Black Rock honours the past, welcomes the future

It was an evening of camaraderie and good cheer as patrons danced and sang along as performers unveiled Black Rock’s 2018 Tobago Heritage Festival’s production, Honouring the Past, Celebrating the Future last Thursday at the Courland Heritage Park.

With a mix of storytelling wrapped in humour, traditional music, cultural song and dance such as the bele, to depict experiences of the villagers, the production focused on they have been able to overcome challenges relying on the influences of the Amerindian, African and Europeans, from past to the present. The production also stressed on how the villagers survived, using culture mores, creativity, innovation and wisdom, as well as the use of technological developments in the plantation and fishing industry. It explored the involvement of the churches on the villagers’ spiritual and social development and looked at indigenous food and drink of plantation life.

The production included a tribute to the Moravian missionaries who helped shape the Black Rock community.

Beverley Ramsey-Moore, more popularly known as the manager of the Katzenjammers Steel Orchestra, was one of the main actors in the production through who the audience was taken on a back in times exploration of herbs, food and remedies used to cure ailments and compared this to current day reliance on medical assistance from the hospital.