Students bring back ole-time Carnival

Hundreds of students from across the country paraded around Port of Spain yesterday as part of the annual traditional mas Carnival Friday celebrations.

They brought back the old-time Carnival days portraying burrokeets, gorillas, midnight robbers, pierrot grenade, sailors, fancy Indians, baby dolls, dame Lorraines, jab jabs and many more traditional characters as they moved through downtown showing off what they learned about traditional mas.

Minister of Education Anthony Garcia was sitting in the judging booth at City Hall, Knox Street to watch the show. He said he was proud of the students and pleased they were learning about the country’s culture.

“I see a revival of our culture,” he said. “Our culture is our way of life. Today, what our children have depicted has really given me hope for the future.

“Some of the things we can take from what we saw today are the discipline of the students, the discipline of the students parading – they listened to the instructions of the teachers. The costuming: it was done in a way that was pleasing to the eyes of everyone. And certainly, if this could be carried over with the adults, then Carnival would be in good hands,” he said.

Garcia said the ministry’s Multicultural Music Unit would be working to ensure Carnival culture was taught in the schools.

He said the unit would work closely with officers from the curriculum department to ensure that all school children were exposed to the country’s cultural music.

Following their presentations, Newsday spoke with some students who were resting in Woodford Square.

Tyrique Barrow, 13, from Success Laventille, played with the Morvant-based band Wey Dey Came From as a gorilla.

“It’s bananas. The gorilla is wild and happy, and loves to roll. They are just natural. I like that I get to roll on the ground and no one can tell you anything because you are a gorilla.” he said.

Another group of gorillas, who were so short they appeared to be primary schoolchildren, climbed the steps of the Hall of Justice banging their chest while dancing and rolling on the steps.

St Paul’s Anglican School played both fancy Indians and Midnight Robbers.

Sien Josiah, 7, described a Fancy Indian as, “An Indian that is fancy.”

He was waiting with his classmates to cross the stage for a second time. The first time he was a Midnight Robber and described his characters as a person, with “Black boots, has a cape and a money box in the shape of a coffin while making rhymes.”

Kimmaya Lee, 12, from Mayo RC donned a green and black striped costume as a jab jab. She and her classmates cracked their whips across the stage.

“A jab jab cracks whips and fights,” she said. The original whip master, Ronald Alfred taught Lee and her classmates how to safely perform the art of the jab jab on the stage.

Mayo’s whips were moving so fast they made several sonic booms that echoed across Knox Street.