Pierrot grenade siblings follow in mom's footsteps

BONSWA tout moun, bonswa tout moun (Hello, good day, everyone)! Gather round to learn more about siblings Kemoni and Keiani Newton – two of Trinidad and Tobago's youngest pierrot grenades.

The pierrot grenade is a traditional Carnival character, known for its brightly, multi-coloured garments and its witty wordplay.

The National Carnival Commission's (NCC) website says the character is "the supreme jester in Trinidad Carnival...and delights in displaying his knowledge and ability to spell any word."

The character also uses a whip crafted from a tree branch, almost like a teacher's pointing stick.

Kemoni, 11, told Newsday Kids he and his four-year-old sister were inspired by their mother, Keomi Serrette, one of TT's pierrot grenades.

The standard-five student of Richmond Street Boys’ Anglican Primary School said, "We began after seeing our mom portray the character, and the way she spelt the words on the stage and caused the audience to laugh made us feel to do it too."

Keiani, who attends Children of the Rock Pre-School, chimed in, saying she enjoys spelling words in a fun way.

The pierrot grenade's way of spelling words is unique. For example, let us spell "newspaper," only as the pierrot grenade can. Suppose you are in a media house with three sections – features, news and sports – and you see a blank page on the ground. You ask features if it is theirs: they say no; so too sports. So then you say, "Wait, that is news paper."

Keiani said she can spell words like Japan, Chicago, independence, and her favourite – penmanship.

She told Newsday Kids, "Suppose there was a man who use to sell pen. People called him Pen Man. When Pen Man save enough money and buy a ship, when people see the ship, they say, 'Aye, look Pen Man ship!"

Kemoni's favourite word to spell is elementary, and he happily recited it.

"Some time way back when, there was a gigantic silk cotton tree...to most villagers it was known as L tree. L was Aubrey Sampson's son, and from birth, he was a real crybaby. For everything that went wrong, you could find L lamenting under the tree. So the spelling is clear to see...the villagers named it 'L lament tree.'"

The two help their mother make the pierrot grenade costumes, which they said can take up to three days after several months of collecting scraps of cloth.

Keiani gave the costumes two thumbs up, while Kemoni said, "The design and the different patters and colours are nice."

Both said they enjoy performing in front of audiences, even though Serrette had to give Keiani a little boost by lifting her up.

"I like to do the same thing like my mommy," Keiani explained.

Kemoni said even with judges being right in front him, he is always confident.

"When it was my turn to come to the mic, I just did my best."

He said, "I love going out for Carnival and spelling words and doing all the actions."

Serrette said the first time she taught them to spell words the pierrot grenade way, Kemoni was thinking of different words "for our entire walk through Port of Spain.

"Everything was a word, every minute it was, 'Ma! I have a word, I have a word!'"

She feels proud to see her children follow in her footsteps and enjoys witnessing the creativity of children.

Kemoni's classmates got interested in the character through him and they will portray it in an upcoming NCC parade.

Both children said they hope more young people become interested in the character.