CARLTON FRANCIS
FRANCIS WANTS TO
RESURRECT OUR
D-E-D FOLK DANCES
By Clevon Raphael
Where are they
now?
Independent
June 2, 2000
Page 18
Not
so long ago he was really big in the dance - folk dancing that
it.
Today,
Carlton Francis is a hurt artiste.
As
far as he is concerned, the dance is over - dead, to use his fatalistic stance.
He
feels he and others of his ilk are not sufficiently accorded the recognition
they deserve.
For
those who may not know or remember him, the former being the younger crowd,
Francis has been thrilling Trinidad and Tobago's and overseas stages for more
than 40 years as a dancer, pannist and drummer.
Although
no longer having a permanent aggregation, which was known as the Carlton
Francis Dance Company, the 59-year-old retired Culture Officer in the Ministry
of Community Development now and again gathers some of his former members whom
he terms "my children," for the occasional requests he still gets for
performances.
But
his present status has in no way diminished his love for the culture;
especially folk dancing, which he says is the lifeblood of the nation's soul.
His
life-long affair with the arts started as a child in St James, where he was
born and in Carenage, when he attended wakes and witnessed for the first tike,
mourners doing the traditional dances performed at such ceremonies, which
included the bongo.
At
his Phase One Powder Magazine, Cocorite home, Francis, who has fathered 16
children (the youngest three), reminisced last week:
"I
grew up with a strong Orisa background so I guess it was easy for me to feel
the pull of our indigenous dances which we have a total of more than 150. But sadly, only about 30 to 40 are being
performed."
"Apart
from wakes principally in the rural areas, the other venue where these dances
are being exposed is at the Best Village competition. Sadly, again, these dances are not being executed as they ought
to."
"If
you ask me the question: is folk dancing dead in this country? The answer is an unequivocal yes. D-E-D.
Put that just as I say it; D-E-D."
So,
who killed the dance?
Not
wanting to ascribe blame to any single individual or entity, Francis, who has
diplomas from local and foreign educational institutions in ritual and cultural
arts, and a diploma from the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New
York, argued:
"As
I said Best Village is a major venue for the propagation of our folk culture
but unfortunately, they seem to have it all wrong when it comes to folk
dancing. And I am talking about from
day one of the programme."
"You
may find this a bit baffling having regard to the fact that I, or groups
trained by me, have taken part in this annual cultural exposition. The fact is however; I never had any
administrative functions in the programme.
My part was as a performer-choreographer."
"The
death of the dance has been accidental, not deliberate because they honestly
don't know what they are doing. For
instance they mix up the pique dance with the quelbe dance."
"As
the name implies the quelbe is a dance to quell, to cool down the
woman. The pique is not a wining
dance as it is presently performed. The
point is you need someone qualified, who knows the history, the rhythm and the
movements of the dances in order to correct a wrong legacy that has been bequeathed
to that aspect of Best Village and by extension our culture."
Like
others who have through this column, volunteered their expertise to assist
nationally in their respective fields, Francis, speaking from his modestly
furnished apartment, the walls of which are adorned with plaques and trophies
presented to him over the years, stressed: "Of course I am willing to
serve but I will do it my way.
Number one, I want to educate the judges in dance they must know the
proper rhythms, the chants. They must know
the history of the dance before they judge people."
"I
want to train the dance tutors who train the dancers at the community level as
the first step in reviving our rich folk dance heritage. I also want to work with the drummers."
"Another
thing they must do in order to put life back into the dance is to have the
Dance Association run every aspect of the dance category and the Drama
Association deal with the drama in Best Village."
"These
respective bodies have the expertise to properly conduct those categories and I
see no reason why their services cannot be called into play. We also have to think seriously about
opening a school of continuous training, not the usual two or three week crash
course just before Best Village."
In
this regard he visualizes dance extra-ordinaires such as Julia Edwards, Jean
Coggins-Simmons, Sat Balkaransingh, Eric Butler, Molly Ahye, Lester Efebo
Wilkins, Torrance Mohammed, Eugene Joseph and of course himself, playing a
leading role.
For
someone who has devoted his entire life to the arts does he feel well treated
and recognised today?
"No,
No. Let me show you something. I ain't
get nutten, ok? For instance the
Friends of Queen's hall honoured dancers and five they bestowed honours on were
N.Y. students. Is alright (his pained
expression betrays him here), with me because God looks after his people. I cyah vex for dat."