Proman Starlift ready to dingolay for Panorama 2025

PROMAN Starlift arranger Dante Pantin believes good music is timeless – one of the many reasons his band will be playing the late Winston “Mighty Shadow” Bailey’s 1988 song, Dingolay.

“I don’t limit music to an era or time period. Time/expiration doesn’t exist with me,” Pantin told Newsday.

“Shadow’s music still inspires persons up to this day. This masterpiece was never performed at (the) Big Yard in the (Panorama) large band category.

"The poetic lyrics in the composition sums up TT and the Caribbean; everyone, no matter who you are, you can dingolay.

According to the Linguistics Department at UWI, "dingolay" means “to dance, twist and turn in elaborate movements, symbolising the culture and language of the ancestors of the people of TT.”

Pantin said, “I feel a sense of duty and humbleness to have the opportunity, resources and musicians to be able to put this forward as Proman Starlift’s 2025 selection.”

And the band's Panorama manager Kristin Murrell said the vibe at panyard on Christopher Samuel Drive, Mucurapo will reflect the intent of the song on February 8, when the preliminary judging for the national competition will take place. Proman Starlift will play in position number seven in the northern region.

“I think the original name of the song would have been Music, but it's more popularly known as Dingolay," Murrell told Newsday.

"
We did a bit of research and said, ‘Hey, you know, Dingolay is a party song. It's an energy, it’s a vibe, so we decided to turn our preliminary performance into a party.

“One of the lines of the song is, ‘Everybody, could dingolay,’ and we decided to lead into that as our tagline for our preliminary.”

The event will be open entry, with a fully stocked bar and live entertainment. Among the guest artistes will be Sharlan Bailey, son of Shadow.

“He is one of our resident guest artistes at Proman Starlift. He’s done numerous performances with us, so he is familiar with our work. We do have a couple other guest artistes and surprises.”

She said when selecting a song to play for the competition, Starlift likes to embody the theme or whatever the vibe of the original composer was, as well as what can bring out the energy of the players.

She said one thing a lot of people don’t realise is that there is a timeline with which band members work when it comes to selecting a song to play.

“So we can’t always wait to hear what the newer songs are. But we did sit down and listen and consider things like what we are feeling, what other people are listening to, what the audience is interested in.”

In the end, she said, choosing a song to play is not about how long ago the song was released.
She described what Pantin has done with the song so far as “electrifying.”

“Just listening to the development of the music, I’m really interested in seeing what Dante does to start the pace in the introduction.

“But no matter what, he always brings creativity to the music; he always brings that vibe and the energy. And the players have a way of playing whatever he brings to them to life…

“Old or new, however people want to reference it, we’re here to bring it.”