Carnival wining came from African slaves

The second and perhaps more important point made by Ms O’Callaghan is that of “the emergence of wining.” My research into the history of the dance shows that the basics that gave rise to wining were brought here by our enslaved African brothers and sisters and developed as an art, as it were, on our plantations and early carnivals. Indeed, a peep into the social fabric of many West Africans would expose the wining ability and practice of many most West African women. Wining in West Africa, of course, occurred for different reasons and in many cases was carried out in a different manner from what developed in Trinidad’s Carnival.

With respect to wining, as early as 1774, Edward Long, the famous historian of the era, described the carnival woman thus: “In her paces she exhibits a wonderful address, particularly the motion of her hips and steady position of the upper part of her person.” Visitor and historian, JB Moreton, after watching our women, wrote in 1790 and I quote: “It is very amazing to think with what agility they twist and move their joints. I sometimes imagined they were on springs or hinges from the hips downwards.” Several of our historians, including Pierre Borde, Andrew Carr, Bridget Brereton and Fr Anthony DeVerteuil, in their study of our 19th century carnivals have shown the wining ability of the African man and woman, and of the fascination shown by Whites and the upper classes for the wining of the African woman. Indeed, it is a fact that when Whites and the Elites tried desperately to ban the carnival in the 19th century, the fascination of the French Creoles for the wining, African woman prevented the laws being passed for so doing. History has also shown that Indians in Trinidad and Tobago also practiced the art of wining but its construct and purpose is different from the African in Trinidad, as well as the African native.

A study of what was described as “Jamette Carnival” would also show that such carnivals of the 1860 to 1900 era were condemned by the Whites and the upper classes as being animalistic, profane and barbaric because of the tendency of African women, among other things, to wine in a sexual manner. The pages of our history in reference to the jamettes are filled with descriptions such as “lewd and obscene dancing,” “dancing in the lewdest manner,” and “sex and debauchery.” The view of women wining on the streets of Port-of-Spain was indeed one of the main reasons why a ban on Carnival was sought by the Colonial Government in the 19th century, to the extent that the Trinidad Guardian as late as 1877 called for “a refinement of our vulgar tastes.” In fact, as late as 1914, a proclamation was issued by the Government of the day calling for a ban on jamettes and jamette behaviour.

Wining is in reality a dance movement that Trinidadians have fine-tuned and given to the rest of countries that have adopted our style of carnival. It is a trait that many would describe as sensual and erotic al. At the same time, it is filled with many historical meanings that essay our people’s aspirations, desires and sufferings. It certainly did not start in Trinidad and Tobago and it didn’t start three decades ago.

Dr Hollis Liverpool, Professor of Calypso Art, The Academy of Arts, Letters, Culture and Public Affairs, The University of Trinidad and Tobago.

(Also famously known as Chalkdust the calypsonian)