April 19, 2007 — Despite a shortfall of troupes, V.I. culture was on grand display Wednesday night as the V.I. Carnival Committee presented its annual King and Queen of the Bands program at the Lionel Roberts Stadium.
Traditionally seen as a preview of a variety of Carnival troupes, this year's roster of contenders proved quite sparse, with only two junior groups (Fete’ TasTic and 4-H Carnival Troupe) and one senior (the Hugga Bunch Carnival Troupe) signing on to participate.
Hugga Bunch member and past Queen of the Bands Daphne Gumbs was exhausted yet exhilarated from a marathon preparation session that went until the wee hours.
She described this year's theme: "We are warriors … we want to use red as the dominant color. So you'll see a lot of red coming up (the road) this year."
When asked about the fact that so few troupes participated in the competition this year, she remarked, "I was surprised … we did not enter last year. But we decided to start up again this year. In fact we are already planning for next year."
Although the King and Queen of the Bands title was theirs by default, Daphne ensured that the gathering crowd would not be shortchanged: "We're going to put on a show!"
With such a shortfall of troupes, organizers treated the audience to a cavalcade of cultural expression. The Lockhart Elementary School and Alumni presented its Afro-Caribbean dancers followed by the group's quadrille group. Their performance was dedicated to recent murder victim Laquina Hennis, who was a Lockhart student.
One high point of the evening was Sts. Peter and Paul High School's Passing of the Torch. The youngest of those taking part, 18-month old Aaliyah Dinanzio, was with her mother, Marlene Jimenez Dinanzio, whose son, David, is a second-grader in the group.
She had to let his baby sister jump up: "When we go to the practice, she likes to dance!" she said. According to coordinator Patricia Rogers, a second-grade teacher at the school, "If you start them from small — baby ones like Aaliyah — by the time they grow up it's in their blood … and they enjoy it at this age."
Passing of the Torch included dancers of all ages, including Father George Franklin, who had also given the night's invocation.
"Yes, I am that age," he laughed when asked if he was the eldest member of the party. "Miss Rogers came up with the idea — learning not only about ABCs, but about our culture. She went and got a grant and the uniforms, and the teaching, and we're here right now," he said. "And I think it's exciting!"
The outfits worn by everyone featured bold stripes of green, black, yellow, red and white.
"This was from a flag that was presented by (2006 gubernatorial candidate) Edgar Ross during his campaign," Franklin said. "He said it represented all the Caribbean islands – a kaleidoscope of people, and we wanted to pass that torch on as well."
Maypole plaiting was performed by the Ulla F. Muller Elementary School Panthers. The Junior Calypso Monarchs — Princess Keke (Na’Kaya Esdaille), Lady Prissy (Shirya Crabb), and King Yellow Man (Jalen Fredericks) — performed their winning selections from Tuesday evening.
Also performing were The V.I. Paradise Dance Twirlers, Stunts and Twirlers Majorettes, young calypsonian Khamoi DeSilvia, the Tropical Masqueraders and the Traditional Indians.
There was also quadrille by the St. Thomas Heritage Dancers (joined onstage by visitors from Denmark), along with the Shaka Zulu dance ensemble.
Shortly after 11 p.m., the winners were announced. Hugga Bunch, the sole entry, was granted the King and Queen of the Band titles for a warrior-inspired theme, as Shammie Phipps made the scene in a red rage of feathers and translucent netting pulled over radiating panels accented in gold.
Urban Descartes portrayed a fierce warrior in a blue-and-gold winged raiment, punctuated with diamond shapes, and brilliant blue plumage emanating from an empire collar of sequined fabric with sapphire circles and triangles. Both costumes were created by Clifford (Junior) Smith.
For Junior King of the Bands, Nyere Francis (4-H Carnival Troupe) took top honors as he pranced among an array of silver lamé drums, keyboards, musical staffs and cymbals beneath a gold-trimmed arch of musical notes and clefs.
Junior Queen of the Bands was Sundara Martinez (also of 4-H) as his accompaniment, piano and steel pan featuring radiating red boas shot through with black feather and silver trim. Concept and design were by Lisa Molyneaux.
Also competing in this category were members of the Fete’ TasTic Carnival Troupe with a jeweled theme: Jerrisha Rollins was a heart-shaped locket, D'Quan Matthews was the king of all diamonds, and Mykelle Christian was a platinum engagement diamond ring. The concept was created by Paulette Stevens, with execution by Anthony Felix.
Milo's Kings provided musical selections throughout the evening, with Ira "Dr. Sax" Meyers providing both the National Anthem and the V.I. March at the beginning of the program.
The V.I. Carnival celebration continues with Band-O-Rama on Thursday night, Latin Night on Friday night, and the Calypso Revue on Saturday night.
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