Promenade Mas fuh so!

Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs Minister Joan Yuille-Williams was a bit late in giving her feature address to mark the beginning of the Prime Minister’s Best Village Trophy Competition and Traditions of Carnival Show on the Brian Lara Promenade yesterday — “Fantastic Friday.” By the time she arrived at midday, the show was already into its first hour and a half, but she said that her late arrival was because of the re-enactment of the Canboulay Riots that took place earlier that morning in Port-of-Spain (which she witnessed).

Williams also highlighted the fact that the show also marked the beginning of a new tradition, namely the merging of the parade and traditional mas (scheduled for the second half of the show), and cited that traditional mas did not get the credit it deserved, hence the day’s extravaganza. Village groups throughout Trinidad and Tobago competed in many categories, including Calypso Medley (Old Time 1931-1962), Calypso Medley (Modern 1963-1980), Chutney Soca, Midnight Robber, Speech Band and Sailor Dance. Jason Daly, host of Gayelle’s “Macajuel Time” emceed the show until midday, whereupon Simone Smith took over.

Starting the proceedings was Miss La Reine Rive 2004 Jameelah Phillips with her interpretive dance to David Rudder’s “High Mas,” after which they went straight into the Old Time Medley categories which took everyone down memory lane with tunes from Sparrow, Claypso Rose, Shadow and the late bards Blakie, and King Austin. In between performances, a woman constantly blew on a horn to show her appreciation for what was sung on stage. Needless to say, she was only one of a few characters that “distracted” patrons.

The action heated up in the Chutney competition, which had high participation with eight groups taking part. They used a varied selection of music, from calypso to reggae, and a few also included pantomime in their presentations which were especially appreciated by the foreign spectators who asked locals to explain what was happening. (Even an elderly gentleman dressed in a gold sequinned shirt decided to do his own version of chutney at the front of the stage, which drew giggles from a few spectators.) Even though frenetic wining skills seemed to be the norm, one noteworthy performance came from the Sarvodaya Dance Group, whose lead dancer played an old lady doing the traditional Hindu pre-wedding dance (complete with suggestive gestures), where she’s telling the bride what to expect on the wedding night.