Tribute to Approo at traditional mas

TRIBUTE was paid to veteran mas man and iconic black Indian masquerader Nari Approo at the traditional mas competition held on Wednesday at Adam Smith Square, Woodbrook.

Before the presentation by the band Black Indian Warriors, Austin Prince Charles brought Approo on stage and introduced the 91-year-old as the oldest black Indian player alive, and black Indian player Darlington “Boysie” Henry died last year at 72.

“This is why we brought (Approo) on stage. For many years he has portrayed the beautiful mas.”

Approo, dressed in regular clothing, then spoke in black Indian speech over the mike. The announcer praised him and thanked him for his contribution.

“Thank you for the many years of the beautiful mas that you have a given to Trinidad.”

The event was scheduled to begin at 7 pm but the first performer, pierrot grenade Wayne Perrott, did not come on stage until about 7.50 pm. He was immediately followed by a female pierrot grenade, Claudette Sinnette, and her rhyming performance charmed the audience.

This was followed by a classic midnight robber, a mountain gorilla inexplicably speaking on a landline phone and a few baby dolls, including Helen Kennedy, who said she was looking for the 15 fathers of her ten children.

“I need milk, a HDC house and a car. Who want a house without a car? That making any sense?”

She encouraged the audience to abstain, be faithful, “condomise” and “Do be faithful.”

The sole minstrel for the night was Margaret Remy, who sang My Old Kentucky Home, and there were a couple of burrokeets, including Kadeemah Herbert’s portrayal Trump!!! which featured a “donkey” with US patriotic colours. There was also a guest portrayal called Greyfriars’ Grief by artist Josh Lu (Joshua Lue Chee Kong), which was a combination of a moko jumbie and a midnight robber and referenced the destruction of the historic Greyfriars Church in Port of Spain.

The night featured a number of clown portrayals, including Cherisse Brewster’s You’ll Float Too, which was a homage to the Stephen King character Pennywise the Dancing Clown, featured in the 2017 horror movie It.

There were also black Indians, fancy dame Lorraines, sexy jammettes, bats, and whip-snapping jab jabs, including one female member of the Alfred jab jab clan of Couva, Renella Alfred.

Dame Lorraine Eric Nicholson requested the song Lightning Flash for his performance but after the DJ could not find it he settled for Full Extreme and still gave patrons a thoroughly entertaining performance.

Keith Simpson’s was the fanciest of the fancy sailor portrayals with his large golden crown, while Peter Chin Foon was resplendent in a powder blue, royal blue and silver fancy Indian costume for his fancy Indian portrayal Wovoka.

Allison Noreiga-Clarke turned heads with her jammette portrayal Now Dis is Jammetry.

Her outfit included a cone bra and black shorts with the word “permission” and question marks. Noreiga-Clarke also pretended to wine on a police officer, but stopped short of doing so. Her fellow jammette Dixie-Ann Telemaque was less restrained and wined on the back and waist of a media photographer.

The evening also featured some brilliant authentic Indians, including Abzal Shaffie, who was accompanied by his own tassa band. There were also a group of moko jumbies with elaborate designs and a couple of thrilling moko jumbies in Tekel Sylvan and Russell Grant, the latter even jumping over the barrier and walking right up to the judges.

The evening ended with some fearsome and devilish jab molassies, including Ricardo Felicien, who ripped the head off a doll to reveal a blood-like substance which he smeared on the floor. There was also Stephano Marcano with his red paint: instead of blowing fire, he twirled two fire containers and sent sparks flying.

It was at times difficult to hear what the announcers were saying as the audio was too low and one-directional and the DJ music too loud. There were a number of overseas visitors who turned out to view the event, mostly American, and both the stands and the streets were crowded.