Tag Archives: calypso

“[…] Luisa Calderon and Thisbe […] lived through the foundational violence of colonialism which shaped not only the vulnerabilities that they had to negotiate in their time but those that women must still navigate today. And both women experienced terror at the hands of the same celebrated colonial icons: Governor …

“[…] In 1993, for very spurious reasons which do not bear repeating, Kitch and Sparrow were denied the nation’s then highest national award, the Trinity Cross, although both were clearly deserving of the honour. They were both offered the Chaconia Medal (Gold), which Kitch refused—having regard to the aspersions cast …

Views reportedly expressed by the well-qualified presenters at a webinar, entitled ‘Hosting and managing the Carnival Experience in Trinidad and Tobago in 2022 and Beyond’, converged with much of what I have been writing concerning Carnival and cultural development matters over several years, including last Sunday. The Trinidad Express newspaper …

“[…] The records will show that over the past 25 years, calypsonians among your membership who have faithfully participated in the Calypso King competition then and now Calypso Monarch have never been compensated financially in the preliminary round of competition. “[…] It is patently clear that the musical labour of …

“[…] Singing Sandra has left a great legacy in the calypso world as one of the most powerful female calypsonians to date. Her style of calypso was able to highlight the issues, concerns and hardships of women to the nation and the world at large. “Through her music, she echoed …

“[…] Sandra Des Vignes-Millington is among only three female calypsonians to have won the National Calypso Monarch title and the only one to have won it on two occasions. “Singing Sandra will long be remembered, not only for her commitment to the art form, but even more so for the …

For some, it is belatedly and painfully sinking in that there will be no Carnival 2021. But what art forms have we lost? In answering this question I can look through a long lens, having been six years old when my mother first ‘disguised’ me. I have no specific memory …

The book lay nestled among my collection of Caribbean writing. It came my way after I had run an appreciative review of it by Jarrel De Matas in UWI TODAY (August 2018). Having inserted it among books I’d already read, it got lost until a few weeks ago, when I …

There is much common ground between the mechanisms inherent to the narrative of film and calypso. Departing from the same basic treasure (‘the story, the story and the story’), the two media call for different types of interplay between creators and audience. The merit of the really good calypsonian is …

It is not only Dr Bird who goes head-to-head with the director of The Birds. Sir Alfred was a master of reminding audiences of what may lie beneath surface reality and of bringing them chillingly close to it. Grandmaster Aldwyn ‘Lord Kitchener’ Roberts’ does so in ‘Love in de Cemetery’ …

There is within me an old-stager constantly reminding me of how fundamentally cinematic calypso (the good traditional stuff) is. All the tools directors, storyboard artists, camera operators and screenwriters have at their disposal are unfurled by calypsonians in 32 lines plus chorus (see? the unapologetic old-stager), adhering to the block-development …

De lizard run up she foot, An’ it disappear. Everybody still searchin’ everywhere. Wey de lizard, Teacher Mildred? …. …. …. ….  De way she jolly an’ happy Ah sure de lizard must be ticklin’ she. There are many directors, screenwriters, DOPs, storyboard artists and cutting room assistants who would …