Origins of the wine, jam and roll:..Part 1
Newsday News, Tuesday, January 9 2007
“Jump and wave, wine an’ jam, roll yuh body,” — these are but a few of the many phrases that are thundered through the streets and every major event during the run up to Carnival in TT, as zealous revellers invade towns, clubs, tents and other party locations.
Carnival has evolved dramatically from its inception during the days of slaves, masters and colonial rule to its current position as the most important national festival. And despite the presence of a few traditional “ole mas” parading the streets on Carnival Monday and Tuesday, many of us are unaware of the true origins of the festival and its significance.
At the source of the Carnival experience, there lies the dominant presence of the Europeans who, for many centuries, held this tiny nation in the palms of their hands.
TT was rich in arable land that was a haven for the tea lovers of the north, who pursued sugarcane plantations in their newly acquired piece of earth. And Carnival developed as a result of the need for slave labour in these sugar mines, when the white and coloured French masters celebrated after a long and successful season of Christmas merriment.
The Carnival at this time was an extremely exclusive event that saw the non-slave population adopt certain fictitious roles and dawn masks that cut across the boundaries of class and colour that prevailed at the time.
In a sense, the whites took up the roles of the slaves and simply reenacted the drama that took place on the plantations.
Their theatrical chaos usually ended with the igniting of a field which had to be harvested and processed immediately by the slave population. For the plantation owners, it was a time for utter disregard of the social sanctions that governed European lifestyles and its people as responsible, serious and civilised. Perhaps the actions of the plantation owners was a diversionary tactic that was used to pull away from the monotonous and “cultured” society, whose only vices were, according to Nobel Laureate, VS Naipaul, “billiards, drink and sex.”
Carnival in its foetal stage was limited to the upper-class and the land owners in society who sought a bit of cultural freedom. But just as the masters wished to take up role playing and parade without inhibitions on the streets, so too did the slaves have their own fantasies of masked merriment.
When the slaves were emancipated in 1833, Carnival took on a whole new look and meaning in TT as the inherent African heritage of the former slaves blossomed within the “bourgeoisie” parade.
The shear exuberance and zeal that the slaves brought to Carnival gradually eclipsed the revelry of the planters and, soon enough, the originators of the festival withdrew from participation. As Carnival now represented a form of rebellion for the former slaves, many of the masqueraders depicted the so-called anti-heroes of Western civilisation such as the midnight robbers, vampires, prostitutes, Apache Indians and pirates.
This new face of Carnival gave a sense of identity to the lower classes in society, and was soon to become the focal point of a bitter move by the colonisers who made several attempts to restrict the celebrations altogether. But at this point, Carnival was so well embedded within the lives of the lower-classes that any attempt to discontinue this revelry was seen as a direct attack on the culture of the people that had been retained after so many years of persecution.
The tension grew and eventually climaxed in the 1880s in the form of the Canboulay Riots that are often depicted in contemporary Carnival celebrations with much drama and enthusiasm.
After a great struggle, Carnival became the freedom dance of the former slaves who managed to inject some of their native culture into the colonisers’ day of fun and games. And after years of prejudice and attacks, Carnival has evolved into the dynamic mix of colour, music, dance and rum we know today.
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Origins of the wine, jam and roll:..Part 2
Making of the mas
Newsday News, Thursday, January 11 2007
This is part two of Newsday’s look at “The origins of the wine, jam and roll,” which was run in the Tuesday, January 9 issue, on Page 3, Section B.
As unwary spectators make their way down the main roads to indulge in some Carnival bacchanal, they would most likely be accosted by one or more menacing looking characters painted in different colours and reciting verses of threatening poetry. Among the devils, vampires, pirates and jamettes, the midnight robber is a crowd favourite with his witty dynamics and theatrical persona.
Like so many of the other traditional Carnival characters, the midnight robber originated as the former slaves celebrated the anti-heros of the coloniser’s culture.
After the end of slavery in TT, Carnival saw the midnight robbers don long embroidered capes and shirts to better enhance the large brimmed hat they wore alongside a gun or dagger that was used to persuade the unwilling victim on the streets.
Despite the array of colours and weapons these characters pranced about the streets to “make some small change,” it is their sheer rhetoric that captivates the crowd and instills that aura of fear that has become the most important part of their drama. When these masked menaces ran through the Carnival routes with their multitude of weapons, their many chants and sometimes horrific monologues set the stage for a delightful day in the sun for the spectators or, as some would say, victims.
But the midnight robbers were more than just over-dressed vigilantes who came out once a year to light up the streets. Their poetry echoed many social concerns at the time and was seen as a form of social rebellion. Considering the fact that these characters came out of the slave’s need for dramatic refusal of the Western culture, a midnight robber with an unkept tongue is of little surprise. The characters often echoed rhymes of “Stop! Drop your keys and bow your knees, and call me the Prince of Darkness, Criminal master.” At times, the robber will even break into song.
