MASSASSINATION.: BLAZE: Release the fire inside. Costumes and Synopsis.

MASSASSINATION.: BLAZE: Release the fire inside. Costumes and Synopsis.

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In this T&T Guardian file photo, Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism
 Winston Peters (Gypsy), left,
 is captured at a function with fellow calypsonian
 Opposition Councillor Franz Lambkin (Delamo).

All systems are go for Carnival 2011, according to Arts & Multiculturalism Minister Winston Peters (Gypsy).
Speaking off the record at a reception for cultural personalities last week Friday at Knowsley Building in Port-of-Spain, the minister said a new National Carnival Commission (NCC) Board was to be installed soon. The man shortlisted to be the new chairman is Kenny De Silva, a former chairman of the Commission. Up to last Wednesday afternoon, however, De Silva said he had received no instrument of appointment.


The composition of the new board augurs well for C2K11 especially as other names mentioned include experienced veterans in Carnival, including Don Sylvester and Cyril Collier, in addition to the heads of Carnival’s Special Interest groups (SIGs), including Keith Diaz (Pan Trinbago); Lutalo Masimba (Bro Resistance), (Tuco); and Wrenrick Brown (NCBA).

Peters also said the Parade of the Bands competition would be returning inside the Queen’s Park Savannah, its traditional home, instead of proceeding along the outside southern perimeter of the venue. He added that a main stage would be returned, with north and grand viewing stands. Himself being the National Calypso Monarch of 1997, and a multiple champion in extempore competition, Peters said there was every likelihood that next year calypsonians would be required to sing two selections for the national monarch competition, a move welcomed by many of the veteran calypsonians.         Contacted on Wednesday, Tuco president Lutalo Masimba (Bro Resistance), with a chuckle in his voice, said: “As far as I am concerned this decision can only be taken by the membership of Tuco and the jury’s still out on that. We are discussing it, though.” Concurring with Resistance was former national monarch Michael Osuna (Sugar Aloes), who said: “While I consider this is a progressive move, it is not a decision for any minister to make. Only Tuco can make this decision. But, I am for the two songs as it will separate the men from the boys in the competition.”


Extemporama

Before C2K11 comes around, however, Peters has given his endorsement to this evening’s Extemporama being held at SWWTU Hall, on Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, from 8 pm. A virtual clash between the best exponents of extempore, representing the three zones of Tuco, Peters affirmed the event was not a competition, but a chance for “bragging rights in the genre.” Tonight’s zonal war is billed as “De Councillor vs De Minister” as many people expect it to come down to a face-off between the arts minister and COP Councillor Phillip Murray (Black Sage). Widely regarded to be the world’s best extempore artistes, Peters said he didn’t intend taking any prisoners tonight as he knew each contestant would be gunning for him.

In mirth, he said: “It will be fire in town on Friday night, and I intend getting them before they get me.” Also in the fray tonight are Contender, Fire Ball, Gary Ranks, Black Sage (North); Lingo, Lady Africa, Sheldon John, Dion Diaz (East); Brian London, Abebele, Short Pants, Gypsy (South). Peters was complimentary of the young people venturing into the realm of extempore, singling out Fire Ball and Bunji Garlin, adding that they brought their own unique but entertaining treatment to the art form. Hosted by Mervyn Telfer and Shirlaine Hendrickson, this evening’s show also features former calypso monarch Relator, with musical accompaniment by Moods.

Tunes for Panorama 2011
As far as pan and the 2011 National Panorama Competition are concerned, calypsonians have already completed their “pan songs,” including De Original De Fosto Himself, Crazy and Eunice Peters.
Four hot tracks for Panorama 2011 are:
• In She Rainorama sung by De Fosto—composed by Winston Scarborough;
• Desperadoes Coming Down sung by De Fosto—composed by Winston Scarborough;
• A Raging Storm sung by DeFosto—composed by Winston Scarborough;
• Percy on Me sung by Crazy—composed by Edwin Ayoung & Winsford Devine.

Calypso tents
The calypso tents are also gearing up for a bumper C2K11 season.
Speaking with Pulse on Wednesday, Calypso Revue producer Sugar Aloes said all systems were go for the season. He said auditions would commence on November 14 and continue every Sunday, at 11 am, at a venue to be announced. The regional tents operated by Tuco are also in their final planning stages, as well as the Icons tent operated by another former national and Independence monarch, Weston Rawlins (Cro Cro).  

PETER BALROOP

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Man behind Mas Man

Dalton Narine, writer, filmmaker and Vietnam War veteran is a Trinbagonian cultural ambassador who had a first-rate childhood. While one may not link growing up dirt-poor in what he calls “the badjohn era of steelpan” as such, it was that very environment that fuelled his artistic adventures. David Rudder now sings longingly about that era when brilliance arose from the grimy streets and harsh hillsides in places like Belmont and Laventille. It was a time when the class system was clearly defined, and though the majority of residents fell at or below the poverty line the souls of many overflowed with a wealth of creative energy. Some of that energy was manifested as violence, but, for the most part, it articulated creative expression. Dalton recalls growing up in Gonzales, when music, art and culture were basically all he had to subsist on.

“My father so wanted his three children to turn out to be good people he begged a piano to teacher to give us lessons on the cheap. It’s funny because we barely had money for food, yet the piano nourished my mind and soul and led to pan.”

Today, the gruesome headlines about Laventille and places like Gonzales makes Dalton’s experiences seem like an idealistic Billy Elliot-style fantasy. But he is living proof that our culture, music and art could help one transcend barriers of class, race and nationality. He became a decorated U.S veteran, and was a respected writer for The Village Voice, Esquire and Ebony, where he served as associate editor. But he's always had a toehold in Trinidad, and continues to write feature stories for The Guardian. He is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker. His transition from print to filmmaking was seamless perhaps because it was destiny.

