J'ouvert !
I don't know where the time has gone, but Carnival is in two weeks. Two weeks! Yes, I've been focusing on making a new work '
Fresh Water'. But Carnival is coming! And first on the order, is
J'ouvert.
The photo above was taken by Stefan Falke, a Brooklyn-based German photographer and author of Moko Jumbies: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad. I first met Stefan in 2006, while playing mas with legendary mas maker Peter Minshall's The Sacred Heart.
J'ouvert in Trinidad begins around 2am on Carnival Monday morning and is the highlight of my Carnival. I consider J'ouvert to be the most authentic Carnival experience to be had today. J'ouvert is absolute freedom. For j'ouvert, I let go completely. I "break away". Music and rhythm fill my entire body. And it takes over, takes control. It is beautiful. It is out of control. It is grotesque. J'ouvert is mud, paint and powder in all colors, fire blowing devils, music, drums, black oil, tamboo-bamboo, whistles, water, iron, bold political and social statements, and the color blue. It is hell! And it's fantastic!
Watch this short video of the blue devils of Paramin - Carnival icons. The Blue Devils of Paramin are the subject of "Jab!" - a movie I've seen three times, most recently at
Trinidad Theatre Workshop.
Talk about getting into character! I cannot wait to perform this J'ouvert! I have
yet to make my costume of plastic bags for "Industrialize Dis" - the environmentally conscious J'ouvert band I'm playing with this year. (I'll post pictures of my costume as soon as I "catch myself" sometime soon after Carnival.) Here is the very official description for "Industrialize Dis", which is being produced by Alice Yard, Muddy Angels, and Rights Action Group:
The notion of industrialization and whether that means putting up plants with a limited shelf life or whether that means developing the social, ideological and creative potential of a society, is a question that hangs unanswered as we hurtle towards Vision 2020. This is one of the statements the band will pose on Carnival Monday morning. A development themed band is timely and topical and fits perfectly in with the idea of Carnival, particularly jouvert as that time of confrontation, subversion and liberation. Revelers are invited to create their own traditional mas costumes, with or without a placard made out of their own materials: plastic bottles, cans, newspapers, etc. This directly ties to the root of the mas, using whatever materials are available in your surroundings to create a new persona for the Carnival. It also makes the dual statement about the literal value of recycling materials and the figurative recycling of ancient mas forms to some current relevance and resonance.
Big tings ah gwaan for J'ouvert! Translation: It's gonna be sick!
At the end of the night (which is technically Monday at lunchtime), all the exhausted, hoarse, dirty, drunken J'ouvert-ers make their way home to transform into mas. (
What's mas?) There has been many a J'ouvert where I jammed so hard that I never made it into Port of Spain for Carnival Monday. The throbbing in my head and feet did not stop until it was time to play mas on Tuesday. Carnival Monday and Tuesday are really the END of the Carnival season, which is prefaced by months of costume making, competitions in steel pan,
stick-fighting, calypso, fete, and bacchanal that provides brilliant source material for social and political commentary. On Ash Wednesday, the people make their way to beaches like
Maracas, Manzanilla, Las Cuevas or head straight to
Tobago until the following Monday. What glory! I could really do with a dose of this incredibly unique and infectious creative energy right about now.
Click here to read "Ah Feelin' to Wine on Something", with features my mas costume for this year's Carnival.
The "Industrialize Dis" mas camp will be set up at Alice Yard. Every Friday night, at Conversations in the Yard, mas practitioners and potential players are invited to come to the yard and create their costumes and also talk about the process. Alice Yard then acts as the creative barrack yard. It then takes on a new kind of value in that it provides a space for people to create their own mas and also to share ideas about the experience. Alice Yard is located at 80 Roberts Streets in Woodbrook, Port of Spain. Read the Alice Yard blog.
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://greatdance.com/mtadmin/mt-tb.cgi/1940
Stacy,
Participation is VITAL to this Carnival experience. How can I describe it? Watching J'ouvert is kind of like experiencing a painting over the phone.
But anyway, I know you'd be unable to resist the energy surrounding you on J'ouvert morning. You'd be covered in mud and wining on some stranger before I could say "Kingston". I look forward to when you reach Trinidad for Carnival!