As Carnival developed over the years, so too did the traditional characters. The midnight robber began to be influenced by the image of the American cowboy in all his gun-handling, horseback-riding and “Indian-fighting” glory.
The costumes took on a different look and long capes and colourful shirts were eclipsed by straw hats and native American weaving. On the surface it would appear that the new image was a betrayal of the original rebellious persona of the midnight robber to the colonial past.
But far from that, the new cowboy influence also symbolised an aspect of rebellion at a latter stage in colonial history and further inquest into the New World.
Just as the cowboy image of the midnight robbers came as a result of constant changes within the Carnival, so too did the new costumes begin to be influenced by other dynamic images. The midnight robbers began to take numerous variations when presented by different individuals and consisted of “hunting robbers” who were normally dressed in woodsman clothing, “white robbers” who adorned themselves with sheepskin garments, huge white hats and white skulls and one quite distinguished group called “The Cheaty Gang” that wore black costumes and hung white crosses across their chests like the ancient crusaders.
But the evolution of the midnight robber was more than just the simple dynamics of vibrant costumes and accessories, the energetic fiend became an integral character in the growing calypso field of the time. He became a metaphor for rebellion and social change in many songs in the past and that trend has been followed up to the present day.
Indeed contemporary mas owes much of its theatrics to the traditional characters and although the midnight robbers are not as popular as there were previously, these characters still hold a special place in the great history of Carnival in TT.
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Origins of the wine, jam and roll:..Part 3
Emergence of jab jab
Newsday News, Tuesday, January 16 2007
This is part three of Newsday's look at "The origins of the wine, jam and roll," which was run in the Tuesday, January 9 issue, on Page 3, Section B.
It's not unusual to see large-horned characters prancing about the streets come Carnival Monday and Tuesday. In fact, the two days of unrivalled revelry would be incomplete without the Devil's dance and the Dragon's roar.
These traditional characters are not as popular as they were in the years gone by but they still make up an integral aspect of TT's Carnival traditions.
According to the Bruce Procope, the emergence of the devils and dragon during this time of the year is "an ambulatory depiction of Satan and his horde cast from Heaven. Theoretically he and his followers return to earth on the two days before the Lenten season commences in order to try the virtue of the faithful." But whatever the analysis behind these characters, they are a welcome sight within the ocean of "bikini" revellers.
For the origins of the Devil and Dragon in TT's Carnival one must take a few steps back to the year 1906 when Patrick Jones and Gilbert Scamaroni decided to create a band that would mirror the characters they had seen in a picture that showed the Devil being exorcised from an ill person.
Costumes for the band varied with the so-called rank of the characters but the one thing that remained constant with the first presentation was the use of khaki and slate as the colour scheme. The men usually adorned themselves in a traditional "jab jab" costumes and attached flexible wings that would make a flapping motion when the person was moving.
They also carried long forks to better enhance the fearsome nature of the creature they portrayed. The few women who joined in on the vibrant parade along the streets were usually outfitted in a long satin dress instead of the "jab jab" overall.
As far as the rank of the different characters went, there was a small group within the devils called the presidents, whose costumes were intricately decorated with brass buttons, fringe, braid, spangles and gold cord. And unlike the regular devils, the presidents covered their faces with small face masks. But the central character within this group of fiery fiends was none other than Lucifer himself who was decorated more than the other characters and also wore a crown to accentuate his distinguished ornate gown.
As Carnival developed over the years so too did the band of devils that invaded the streets yearly. By 1909, the regular characters in the band added cow tails to their costumes and replaced the wire edges with rope. It was also the year that saw the emergence of the ever popular Dragons at Carnival that is speculated to be a creative expression of the cover illustration to Dante's "Inferno".
The Demonites then joined in the bachanal in 1910 along with "Beelzebub" who was represented similarly to Lucifer with the only difference being that he was enclosed within a cage and bound by nine chains.
In the year that followed, Satan was finally brought onboard in all his epic presence as he danced alongside the other unholy creatures of the underworld when they celebrated the magnificence of chaos and music. Satan appeared in similar attire to Lucifer and Beelzebub but preferred to gallivant around the street with pen and book in hand to record the names of those who sinned.
The "prince of darkness" was a favourite amongst the spectators at the time and continues to make a great impact on the festival with his grand presence and theatrical movements.
With the advent of Satan himself within the band it was only a matter of time till other notorious characters emerged from the retinue of Hell. Soon "Gentleman Jim" with his tailcoat and stick joined in the dance and this created a picturesque medley of fiendish characters in the evolution of TT's Carnival.
Contemporary Carnival presentations more or less stay away from the traditional Mas but there are a few bands that still maintain the glory of the Mas gone by and when these devils and dragons grace the stages they are a distinguished spectacle in the tornado of colour we call Carnival.
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