Workshops, plays to mark calypso month

Lutalo (Brother Resistance) Masimba, president of TUCO speaks at the launch of Calypso History Month.
Lutalo (Brother Resistance) Masimba, president of TUCO speaks at the launch of Calypso History Month.

A national primary school calypso quiz, secondary school calypso workshops, the screening of Charlie’s Records docudrama and running of the play Ah Wanna Fall...Calypso Musical are all included in the schedule of events for Calypso History Month this year.

These activities were revealed at the official launch of the 18th annual Calypso History Monthheld at the National Carnival Commission (NCC) VIP Lounge, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, on Tuesday.

Lutalo Masimba, president of the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (TUCO) said it was important for his organisation to create a new framework to appreciate the calypso artform.

To the students of Queen’s Royal College, St Margaret’s Anglican and South East Secondary schools, who were in the audience, Masimba said: “When we say calypso, we’re not speaking about any ordinary artform and we need to establish that. You need to carry that with you throughout your school life and your adult life. As a matter of fact, calypso is the foundation of our very education, even though the education system might not tell you that. Calypso is essential to our lives as Trinidadians and Tobagonians. Therefore it is important for us, especially in this country to celebrate Calypso History Month, to identify and establish certain things where the calypso artform is concerned.

He also said, calypso is not only about Carnival, but rather, it is the people’s thing and TUCO is working assiduously to create a new framework for the appreciation of the artform, especially within the context of the re-education of TT people.

In light of all this, Meagan Sylvester, TUCO’s education and research officer gave the criteria for the quiz competition.

One thousand questions/answers will be prepared by TUCO members, as well as national calypso activists, collated and sent to the schools.

The questions will be sub-headed: tents; monarchs; names of calypsoes; calypsonians and calypsoes on the 17 sustainable development goals, and in two formats – true/false and multiple choice. The quiz is for approximately ten weeks, with the preliminaries taking on a knock-out format, after which there will be semi-finals and a final.

The secondary school workshops will run for eight weeks with topics gender, youth and calypso.

Eight secondary schools will be asked to participate and encouraged to use the technique of reading and analysing calypso and lyrics of current and dated songs. The Ministry of Education will make initial contact with the school principals.

The feature documentary Charlie’s Records highlights the contribution of Rawlston Charles who made a number of success stories out of some of the greatest names in calypso, among them, Ras Shorty I, Explainer, SuperBlue, Calypso Rose, Kitchener, Sparrow and Shadow. He also sponsored the band Roots that featured Chris “Tambu” Herbert and later, David Rudder.

Masimba said the move towards the building a structure for education and research of the music will eventually result in a museum for calypso history.

Phillip “Black Sage” Murray performs an extempo at the launch of Calypso History Month on Tuesday at the VIP Lounge, Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain.

He said: “When we celebrate Calypso History Month we celebrate those who have paved the way to the trials and tribulations they have been through so that we can be here today and speaking about the artform within the context of our society today. And we celebrate their contribution as well.”

Identifying some of the challenges they are still going through as calypsonians and artistes in TT, included the struggle for 50 per cent local content on national media, and scarcity of performance spaces in TT, especially in the capital city for artistes to present their work.

“But as we move forward as an organisation, we move forward with a mission that we do our best to set up a structure of research and education that will be vital to our own education process and to all of us as a nation here in TT and indeed across the world where the calypso diaspora finds itself,” ended Masimba.

Before that, he indicated that Calypso History Month celebrations will also take place in Canada, London, UK, Germany and France, therefore TUCO knows they must embrace all citizens, students, calypso lovers and researchers in the celebration of CHM.

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"Workshops, plays to mark calypso month"

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