Vimeo link: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/237656916
Spontaneity seemed to be the underlying theme in The Old Yard
2015. The Department of Creative and Festival Art’s annual showcase of
traditional Carnival masquerade and heritage did not disappoint and even
caught many of its patrons by surprise this year. New features of a
roving musical group performing old calypso melodies with Granny swaying
and dancing by Granny’s house was to the delightful surprise of TOY’s
younger patrons. And while many looked forward to the annual renditions
of the tamboo bamboo in “the middle of the yard,” their continued
performance by the backstage entrance thrilled patrons as they exited
the venue as TOY 2015 came to an exuberant close. While performances filled the gayelle in quick succession,
sustaining the patrons’ interest, the craft stalls and food booths
offered and array local products and cuisine.
The student-centered band, Jouvay Ayiti, took its 2015 theme
from the Caricom-led demand for Reparations for Caribbean people. The
band title 'ARANDARA PONAHARA: LAND OF THE FIRST PEOPLES' echoes this
call in two First Nation languages – the Wai Wai of Guyana and Garifuana
of St. Vincent and Central America – for justice, compensation and the
return of their ancestral lands.
Students
of the courses 'Critical Readings in Caribbean Arts and Culture' and
'Costume Fabrication' undertook assignments based on this theme of
reparations. They researched and presented on 7 pre-Columbian
civilizations in the region: Ciboney, Taino, Maya, Warao, Wai Wai,
Kalinago, Lokono and the post-Columbian Garifuna.
Workshops were conducted in mas-making and palm-weaving
techniques to help students realize their ideas for this mas. Each
costume presented therefore was built by its performer with some
guidance from tutors and support from the group. These workshops were
coordinated by Mr. Lari Richardson and tutored by master-crafts-persons –
Kendall de Peaza (wire-bending) Cristo Adonis (weaving), Turunesh
Raymond (found materials) and Martin Soverall (cardboard sculpting).
Using the 'areito', the communal dance of Taino peoples,
lecturer and Dance Unit Coordinator and Dr. Jorge Morejon choreographed
the performance in which students depicted various aspects of the
beliefs, customs, myths and history of their Caribbean ancestors.
Assisted by calypsonian and Warao descendant Mighty Composer (Fred
Mitchell), they wove a traditional Warao chant into their masquerade
performance.
Students presented their work in The Old Yard and at Jouvay
celebrations in Port of Spain, accompanied by Curepe Scherzando
Steelband with other members of the public joining the band.
Subsequent episodes of the Arandara Ponahara narrative will be
presented at the Emancipation First Peoples Heritage Festivals later
this year. When asked about the purpose of The Old Yard, Project Director
Dr. Jo-anne Tull said that the idea behind the project is to present
traditional masquerade forms both performance, costume, character to
audiences in an engaging family oriented event that would evoke feelings
of nostalgia, happiness, excitement, and a continued love for the
carnival traditions.
