David Wears was moved enough to write a note on Facebook that I felt the WORLD should have read! My personal thoughts and feelings will remain with me until I can respectfully say what I want concerning the public opinions of ISLANDpeople Mas on the whole. Kudos to him for NOT following the sheep!
LET ME SAY THIS ABOUT #ISLANDPeople: When they fail, they does always get MAJOR rag up for their failure, BUT when they succeed, they does HIT IT out of the OVAL!
Well done, Dane & Derek Lewis, this is yours idea, your brand & your baby. Excellent work, Marlon, Colin & Penny for your creativity, your constant pushing the brand and making the brand WORK. You & your teams have scored big time with something NEW, FRESH & APPEALING!
Well done, Curtis Bachan, lighting director for this event for NAPA! As a photographer, you know how I does cuss allyuh, lol, but the lighting balance with spot on, as is customary with your productions.
When we all assembled at NAPA, Port of Spain, thinking, "What IP coming with now,", I, for one, was a little concerned, as it was a new project for the IP team and there was quite a lot of planning involved.
Walking into the auditorium, looking at the fog-filled space, seeing 2 stages, each off to the sides, opposite of the auditorium staircases, with 2 screen behind the stages, pleased that they were projection based & not LED so the lighting was still perfect onstage, but I saw the 40" TV monitor smack dab in the middle of the floor in front, I wondered what the hell next.
The presentation was a bit long, 75mins, BUT, to me, it kept me entertained throughout. It was mix of mas, drama & performance. I coulda do without the Honourable Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism, Dr Lincoln Douglas, who PROVES once again, the reason for walking with a PREPARED SPEECH, which he DIDN'T. I will ignore him.
The 1st segment's sections, Awakening, Dovev(Whispering Truth) & Nahimana(That which is Mystic) show off the Mystery element, with their heavy torquoise, blues, reds & browns hues. Impressive costumes all round but pleased to see Awakening Gladiator man-wear, which will certainly have those musclemen & undercover male S&M lovers thinking of joining.
Spoken word poet, Jean-Claude Cournand, enters the stage to give us his narrative, "A wine could change your life", a very witty view on how IP masqueraders joined the band and it changed their lives. From one about a 1st time visitor to Trinidad, marrying the woman he met & wined on during that Carnival, to calculated proof that a carnival wine led to a birth.
A party Drinks truck cut-out passes across the stage to 'pick up' Jean-Claude complete with a masquerader who hurriedly attempts to teach him how to wine, another FAILED affair! On the 2nd pass by the truck, it drops off Swappy, who mash up the place & shows how to wine as he passing up the auditorium staircase to the exit. LOL
The 2nd segment impresses as the 1st, costumes aplenty, colours & beauties wining on stage. This segment defines the magic, and I have to add, the section, Zulimar ends with the appearance of T&T's TOP MODEL, Soowan Bramble, giving homage to the female frontline costume, which is also beautiful, but THAT WOMAN IS BOSS!! She could make a URP uniform BRILLIANT if she ever has to wear it, even with the HELMET on!! LOL. She received a lusty(and I DO mean lustful) round of applause & cheers from the large turnout as she hit the stage.
Segment 2 ends with Inga Schluer adding violin to the voices of the Bishop Anstey High School's Senior Choir & the vibrant young rhythm section, Hands of Rhythm. They created a harmony entwining soca classics and new rhythms, leading us into the final segment, Mystery, and its sections. Soca artist, Patrice Roberts ends that section coming onstage in full costume and looking GREAT, no longer the little skinny tom-boy dressed Toco gyul, but blossoming into a young ripe Trinbago woman that would melt any heart(and a lil lower) and her costume, from section Qu'elle Marveille, gave tribute to this.
All segments appeared onstage for the last time at the finale and they proceeded out the auditorium to the front foyer for photos and refreshments.
I was very pleased with the turnout of this event for more than one reason. This was the 1st time I had my daughter accompany me and I was glad to see that she witnessed a production that put a little meaning into its event, giving some explanation to why this is done. My 13yr old nodded and bobbed to the music, questioned the reason for such scantily clad wear & enjoyed the overall production. I couldn't ask for more, after all, LET'S FACE IT, we ALL go to Tribe, Fantasy, Yuma, Harts &them others where they all fall into the line of; presentation for 45 minutes, FETE for 4hrs, drink alcohol, get drunk, get lucky, go home. This was a difference. A well thought out event giving another measure of entertainment to those who came. A product that I do hope was visually recorded and will be places online, as I heard it wasn't streamed(unfortunately). Mind you, there was THE FETE after, as all were invited to Zen where, from what I heard, party went on till after 2am. SO THERE!!
And what did people there think? Lemme quote 2 friends. One said it best, "I didn't know this was a race, but IPMas certainly gave the BEST presentation(for 2014)." and another was, "I can't WAIT to see what's gonna happen next year!". I too can't wait, after all, it's gonna be Island People's 10th Anniversary so they have to come good! LOL.
Final word: I know with our fickle society, we love to kick you when you down, and remind you that we did, and then we quickly forget to praise you when you succeed. I have always seen this and tried my best NOT to follow the norm.
I wish to say to you, guys, Well done, IP, for hitting it out of the Oval!
PS. Pls FORGIVE me for not mentioning super T&T
dance group, Eclectic, who performed during the showing of IP section, Auric. They were fantastic!!