“I am a filmmaker because I am a writer who likes to add pictures to prose. If it sounds voyeuristic then it is. It’s my art. Not my subject’s art. When I was about 12, my friends and I used to go down to the old Pyramid theatre and they always used to laugh at me because, after the movie, I would still sit and watch the credits and I would tell them, ‘One day my name going to be up there!’ And you know, to this day, I don’t ever walk out of a movie until the credits finish rolling,”

Currently, his favorite subject for artistic voyeurism is undoubtedly Peter Minshall. Mas Man is his latest exploration of his intrigue with this Emmy and Trinity Cross award-winning carnival artist. After his successful and celebrated Minshall Triology, Dalton realized there was more to be told, and he is hoping not just Trinibagonians but the world will appreciate the genius of Minshall.

“He's enigmatic and enthralling, an artist who is driven to be the best at his craft, which is to design events that dance and tell stories that may not reach you literally, but, like all art, communicate within the purview of your sense of reasoning, sometimes even beyond the scope of observation. What amazes is how he channels your vision and mental processes so that you get it. You must get it. It's all subliminal, particularly in the detail of the mas, how he can provoke response.”

He recalls how during research for the filming of the Triology, Minshall “…became something of an apparition,” when the mas man tried to convey the scope and sentiment of his art by re-enacting the entire concept himself with naught but a candle in the kitchen for dramatic lighting effect. That was when Dalton discovered that it was best not to try to shape the man into the film but let the film be shaped by the man. Dalton knew he wanted to capture more moments like this within a more organic and free-flowing structure for another project. Mas Man would be that vehicle.

“I decided this time around there would be no narrator. Instead, what we would do is to interview as many as 32 people and edit the film so that they all contributed to the narrative. It worked brilliantly, I think. Imagine panning for gold and you come up with diamonds, rubies and rare gems in the editing room. Editing was a dream because you also got to analyze Minshall’s British delivery and intellectual gems, and suddenly he would floor you with a left hook, ripping it with street-corner ole talk. I swear if he weren't a mas man he'd be one fierce dude on the block, regaling limers with stories, all of them newly minted. And he does these mental gymnastics with so much ease. He really embodies Shakespeare’s As You Like It which says, ‘All the world is a stage,’ Well Minshall was both the stage and the entire play during a total of five hours in front of the camera. He's a natural."

Dalton recalls one particular moment at Minshall's home on a Carnival Sunday. “While associate producer/cameraman Benedict Joseph and myself were searching for interior shots, he was seated at a table with a sketch pad, the camera wandering around the room, when he suddenly started ramajaying with his pencil, then breaking the silence with a pithy statement: ‘If there's going to be another band, it would be Paradise Regained, and maybe it would be called (spelling it out) “Rezarrek”. How do you spell 'resurrect?' "

Dalton compares Minshall to “The Joker” in The Dark Knight with a mind full of pyrotechnics but behind the façade has a playful heart and a passion for the country some folks still do not fully appreciate, perhaps because they don't understand his calibre of art and gift of patriotism.

“In the film, a Uruguyan art critic and university professor in New York, breaks down the methodology by acknowledging that art used to be for those that understood and preserved it, not for the community; and Minshall, with his knowledge of class structure, pushed the mas up into this other sphere, making it alive by combining it with tradition -- a major cultural achievement, this tightrope that he walks.”

Even though the film is going through the "sweet pain of the final cut," like all experienced filmmakers (this is his 14th documentary), Dalton is not waiting till completion to tackle the business end of things. He envisions Mas Man as a self-sustaining documentary that will be screened at renowned film festivals around the world and art channels like Ovation for a long time. Although Dalton is a do-it-yourself kind of guy, he is beside himself with gratitude to his team and the Trinidad and Tobago Film Company.

“They played an integral role in the post-production. They were not there at the start and during the four and a half lean years, but they came in the nick of time. Talk about the ‘universe being patient’! I tell you by that time we were battered and bruised and they were like a knight in shining armor. I fully intend to make myself available for their workshop sessions, whatever they need, 'cause you have to give back. That’s what it is all about.”

Indeed, that is a sentiment Peter Minshall also shares, always quoting Federico Garcia Lorca, who once said that water drawn from the well of the people should be given back to them in a cup of beauty.

Dalton recounts when Son of Saga Boy, an ode to survival of the indomitable human spirit in the face of HIV/AIDS, didn't make the Kings Finals in 2006, an admirer said to Minshall, ‘I'm so sorry about your king.' Minshall’s response was, “Damn it! You got it all wrong. It is not MY King, it’s YOUR King. I did it for YOU!”

Whether or not Mas Man is the result of voyeuristic artistry or uninhibited storytelling on Dalton’s part there is no doubt a similar motivation is guiding this intimate portrait. By revealing the man, he has revealed himself to be a patriot and “soul brother in arms” to the man behind the mas.

“In Trinidad and Tobago, we have been looking for a standard-bearer all these years. Well, this is your standard- bearer!” Dalton proclaims.

Trinidad and Tobago Film Company

SOURCE

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THE PETER MINSHALL FAN PAGE

If your a fan of the Legend that is Peter Minshall then you should take a look at the Peter Minshall Mas Fans page on Facebook, if you want to see pictures of his works post pictures of your own or got a story of a Minshall moment in your live this is the fan page for you to join, with a fast growing membership that grows by the day and names like Peter Samuel and Dalton Narine posting messages and updates, and a promise of something special around the corner what happens next on this fan page one can only guess...

so check it out!
PETER MINSHALL FAN PAGE ON FACEBOOK

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