Veils & Shamrocks

Last week gone has been an ultimately busy week - it was St Patrick's on Saturday, and let me tell you, St. Patrick's really is a big thing in Montserrat! A week-long festival which started last Monday saw myself conducting the secondary school choir for their debut performance, playing with Volpanics in what was my first ever steel pan gig, dance behind a truck loaded with massive speakers moving at half a mile an hour (this is called a jump up!), embark on a rum shop tour, crash a stage where the string band was playing (well, not quite: I just grabbed a pair of shakers and edged in), and eat lots of food. Glorious, Caribbean food!

More pictures of these all to follow. But first, last night was the Emerald Community Singers' annual cabaret performance (as part of St Paddy's festival), and the Chinese folk dance quartet finally had their chance to showcase their moves in complete splendor. This folksong is native of the Xinjiang region in China, where majority of the region's total population adheres to Islam. This lyrics describe a young lady whose beautiful features are covered by a veil, and she is being edged on by the singer to reveal some of her alluring facial features, while he extols her resplendent qualities in song.


This item was performed by Gerren Gerrald, Beth Breuer, Vicky Wilson and Cupid Francis, with Sujue Davis providing artistic advisory and myself playing music man, of course.

Royals & Masquerades

The previous Friday, 2 Mar 2012, was the day of the royal visit by the Earl and Countess of Wessex, who spent a day at Montserrat as part of the The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Tour. This was to be one of the royal couple's stops on their nine-country tour around the Caribbean. This was, of course, big news for the island - weeks of preparation were dedicated during the lead-up to this visit, although I must admit the biggest benefit I received from all this was that all the pot-holes on the road were being filled - albeit only those that were on the 'royal route'.

Prince Eddie and Princess Sophie got off on a busy morning start, after mooring off the coast of Montserrat - an RFA ship which I'm sure has been outfitted for more luxurious guests. Well, better than a luxury yacht, given these times of austerity. Activities amongst their tour included an investiture, the opening of the Little Bay market (which I hear has been 'opened' for what is the sixth time now - every time a royal visit occurs, the market is opened, even though the market is never used on a regular basis), a visit to the MVO and watching a primary school steel orchestra at Blakes football field. I was present at the last event, just to soak up a bit of the royal atmosphere, wave a flag and generally be a good empire subject.

Children welcoming the royal couple.

My MSS students in the masquerade get-up.

The primary school pan orchestra in the background.

There was also a masquerade dance performance presented to the royal couple, something which I gathered seems to be a uniquely Montserratian dance tradition. It is both a ritual and celebratory element of folk music, with dancers donning bright costumes, voluminous adornments, colourful masks and even a whip. It 'whipper' appears to be the 'leader' of the dance, summoning and dismissing different dancers in the ensemble. This dance is accompanied on the fife and drums.

Masquerade dancers performing for the royal couple.

The popular prince.

And after twelve short hours, the earl and countess headed back to their ship before setting off for what I believe was St Kitts, where they would be treated to a somewhat similar programme. Must be hard, the life of a royal!

Radio interviews & Folk dancing

Last Wednesday, ZJB Radio Montserrat paid a visit to the music classrooms to catch a glimpse of some of the Form 1s in the midst of their music lessons, as well as to give some of my students and myself a quick interview. Students were asked about their impression of the music programme so far and what they hope to achieve from it. We talked briefly about my role on the island, what I have set out to achieve and whether there will be someone taking over when I leave in July (of which there will be someone).

A Form 1 student being interviewed.

Students sharing their thoughts.

Lesson activities written out in old-school chalk.

The radio interview was broadcast on the same day an hour later, which I unfortunately missed. In other news, my exploration and familiarization of Montserrat continues, and last week marked the first time I explored Lookout, a big housing 'village' project meant to relocate Montserratians after the last major eruption in 1995. Lookout has quite a young demographic of residents and is quite a hive of community bustle.

Marguerita Bay, adjacent to Lookout.

I have embarked on another community 'cultural' project, this time with Sujoe Davis - the governor's wife. She originally hails from China and is a well-travelled lady who has, along with her husband, served in many different diplomatic posts with the Foreign Office in many various countries around the world. She is also quite a linguist, who fluently speaks Japanese, Teochew, English, Mandarin, and a smattering of Arabic and Thai.

She has proposed that a Xinjiang folk dance be performed during the St Patrick's Day celebrations, with Cupid - the Director of Culture - singing in Mandarin whilst accompanied by a bevy of dancing ladies. Sujoe herself has choreographed the Chinese folk dance routine, and I have been arranging the music and accompanying rehearsals. So far they have been a good laugh, although sooner or later we'll have to buckle down if we want to get that pronunciation sorted out!

Cupid enjoying a wee tease.

Community-based ensembles such as Small Beginnings and Volpanics commence this month, having broken up for Christmas. Workload will certainly increase, and this, however, has not been placated by a somewhat frustrating lack of logistical and administrative support from the school. I am now considering trying to run after-school activities through a more 'community'-based channel through the Ministry of Culture (of which Cupid does a fantastic job in leading it), instead of trying to run them through the school and, indirectly, via the Ministry of Education.