Mas Camp Performers at The Gathering, 2017
SubjectPortrait of
Clerona Cain
Date2017 September 23
Mediumborn digital photography
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.458.1-.31
DescriptionPhotographs of Mas Camp participants performing in a parade at The Gathering in Waterbury, Connecticut on September 23, 2017.
2015.196.458.1-.7: Images of Mas Camp performers marching in the parade while wearing mas costumes.
2015.196.8-.17: Images of Mas Camp performers getting ready for their onstage performance.
2015.196.18-.22: Images of Clerona Cain wearing the Queen costume.
2015.196.23: Image of the Parade and food trucks along the street.
2015.196.24: Image of Dominican marchers in the parade.
2015.196.25-.29: Images of Mas Camp performers with other performers in group portraits.
2015.196.30-.31: Images of Mas Camp performers during their onstage performance.
NotesSubject Note: From 2011-2020, the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program at the Connecticut Historical Society partnered with the Connecticut Caribbean International Carnival Association to offer an annual summer youth employment program that trains Hartford youth in Carnival traditions central to their ethnic background. At the six-week “Mas Camp,” participants learned about the history and role of Carnival and masquerade. They designed and created their own Carnival costumes under the guidance of experienced Mas artists. The teens along with over two dozen volunteers, formed a Carnival Band that participated in several summer events showcasing Mas costumes totally made in Hartford. The beauty of the costumes displayed by Hartford’s own masqueraders in the parade and festival, along with the excitement of their dance routines, bring a tremendous energy and pride to the city’s West Indian communities. Mas Camp has helped to ensure that the Carnival tradition continues by training a new generation in the art of Mas making. In 2017, Mas Camp was selected as one of 50 exemplary youth programs nationwide by the National Arts and Heritage Youth Program.2015.196.458.1-.7: Images of Mas Camp performers marching in the parade while wearing mas costumes.
2015.196.8-.17: Images of Mas Camp performers getting ready for their onstage performance.
2015.196.18-.22: Images of Clerona Cain wearing the Queen costume.
2015.196.23: Image of the Parade and food trucks along the street.
2015.196.24: Image of Dominican marchers in the parade.
2015.196.25-.29: Images of Mas Camp performers with other performers in group portraits.
2015.196.30-.31: Images of Mas Camp performers during their onstage performance.
Mas Camp was both a jobs program and an arts learning experience with social impact. The program mentored students in workplace readiness, social engagement, and cultural knowledge, offering alternative creative activities that fostered community involvement while providing fulfilling employment. Participants learned new skills including Caribbean cultural history, costume design, garment sewing and construction, creative movement, and teamwork. The teens experienced first-hand how to follow an artistic idea from background to completion and presentation, working both individually and collaboratively. Through the program, youth discovered that giving back to their community is an essential part of becoming a productive citizen. They experienced the joy of being part of a larger cultural group, and contributed their new skills to community activities.
During Mas Camp, the teens created their own costumes following themes and color schemes that they chose. The students and staff, along with volunteers from the community, formed a Carnival band they named Exotic One’s. Hartford costume maker Keimani “Q” Delpeche, who grew up in the Mas tradition in Trinidad and Boston, taught design and building of all the types of costumes. Choreographers including Clerona Cain and Coryse Villarouel developed dance routines with the students to train them in “displaying” their costumes in a parade. Some former students became peer educators helping to supervise Mas Camp activities in later years. The mentorship of several committed community educators and cultural leaders supported the teens and provided positive role models.
During the summer of 2017, ten students plus many adult and student volunteers participated. Costume maker Keimani “Q” Delpeche created the Mas outfits along with experienced assistants Asher-Lee Plummer and Dahlia Ali, and volunteer parents. Dance teacher Clerona Cain trained the students in “displaying” their costumes in a parade. They formed a Carnival “Band” called the Exotic One’s, with four sections of masqueraders in different color schemes portraying the theme of “Road Warriors.” The Band performed with their costumes in the Taste of the Caribbean Festival at the Riverfront, the Wadsworth Atheneum Block Party, the West Indian 55th Anniversary Independence Parade and Festival, and The Gathering in Waterbury. No exhibit was produced this year.
Subject Note: The Gathering is an expansive and inclusive one-day festival that celebrates the cultures of western Connecticut, particularly the ethnic groups in Waterbury. Begun in 2013, by journalist John Murray of the Waterbury Observer, councilman Geraldo Reyes, and several other supporters including members of city government, The Gathering attracts thousands of visitors to Library Park in Waterbury. Over 100 ethnic and civic groups display art works and information on their cultural group at tables set up around the Park, and music and dance groups perform throughout the day on four stages. Dozens of food vendors sell ethnic cuisine. The day starts off with a parade of ethnic groups through downtown Waterbury. The goal of event is to bring together the many ethnic groups that reside in the area; many of them host their own ethnic events and The Gathering aims to introduce them to each other and to the public.
Biographical Note: Clerona Cain is from St. Lucia, where she grew up playing Mas and learning all aspects from building costumes to developing choreography for display. She worked as a tourism professional in St. Lucia and danced with the Silver Shadow Performing Arts Company which toured around the Caribbean and also Venezuela. From 2015-2020, she taught the teens dance movements that she created with them, also instructing on display and dance while wearing the costumes, so they learned performance skills. Clerona’s work was vital for the good presentation of the costumes, and she mentored and supported the teens who were required to perform intensively as the main attraction at the Taste of Hartford event and during the long route of the West Indian Parade. She choreographed the dance routines that the teens performed onstage at the Festival held at Bushnell Park after the Parade, and also developed a routine for them to present at the Wadsworth Atheneum Block Party. Clerona led a public dance workshop at that event. She “carried” (wore) the project’s large Queen costume in the Parade in several years. She also provides in-school programs in Mas costume-making and dance with the arts education organization Hartford Performs.
Subject Note: The first Dominican festival to be organized in Hartford occurred on August 18, 2013 at Pope Park. It featured Dominican musicians and dance groups, foods for sale, arts and crafts tables, information booths, and a performance/procession by costumed figures with elaborate masks and sometimes carrying a cow’s bladder; these dancers (comparsas) are an important part of Dominican Carnival celebrations and dances. Often the masks represent “diablos” or scary devil-like creatures. These imaginative characters from Dominican folklore and stories vary from region to region across the island. The emphasis in Dominican festivals and in these figures is the country’s historical ethnic combination of indigenous Taino/Arawak, African, and European. Dominican costumed dancers also perform at The Gathering in Waterbury.
The Dominican community in Connecticut is growing, and is centered mainly in cities of Bridgeport, Hartford, Danbury, and New Haven. Members of the group celebrate Dominican Independence Day (February 27) with a flag-raising at the State Capitol, as well as cultural events. Dominican social and cultural organizations include Club Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican Folkloric Ballet, the Dominican American Coalition of Connecticut and the Comite Efemerides Patrias.
Additional audio, video, and/or photographic materials exist in the archive relating to this community and these events.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
2011 August 13
