ALICE JAN: FIRST
LADY OF T&T INDIAN CULTURE
Caldeo Sookram
INDIAN CULTURAL PIONEERS
Sunday Express
Section 2
January 2, 2000
Page 15
In
the early days of concerts featuring Indian songs, music and
dance in Trinidad and Tobago, women never performed on stage. Men played the role of women in the dance
dramas of the time, among them the Indra Sabha. These concerts were the premier form of entertainment in the
early part of this century, since there were no radio stations, televisions and
the few movies shown in theatre houses were silent ones.
The
entry of Alice Jan onto the stage changed that order. This young, beautiful girl from San Fernando teamed up with Fakir
Mohammed's Indra Sabha dance drama in Port of Spain.
Playing
the part of Sabaj Parree, the principal dancer of the show, Alice Jan went on
to thrill audiences throughout the country.
A fearless young woman, Alice Jan defied traditions and social norms and
established herself as the first woman to step into the dance arena.
And
while her dancing brought admirers from all over the country to her shows,
indeed it was her beauty that was the most talked about subject of the
day. She instantly became the idol of
thousands with her movie star looks.
Men who looked at her fell in love with her. Her grey eyes, pink complexion and tall lissome body charmed
people everywhere. Admirers waited only
to catch a glimpse of her and having done so were contented that their day was
made.
Fans
literally fell over one another to meet her.
On more than one occasion in Couva, Chaguanas and Cedros fights broke
out among audiences clamouring to get closer to her as she performed on
stage. Police had to be called in to
restore law and order.
And
as her fame continued to spread, well-to-do men, estate managers and business
magnates sought her company and showered her with expensive gifts. Alice Jan stood atop the world. She had errand boys, caddies, and servants
to do her bidding. She was the darling
of the men folk.
Alice
continued her dancing, establishing her own troupe in later years and trained
young girls in the art form. She was
also a good singer and as she herself remarked, "When I sang, it was like
honey."
At
the height of her career, Alice lived at Mendine and Henry Streets in San
Fernando. Close to that residence also
lived a young boy, Ralph Narine, with his parents. Today Justice Ralph Narine, a retired Appeal Court judge, recalls
his meeting with her in the early 1930s.
"Every time Alice met me, she used to give me a six cents
piece. I called her Nanee. My mother called her Mai. We lived nearby, so we met regularly. I never knew why, but Alice Jan always had a
six cents piece for me. I was not aware
that she was a famous dancer then but my mother knew more about her dancing
career."
Justice
Narine further recalls that when he started to play music in the late 1930s
(violin and mandolin) with the S. M. Aziz Orchestra in San Fernando, Alice
danced to their musical accompaniment.
But he remembered that she had a swollen foot commonly called a 'big
foot' at that time and while the enthusiasm was there, her dazzling movements
of the earlier years were missing.
With
the band, Alice sang light classicals like thumris and gazals, says Justice
Narine. Alice also sang at 'cooking
nights' playing her own dhantal and sometimes dholak. She always wore an orhni, remembers Justice Narine.
As
the years passed by, Alice sold her house in San Fernando and moved to a
smaller house at Maharaj Lands in Marabella.
Her many fans and admirers grew fewer and her sources of income were
drying up. So she turned to selling
sweepstake tickets on the streets of San Fernando.
Again
Justice Narine recalls: "When I returned from England and started my law
practice in San Fernando, I bought sweepstake tickets from her. I also gave her little gifts of money. It was a way of repaying her kindness to me
when I was a little boy."
Born
in Princes Town in the 1890s, Alice Jan came from a Muslim family. Twice married, she had a son, her only
child, from her first marriage.
It
was reported that her son forsook his mother because of her 'bad reputation'
earned by dancing and from her association with men.
Alice
was for a brief period a bus conductor in 'rebel days' aboard a bus named
'Princess Zuleka.' And with such a charming
bus conductor helping to transport commuters to their destinations, it was not
uncommon for her bus to full faster than the others.
Alice
had a second marriage to Mahabir, a barber of Debe.
It
was reported that Mahabir found that his beautiful wife attracted too much
attention and in a fit of jealousy slashed her across her face to disfigure
her.
Old
age and ill health were to take their toll on Alice Jan in later years. She now had to use a walking stick to limp
around the southern city to sell her sweepstake tickets. And as the burden of her 'big foot', now
turned into an incurable 'sore', increased, Alice had to use a crutch to walk.
The
good times were gone forever. Alice
became a 'vagrant', living on the streets.
No one cared for her. The joyous
days were no more.
She
was subsequently granted a place of 'comfort' in the 'Poor House' at St James
by people who were concerned. There she
spent some of her last days dreaming of the glory days of yesteryear. As Alice's illness became too much of a
burden for the nurses at the 'Poor House' to take care of, she was transferred
to the Port of Spain General Hospital for medical attention.
It was
now 1976 and Alice Jan, now an 80-year-old bed-ridden woman, was in her last
days. Soon she died and at her funeral
only about a dozen people were in attendance.