Carnival artforms safe in the hands of our youth

On this pre-Carnival Sunday, we give thanks for all the gifts with which our country has been blessed and especially so, the talent and creativity of our young people.We laud the San Fernando Boys’ RC Primary School, the national Primary School Junior Panorama Champions. Their outstanding rendition of ‘Dingolay’ by Winston ‘Shadow’ Peters was cause for joy and celebration. It meant sweet victory for them, but their excellence signified far more than that.

It was a clear signal that our national legacy, the pan, is being passed on to the next generation. The children have been taught respect and love for it and have experienced the pure enjoyment intrinsic in the music itself.

They have also learned that only the highest standards are acceptable and that achieving those standards results from long hours of practice and personal sacrifice.

This truth was evident, too, in the performances of the Bishop Anstey and Trinity College East (BATCE) Steel Orchestra, national champions in the secondary school category and the Renegades Youth Steel Orchestra, overall Junior Panorama Champions.

Indeed, all the schools and youth steel orchestras now hold the reins of real power in their hands. The ability to play and enjoy the pan and to bring pleasure to audiences is a tremendous gift in itself.

The awareness that it is now their responsibility to keep the standard of their music high and to ensure that other young people and by extension, future generations follow in their footsteps, is an awesome one. In their hands lies the power to pass on real wealth!

The country must recognise and give its fullest support to these young musicians.  The values they have gained through preparing for and participating in a national pan music festival can never be undervalued. In fact, when they are applied to the other areas of their lives, it augurs well for national pride and holistic development.

The achievements of our youth do not result from bribery, corruption, nepotism or any other form of personal or national destructiveness. Trinidad and Tobago could reach heights of commitment, productivity, pride and patriotism that are tragically lacking today. It would do us adults well if we would take an example from our children.

We also salute the arrangers, tuners, drillers, parents, teachers, school administrations and community organisations without whom our children could not have reaped all these benefits.

Their selflessness can often go unacknowledged, but they are the instruments of the Lord and their service to our children is service to the Lord Himself. He will multiply the fruits of their time, talent and treasure.

It is up to the national community now to keep our God-given gifts safe and to ensure that they flourish for our benefit and to the glory of God.

As we laud our young pannists, we also congratulate our junior calypsonians, our young masqueraders, our talented young artists and every proponent of the arts with whom our country has been blessed.

Their creative and innovative initiatives, their enthusiasm for our cultural forms and the high standards evident in their work and their performances are beacons of hope for our people.

One area to which we must pay particular attention is our tradition of ole mas. It will die if we do not teach our children the importance of wit, originality and creativity in their presentations.

Much of this has been lost to the t-shirt and bareback, often drunken and hopelessly generic ‘costumes’ that have become a main feature on J’Ouvert morning.

The ole mas artform barely survives and its survival is thanks to the few men and women who produce bands and seek to pass on this national legacy by holding workshops at schools.

May the best and richest traditions of our Carnival thrive among us and may we make them good and fitting gifts to our God.