Divas manager: 'Mother of all carnivals' but no corporate support for kaiso

IN the midst of the narrative about 2023 being the mother of all carnivals after covid19 put the celebration on hold for two years, Divas Calypso Tent manager Rudolph Ottley is observing a disinterest in the calypso tents. He is basing this on the disappointing financial support from corporate Trinidad.

“Corporate support is worse than it was in 2020. It is very challenging. People seem to be very disinterested,” he told the Newsday in an interview.

“Even though Government is saying this is the mother of all carnivals, it seems more like the mother of all disappointment.

“Corporate Trinidad is not buying into it. I have heard this complaint from other tent managers as well. So there seems to be a consistent pattern of non-involvement.”

Ottley said he did not know if the phenomenon was limited to the tents, because the fetes, with corporate input, seemed to be "scoring."

“People are spending money to go to the fetes because the fetes are almost like a relief valve. After two years of lockdown, people see that as an investment to get over that period or try to forget that period.

He said, at the tents, patrons sat for hours and listen. He said people who had been doing that for two years during the lockdown, didn’t want to return to that limited form of enjoyment.

“That is why the fetes are doing well, because of that sense of release.”

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the birth of soca, the Divas Calypso Tent will pay homage to its founder the late Ras Shorty I – Garfield Blackman.

Ottley said 2023 would mark 50 years since Shorty gave the world his first soca. The tent would commemorate that feat with a tribute to him.

Shorty I is credited with creating not only soca, but chutney/soca and jamoo music. An author, Ottley has traced the history in a publication to be released in April.

It was in 1973 that Shorty I, fusing calypso with chutney and other East Indian rhythms, as well as soul and calypso, unleashed Indrani and later Endless Vibration to develop "soul of calypso" now known as soca, which changed the direction of calypso.

With an all-female cast of about 17, Divas would open at Kaiso Blues Kafe, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, on January 25, at 8 pm.

Now in its 19th year, Ottley said, for the past 18 years, the tent has paid tribute to a calypsonian or someone in the cultural fraternity.

“This year we are paying tribute to Ras Shorty I since it is the 50th anniversary of the birth of Soca.

“We always have a concept of vintage and modern in the shows, so, the ladies would sing one of Shorty songs, they either select or like and then they would do their 2023 selections."

Accompanying the divas, including Karen Eccles, Stacey Sobers, Maria Bhola, Sherese Collymore, among others, would be the big band Cummings and the Wailers.

Ottley said the full cast will be finalised on Saturday.

Judges would visit the tent on January 29 at noon, to select semi-finalists for the National Calypso Monarch Competition.

Ottley said this would be a special event titled, Calypso and Callaloo, where patrons have the opportunity to dine while being entertained.

“Lunch will be served while the judges adjudicate,” he said.

The Divas plan on making a stop in San Fernando on January 30, for a clash with the south-based tent, Kaiso Showkase. That show will take place at Palms Club, Kaiso Showkase's home base.