The other night we all headed over to the creative arts center at the University of the West Indies for an event called Women of Calypso. It is a project that is headed by Americans who came to Trinidad and recruited three powerful women as their leads. It featured Singing Sandra, one of the top Calypsonians in Trinidad, Kizzie Ruiz, and Shereen Caesar who all had amazing voices and great stage presence. They sang Orisa chants, sang about slavery and emancipation, identity, gender issues, and covered some popular older calypso songs. The whole performance gave me goosebumps because I could feel their energy and emotion and I was so happy to be there experiencing their music and talent. At the end of the show we all got up to dance and reciprocate the energy.
The other day I had another moment where I felt so happy to be exactly where I was in that moment and again I felt like that was exactly where I was meant to be. As a group we made the trek to a hilly suburb of Port-of-Spain to meet with LeRoy Clarke, the “master artist” of Trinidad. We knew a little bit about his work and stature in Trinidad before we got there and I had heard from a Trini friend who is close to him that meeting him would be unlike anyone else I have ever met and that he is a force of nature. It was quite the introduction and I had no idea what was going to happen but I knew it would be a crazy experience for sure. And a crazy experience it was. LeRoy Clarke really is like no one I have ever met and I don’t think I’ll ever meet anyone like him. He talked to us for hours about life, society, knowing yourself, and letting all the “shit” in your life go. He was not only wise but he was sassy and a little bit vulgar. I enjoyed his perspective on things and the way that he voiced it to us. We passed the afternoon in his Legacy house full of his artwork and books and with a surreal view and there was a positive energy in the house coming from all of us who were touched in some way by his words. It felt so good to be welcomed into the home of such a talented and well-respected person and for him to share his works and some of his wisdom with us. I know that I took away a lot from his talk and his energy and I hope to one day be able to have such a view on life. (Photo Credit: http://latino.si.edu/rainbow/pages/Clarke.html, http://artsocietytt.org/clarkeL.htm)
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