GenX Carnival ready for Miami mas

Many carnivals were postponed or cancelled due to covid19 pandemic last year and even into this year. But mass, global vaccinations have seen the entertainment industry and carnivals revving up again.

The first off the blocks is Miami carnival which is scheduled to take place in October.

Four Jamaicans, who took over leadership of one of Miami’s Carnival bands in 2019, after 20 years of Trinidadian leadership, hope to make it a unifying Caribbean force in the post-pandemic carnival space.

GenX is directed by Jamaicans Tagyei Belinfante, 39; Marc Christian, 40; Adrian Jones, 37; and Matthew Waddell, 38.

Gregory Antoni founded GenX Carnival, formerly known as Generation X, in 1999, a media release said.

After the pandemic break, the band is looking to make a “much-anticipated return,” it added.

Christian said in the release, “Before acquiring this role as co-director, I served as a GenX committee member. When I presented the opportunity to Tagyei and then Matthew for us to take on this venture, they were all in. The rest is now history.”

The band launched its 2021 presentation Immortals: Gods Never Die on June 26.

Waddell said in e-mailed responses to Newsday that the band’s new leadership aims to be a lot more inclusive.

“We want to acknowledge all regions and make sure that everyone feels recognised. The space is growing in multiple regions and even though there may exist an innate bias to Jamaica, as that is home, we want to include all regions and all Caribbean cultures as we feel that is the fabric of south Florida and specifically Miami where our carnival is celebrated.”

Waddell said when the opportunity presented itself, they thought it was a unique one. The former management wanted to move on for personal reasons and GenX found the brand to be appealing and simply needing new energy.

However, Waddell, Christian, Jones and Belinfante also really loved and appreciated carnival and wanted to be involved.

Jamaica is globally known for its reggae and dancehall music and the band will infuse that in its presentations.

“Our styles, tendencies, (and) sounds tend to influence on a global scale and I would expect this inclusion of Jamaican tendencies to occur on multiple levels within the carnival stratosphere: from music to culinary arts to design,” he added. GenX’s offering will include Jamaican dishes too. Waddell noted dancehall and reggae artistes have been “fusing sounds” with soca artistes.

The band has also worked with Jamaican designers such as Jessica Campbell, “bringing their visions and renditions of what costumes could look like to life,” he added.

Waddell said Campbell worked with carnival bands in Jamaica and designed the section Kalypso, her interpretation of Greek Mythology’s Calypso.

GenX’s co-directors are happy to be a part of a major carnival since the pandemic. For them, it is also a huge opportunity to demonstrate to the global community “how to party responsibly” while delivering “high-quality service.”

“I think Miami carnival will set a precedent for what follows in the space and that responsibility shouldn’t be taken lightly. We at GenX are taking that very seriously … We feel as though if we and Miami do well… the carnival fraternity can and will build on that momentum and the post-pandemic era can be the most celebrated period, ever,” Waddell said.