Dara E Healy
“In the early days of the masquerade, the streets were the playing scenes. This was the territory where the bands and individual characters met to show off their prowess in presentation and performance. They postured and gestured, and their rituals of grand movements were much larger than life…Everyone moved away to allow this nobility of the day total freedom of expression.”
– Jeff Henry, Under the Mas
THE PASSING of veteran mas creator Wendy Kalicharan is more than simply a sad occasion. I thought again about how our society should care for practitioners and icons of culture and the arts, especially those in ill health. Her transition also reminds us of the importance of families in preserving our masquerade traditions for future generations.
Family-centred traditions of mas-making tended to evolve in rural TT. For instance, my mother recalls a vibrant ritual of families and mas-making in Santa Cruz. Around the 1950s and 60s, masquerade in this community was primarily inspired by our indigenous culture. So, black Indian, wild Indian or Warao (at the time called Warahoon). Today, this style of mas remains deeply spiritual and ritualistic. To play this masquerade, one must be immersed in elements such as its history, unique language, or costuming.
Undoubtedly, Kalicharan will be remembered for her commitment to the preservation of our culture and, along with her family, developing mas traditions in San Fernando. Family was at the core of her story. When she could no longer play a central role in Kalicharan Carnival due to illness, her husband and children continued to offer their unique masquerade experience to the community.
The Kalicharans embody a tradition of families in mas that goes back to the early years after emancipation. Jeff Henry, who grew up in East Port of Spain, has amazing memories of his family’s involvement in mas, and his fascination with Carnival as a child. The Henry’s and their extended family held a Dimanche Gras dance every Carnival Sunday and opened their home as a gathering place for Jouvay (J’Ouvert). As he recalls, one aunt called “Rachel played until she was approximately 87 years old and her knees gave out.”
Belmont was another space that pulsated with creative energy, bolstered by family and community. It included the much awarded Wayne Berkeley, celebrated for his meticulous designs, Harold Saldenah, mas innovator, and Jason Griffith, famous for sailor mas, having been mentored in this type of masquerade by George “Diamond Jim” Harding.
The soumaree masquerade is one of our traditional masquerades that survived purely because of the commitment of family. Incorrectly called burroquite (burrokeet), this portrayal came to us from India, part of the Hindu festival of the fishermen from the region of Orissa, as it was called during British colonialism. The horse is said to a represent the Hindu goddess Basuli.
Jeff Henry describes the similarities of the design and mechanics of the costumes from India and TT. He interviewed Kamalee Jassan from Penal who continued the tradition after her father transitioned, although at the time only men portrayed the soumaree masquerade.
In Paramin, the Fournillier family is ensuring that the blue devil tradition is being passed on, with children now portraying the masquerade and, recently, even on stilts. Similarly, the Whiley family kept the bat masquerade alive for many years. Edgar Whiley recently passed, but now Nickolai Salcedo seems determined to play his part in keeping the tradition alive.
The Alfred family of Couva led by Ronald Alfred have led the way in jab jab or rope jab masquerade for over 60 years. Together they have transformed the way we play the mas into an institution. They train people within the community, sew their costumes and perform for events.
It is indeed a sight to see Renella Alfred, fearless and confident in her costume, as she continues the tradition for another generation. As Ronald Alfred commented in an interview, “If I die without sharing this knowledge, it will be a waste.”
Traditional Carnival masquerades connect us to our cultural story in ways that Brazilian-styled mas is unable to do. We must empower families and communities to preserve and develop regional Carnivals. Naturally, it will be important to allocate resources on a consistent basis. However, we must also ensure that children are integral to how we see our festival in the future. I believe this is what Wendy Kalicharan would want.
Dara E Healy is a performing artist and founder of the Idakeda Group, a cultural organisation dedicated to empowering communities through the arts
Trinidad and Tobago Newsday
