NPATT: Parang in amazing hands

The National Parang Association’s (NPATT) youth officer Joseph Bertrand said parang was now in amazing hands as 16 schools competed in the secondary schools' category of the National Junior Parang competition at Holy Cross College, Arima on November 17.

The competition was held on November 16 and 17 and consisted of the primary and secondary school categories. St Gabriel's Girls' RC were the winners in the primary school category of the competition.

Bertrand said there was increased participation as well as increased interest in this year’s competition. There were 23 primary schools and 16 secondary schools competing.

The association introduced presentations this year which required the students to do research about a parang icon and present the information on stage.

“In previous iterations of the competition we have had an icon we celebrate but the children are preparing, so they aren’t getting the information.

“The idea behind the presentations is to ensure these icons, stalwarts are remembered by the youth in parang and thus create a better understanding for the culture of parang,” he said.

For Bertrand and the association, increased interest was shown by increased phone calls and more people asking about the competition.

While this spoke well to the genre's future, the main challenge the organisers faced in getting the competition off the ground was getting people to mentor the students and schools and taking them from not being prepared to being competition-ready.

While some of the association’s senior bands have taken up the challenge, more people and groups were needed, he said.

He had high praise for teachers who worked with their students to get them ready for competition.

“I applaud those teachers now until thy kingdom comes. Those teachers are the real champions of this particular competition,” he added.

The competition worked with multiple people to host the event and while sponsorship was always a challenge, the association vowed to continue its work for youth in parang, Bertrand said.

Prizes were awarded on Sunday in special categories such as best male lead singer, best female lead singer, best box bass, best cuatro, best marac, best presentation and best dress.

Overall winners received trophies and $8,000 for first place, $5,000 for second place and $3,000 for third place.

The competition has been an incubator for the genre, with many of the participants moving from junior to senior groups and then on to adult parang bands.

“We have several of the senior bands that mentor the schools and they then augment their own bands with the students from the schools. We have schools that actually form bands out of the competition and they are now on the parang circuit.

“We also have the students themselves joining other bands as well if they are not part of the school. The parang is in amazing hands,” he said.

Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly and Arima MP and Minister of Planning and Development Pennelope Beckles-Robinson attended the event.

Gadsby-Dolly said she has always been a supporter of the competition.

“School parang has always been an excellent show of how our younger people love our culture, all aspects of it,” she said.

She spoke of her daughter once being a participant in the school’s parang, and who was now a member of an adult group.

This showed the transformative power of the parang, Gadsby-Dolly said. She described her daughter as being very introverted and to believe she could even take to the stage showed the transformative power of parang.

The schools parang had a direct impact on adult parang and the carrying on of TT’s traditions, she added. She congratulated the NPATT for a successful event.

Similarly, Beckles also congratulated the association.

She, too, said she had been involved for a while and was happy to see the high participation of boys in Sunday’s event.

The competition encouraged creativity and taught children how to tell a story, she added.

“You learn the history of parang, you learn the history of those involved in parang. The competition is designed to teach about our culture, to teach about our history which is so critical for Trinidadians and Tobagonians.”

Beckles said it also encouraged community as parents and teachers were heavily involved.

Beckles said there are Venezuelans living in TT and they were now incorporated in the culture.

Parang always involved the Venezuelans, she said, recalling parang icon Daisy Voisin going to Venezuela and the cultural exchange between the countries.

“Now that you have so many Venezuelan migrants here, it means that they are now bringing a different aspect of their culture and it means that our long desire to have Spanish incorporated in the schools should take on a different turn.”

Up to press time, the results of the secondary category was not available.