D-WORDSLAYER

Cooling Down! Carnival always ends with tired feet. Those feet which never walked a mile, will do many miles dancing, walking and even running to the rhythm of soca music. It makes me laugh just thinking about the physical preparation for carnival, and its ultimate end in a ‘cool down! Baywatch  is the name of the beach party this year. For many revelers taking the day off from work is expected. The feet and body need the ‘salt water’ and even more music to cool down! It’s beach party time and the roads going to the major beaches are packed with bumper to bumper traffic. Swimsuits, music, drinks, sun and sand….imagine! Ash Wednesday As a child we would head out to school on Ash Wednesday and line up to go to church. It was important to become clean again by acknowledging our sins and receiving our ashes on the forehead. To my little mind, it was okay to have fun, and then ask for forgiveness. It was expected, and even ritualistic. This was our way of life, our Trini wa...

Carnival Mas…. Carnival in Trinidad&Tobago is different now from when I was growing up. I have been around during the evolution and revolution of our culture, our mas. Evolution is about change. A revolution is the taking over of something which exists, making it different. Getting ready to ‘play mas’ for J’ouvert starts on Carnival Sunday night, most times after a party. Arriving at the meeting point for 2:00am Monday morning and partying in the streets. The costumes for this event are covered in paint, mud or signs describing our local political or social controversies. As the band , comprising ten to one thousand or more persons parade the streets, the steel-bands and DJ’s play music to ‘chip or trot/jump’ dance. The Monday road party  changes around noon as masqueraders return home and change into a part of their costume for Tuesday masquerade! The party continues until very late, sometimes stopping after 10pm. Tuesday comes and the city  comes alive. Ever...

Carnival… There is no other carnival  anywhere in the world like Trinidad&Tobago! Its about a total release of  music, rhythms, masquerading, showmanship, freedom of expression and culture! Just that word in passing can conjure up dancing in the streets. The total abandonment of social conformity takes over as men, women and children dance to the sounds of the steel-pan and soca artists & calysonians! Ahhh, there is that music… this how it feels! Masqueraders are in costumes  which are gaily colored. Some are fully clothed but many are two piece swimsuits with glitter, feathers and beads adorning the bodies of the actors..’all players of the mas’. I have been there and the feeling is exhilarating, unlike any you will ever feel unless you are in Trinidad for Carnival. Anyone can ‘play mas’, by registering with a ‘band’ and approximately nine hundred USD! Music flows  at the highest frequency. The beat moves and everyone synchronizes movement. ...