CARNIVAL!
 Carnival!
– Masbro Centre – Saturday, 14 August 2004
The tradition of Carnival is one that has become an essential part of every
London summer. while the world famous Notting Hill Carnival is often the first
thing that pops into many people's minds when they hear the word, "carnival",
we should not forget the rich tradition of other carnivals.
West London, after
all, has one of the richest carnival traditions in the world and some of the
smaller, more local celebrations often capture the creativity, good spirit and
sense of local community that are at the very root of the carnival tradition.
The Masbro Centre, the community centre run by the Blythe Neighbourhood Council,
has a tradition of an annual carnival that has run every summer for the last
twenty-two years. One of the things that makes Masbro's Carnival special is
that it has grown into an event that celebrates the cultural diversity of a
truly multicultural neighbourhood, yet has the impeccable credentials of attracting
the support of some of the top carnival performers.
This year's Carnival, for example, is being produced by Brazilian Carnival
Designer, Mandy Rodrigues. Mandy's involvement and the presence of the samba
band an dancers, Quilombo
Do Samba appearance as Carnival leader with his comrades in music Martin
Jay, Andre - former Notting Hill Carnival winners- will bring a definite flavour
of Rio to the event. Just as Daddy Ernie's tenth & Jade and Vinny Ranks,
to name a few, will ensure that the quality is undisputed.
One of the things that makes Masbro's Carnival special is its sense of inclusion.
For example, this year's programme includes Delaney's Academy of Irish Dancers
and HAFAD's First Chance puppetry project. And the youngest carnival revelers
will come directly from the centre's play scheme where children between the
ages of 5 and 11 have used preceding weeks to get involved in a range of creative
opportunities built around carnival arts.
Of course, there will also be the full array of Carnival Cuisine prepared under
the perfectionist guidance of Princess Amihiyia and the full array of stalls,
children’s activities, talent contests and frantic antics. For further
information and details please check out the Masbtro
Centre's site
Historic Tradition
The origins and history of Carnival are as complex and detailed as many astounding
carnival costumes.
Carnivals that have grown up in specific regions or locations often have a
unique feel or specific traditions distinctive to that region. For example,
the famous Carnival in Rio, Brazil, has it's flavour, the one in Trinidad it's
unique qualities and the related tradition on Mardi Gras in New Orleans, its
own unique features.
What they all share in common is that they are rich traditions born in a melting
pot of cultures. The musical, dance and religious traditions that slaves taken
from Africa to the Caribbean brought with them came into contact with other
traditions. These included both the Catholic traditions of Spanish conquistadors
and the traditions of indigenous populations of Central America.
Put together these heady ingredients with a dash of French, British and Portuguese
colonial influences for a few hundred years and the unique carnival traditions
arising from the Caribbean and Central America were bound to be anything but
simple.
If we consider the music, the costumes or even the cuisine, the wealth of influences
is evident. Costumes draw on imagery ranging from ancient peoples of South America
such as the Aztecs through to Spanish-influenced salsa costumes; music embraces
underlying African percussion and brass instruments brought by slave owners
to the Caribbean.
Exactly when and how Carnival as we know it today started is fiercely debated.
But, certainly, one of the key moments that should not be forgotten is the 19th
century. Following the Abolition of Slavery Act in 1833, Black Carribeans took
the streets in Trinidad in a carnival of song, dance and costumes.
In Britain, the tradition of Carnival is strongly associated with the immigrant
population form the Caribbean who arrived in the 1950s.
If you are interested in learning more about how these traditions came about,
below are a series of excellent resources on the web...
The Carnival
Roadshow Company's site
has a section on the history of the Notting Hill Carnival that is full of
informative background information on how the Notting Hill Carnival developed
in the 1960s
Carnivalpower
is something of a virtual supermarket for carnival fans. With coverage of most
regions in the Caribbean and North America, this site has lots of pictures of
recent carnivals in motion. Not the easiest site to navigate, so don’t
miss this
section for their user-friendly history of carnival.
The
Carnival Dates Project – Trinidad & Tobago
This project in the Caribbean provides some excellent resources on the history
and origins of carnival. You can jump straight to general historical information
on Carnival and its development in this section of their site, “The Roots
of Carnival” . If you want to know more about this interesting project
and its aims, please also check out this
section of their site.
The Afropop Worldwide
site gives some interesting views on the background history of Brazilian
Carnival.If you’re a fan of carnival or other Caribbean music, why
not try out the search engine on their homepage. Try putting in terms like “soca”,
calypso” or “samba” or the names of your favourite artists.
You might be surprised how much you can find on the site.
Home
of Carnival
Trinidad & Tobago are generally believed to be one of the regions with the
strongest influence on the carnival traditions that have developed in London.
This is the official Trinidad & Tobago site for their carnivals.
On
Route – The Art of Carnival
The Arts Council for England has made available a full online version of their
publication of the same name. Offering essays, interviews and serious analysis,
this is essential reading for anyone who is seriously interested in Carnival
in the UK. This link will take you to the top level where you can download the
individual sections of the publication.
Taino –
Story of the 'Caribs and Arawaks'
is an interesting place to start if all this has made you more interested in
the history of Caribbean peoples. This site run by SELF, a group based in Trinidad
and Tobago offers some fascinating writing on the histories of the Caribbean
and Black History worldwide.
Nationmaster.com
is a useful online encyclopedia. There entry on “carnival”
gives interesting information not only on carnival celebrations in the Caribbean
and Central America, but also on European regions with a carnival tradition.
DIY Carnival
If your interest lies more in the practical than the theoretical and you fancy
trying your hand at some carnival arts, here are a few places in west London that
might be of interest.
Fusion Community
Carnival Arts
are a community arts organization based in Brent that offers a range of workshops
and activities in carnival arts.
Salsa
For those of you who fancy getting rhythmic and syncopated carnival-style, there
are a number of venues in west London that offer courses in Salsa and Latin
American dance styles. Here are just a few to try:
In
Harrow...
In
Hammersmith & Fulham...
In
Brent...
Carnival Cuisine
For those of you who like the idea of learning to cook some of the tasty and fragrant
dishes associated with carnival, you could try this
course in Hammersmith & Fulham
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