Nevis Calypso King keeps promise to run workshop

CHARLESTOWN, Nevis – REIGNING Culturama King Calvin ‘I-Soursop’ Johnson has followed through on his proposal to hold a workshop for calypsonians on Nevis.

Johnson, who donated part of his Culturama winnings to two non-profit organisations in September, promised then to run workshops for young calypsonians on Nevis and got his project on the way last Saturday (Nov. 7) with Phase 1 at the Nevis Cultural Centre.

The calypso monarch told this media house that the plan was to have the workshop in January since 2009 has been a busy year for him. He said it occurred to him one morning however that it was important to get started before Carnival because “there is no way the kids are going to learn to write in one workshop”.

“I realised that I need to do two. So, in order to prepare them for next Culturama I cannot run it so close to Culturama. I decided if I got in one now and another in January then they would be ready for Culturama.”

Johnson said the idea for the workshop was born from the realisation that there were not enough senior calypsonians in the Culturama competitions.

“So, sometimes you find there are no quarter-finals or eliminations because there is nobody to eliminate, and so I worked out that to solve that problem we have to go back to the grass roots.”

According to Johnson, it is difficult to teach a grown man to sing, so he and his team chose the children who, he admitted, could be difficult to work with.

“I took it on because that is the only way we can move forward. We aimed for 35 in recognition of 35 years of Culturama. We got close and out of this number we are hoping by next Culturama a calypso tent with at least 14.”

Johnson said that the worst scenario would be for the 14 being unable to write their own songs, but revealed that he and his team are prepared to do that for them.

“I am prepared to write it for them. I owe results to my sponsors. They need to see something coming out of this. So, in order for that to happen I have to see that happen. And I believe people should get results when they invest. I am prepared to make sure I get 14 out of there, so when August comes I can say to my sponsors ‘you see those 14 that sang? They are the results of your sponsorship’. That is what I’m aiming for.”

Johnson’s team for Saturday’s event included a historian, a performer and a musician. He explained that telling the children about writing calypsos from the start was not going to work so they started with Steve Manners to give the history of calypso – how it started, who was the first king on Nevis etc.; Clement ‘Monarch’ O’Garro, who told them about overcoming shyness and blanking out the crowd; and Clifford ‘Ip’ Isaac, who told them about space and timing, and how to pick the beat. Johnson himself took the final session in which he introduced writing to the 25 children who attended.
Head of the Culturama Festival Secretariat Antonio ‘Abernathy’ Liburd, who was present on Saturday, said they welcomed the concept of the workshop.

“We applaud it because what we have found is that over the years we have not been able to create a pool of young calypsonians to replace the older ones, as they exit the scene. So, when the idea came about we clung to it.”

Liburd said the Secretariat helped Johnson and his team to coordinate the workshop because they saw it as something good for the preservation and the development of calypso, the development of youth calypsonians and the preservation of the art form on Nevis.

The Secretariat head said in the past his group had tried to reach out to the senior calypsonians but found that they felt they did not need help in terms of improving their skills.

“In the past we have tried to hold workshops but they have not responded in a positive way, so we have decided to shift the focus to the younger ones.”

Liburd is hoping to have Phase Two of the workshop at the end of January and Phase Three by April.
“Coming out of that, we are looking to have a number of juniors who would have been tested, entering the junior calypso competition for Culturama next year.”
Liburd said the organisers hope to have a junior calypso tent for the first time in 2010, where youngsters from the workshops would get stage experience without the competition aspect.

“We want to bring them together in an environment, in a location, with an audience and a band and have them perform so they can get accustomed to the stage; and then we are hoping to take it to the other level after that – having them compete in the junior calypso competition.”

He said the numbers were encouraging and if they could all be part of the competition next year, then there would have to be different stages of the contest to eliminate participants on the way to the final stage.

“So, looking ahead, we can see future workshops, we can see the first ever junior calypso tent and we can see eliminations and possibly semi-finals leading up to a final competition in Culturama 2010.”