enjoy!) Rapsoman Wendell Manwarren has had a long and varied career in the arts, beginning with the opera and continuing through theatre, mas-making and rapso. Manwarren spoke about his journey to a standing-room only crowd at the Monday Night Theatre … Continue reading
Meditations on a Minshall mas (February 7, 2016)
“T&T mas has played the glory that was Greece, Imperial Rome, Africa, New Guinea, China, the Forbidden City and gone into realms of fantasy. There are no boundaries to the realms of the imagination.” Veteran masman Peter Minshall had those words for those who questioned the relevance of his 2016 Carnival King piece, “The Dying … Continue reading
