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UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 3 MARCH 2019
A Dame Lorraine bounces across the yard
in her colourful
dress, flapping her fancy fan. The gorillas in their heavy fur
suits are in the stands troubling people. The regal sailors, old
gentlemen and gentle ladies of mas’ are teaching their dance
moves to the young people, adorned, encrusted and shiny.
The Old Yard is underway. It’s happened many times before
but this time is different. This one is extra special.
“We are celebrating 10 years so naturally we see this
edition of The Old Yard as something very special,” says
Dr Jo-anne Tull. Tull, Lecturer and Coordinator of DCFA’s
Carnival Studies Unit, has been the Project Director of The
Old Yard since its beginning in 2009. She and her small team
of people from on and off campus, and many students, have
over the years created a unique legacy of performance, event
management, education, historical preservation and culture,
in a most entertaining package.
But to call The Old Yard a “beginning” is not completely
accurate. There is an ancestor:
“Before The Old Yard was
Viey La Cou
,” says Louis
McWilliams, Director of the DCFA and Coordinator of
the Theatre Arts Unit. “Viey La Cou came at a time when
traditional mas’ seemed to be dying. It was the brainchild of
people like Rawle Gibbons (dramatist, educator and founder
of the DCFA) andVal Rogers (mas’ man and former chairman
of Queen’s Hall), who brought this event to Queen’s Hall.”
McWilliams, who describes himself as “the cog in the
wheel between
Viey La Cou
and The Old Yard” has been
the host/voice of both events from inception.
Viey La Cou
went on for many years, growing past the capacity of the
Queen’s Hall car park and moving to the Scout’s Association
of T&T grounds. The small team, about a handful of people,
did incredible work with support from organisations such
as the National Carnival Commission and the community
of traditional masqueraders but eventually they decided it
was time for fresh energy and institutional support. So they
brought it to The UWI. And The Old Yard was born.
SCHOOL YARD
“Old Yard is definitely one of a kind,” says Shedrack
Worrell, a 22-year-old student of the DCFA’s Carnival Studies
programme currently pursuing a communications degree at
The UWI. In 2018, Shedrack worked at The Old Yard. If you
were there most likely you never saw him. That means he
was doing his job well.
As part of the course “Festival Management”, Shedrack
and his fellow students made up the majority of the team
managing The Old Yard. They handled stage management,
sanitation, accreditation, every function involved in running
an event.
“I teach hands-on,” says Tull. “We do a lot of learning by
doing. I believe if you have to manage something well you
have to know it from the bottom up.”
The same goes for the student performers. Unlike the
backstage teamtheywere very visible.Many of the characters on
display - jab
molassies
, bats, dragons, pierrots, jammette, woman
looking for a husband, and others - are theatre arts students.
“I was Granny,” says Seychelle Ross, age 21, of her 2017
Old Yard role. “She is just a big, round, fluffy granny that loves
everybody. But don’t get her vex or she will cut your tail in front
of everyone.”
BABY MAMA DRAMA: Rawle Gibbons, one of the originators of both The Old Yard
and the DCFA itself, in paternity talks.
A Sense
B Y J O E
The Old Yard 10
th
“A lot of our cultural background
comes from yards. First we go back
to the barrack yard, where we used
to live. Each yard had its
chantwell
.
Pan came out of the yard. Calypso
came out of the yard. Mas’ came
out of the yard. So the culture,
dance, feasts used to happen in
the yard. We come out of that yard
culture.”
Louis McWilliams
Director of DCFA and the host of The Old Yard.
“We go in with the
mindset that this is a
communal event. Once
you step into the gate
you are in the yard and
you are sharing the
same space with the
performers. There is no
set stage. I feel like once
you come in you are a
character yourself.”
ShedrackWorrell
Carnival Studies programme,
festival manager at The Old Yard.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA: A sailor speaks to children at
Viey La Cou
at the Scouts of
T&T Grounds.
PHOTO: LOUIS MCWILLIAMS
