Mas Camp Performers at Wadsworth Atheneum First Thursday Caribbean Block Party, 2014
SubjectPortrait of
Coryse Villarouel
(Trinidadian)
Date2014 August 7
Mediumborn digital photography
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.516.1-.8
DescriptionPhotographs of the Mas Camp performers at the Wadsworth Atheneum First Thursday Caribbean Block Party on August 7, 2014.
(.1-.2) Images of the Mas Camp masqueraders posed for group portrait in front of Calder’s Stegosaurus sculpture in Burr Mall before the performance.
(.3-.6) Images of the Mas Camp dancers performing their dance routine outside of the Wadsworth Atheneum at the Block Party.
(.7) Image of the Mas Camp Exotic One’s band with their banner.
(.8) Image of the Mas Camp masqueraders after the performance with dance instructor Coryse Villarouel.
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. 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.(.1-.2) Images of the Mas Camp masqueraders posed for group portrait in front of Calder’s Stegosaurus sculpture in Burr Mall before the performance.
(.3-.6) Images of the Mas Camp dancers performing their dance routine outside of the Wadsworth Atheneum at the Block Party.
(.7) Image of the Mas Camp Exotic One’s band with their banner.
(.8) Image of the Mas Camp masqueraders after the performance with dance instructor Coryse Villarouel.
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. The beauty of the costumes displayed by Hartford’s own masqueraders in the West Indian Parade and other festivals, along with the excitement of their dance routines, bring a tremendous energy and pride to the city’s West Indian communities.
During the summer of 2014, twenty-one young people and over eighty volunteer and returning students participated. Costume maker Keimani “Q” Delpeche created the designs along with experienced assistant Lerry Cooper, and many volunteer parents. Artistic director Harold Springer, dance teacher Coryse Villarouel, and dance assistant Asher-Lee Plummer trained the students in “displaying” their costumes in a parade. They formed a Carnival “Band” called the Exotic One’s, with five sections of masqueraders in different color schemes portraying the theme of “Carnival is Colors – We are Carnival.” The Band performed with their costumes in the Taste of the Caribbean Festival at the Riverfront on August 2, the Wadsworth Atheneum for First Thursday August 7, and the West Indian 52nd Anniversary Independence Parade and Festival on August 9.
Subject Note: In 1962, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago claimed their Independence from Great Britain. Since that year, the West Indian Parade and Independence Celebration has been a highlight of Hartford’s summer activities. The week of activities includes many events taking place at the different island clubs around Hartford, and features headlining musicians who perform at the West Indian Social Club. The celebration concludes with a parade and festival in Hartford featuring floats, steel band performances, and masqueraders displaying brilliant costumes.
Subject Note: For several years the Wadsworth Atheneum held events in their “Art After Dark” series that took place on First Thursdays in Hartford. Many of these events during the summer took the form of outside “Block Parties” held in front of the museum’s entrance and on Atheneum Square, and sometimes on Burr Mall. Beginning around 2012, the August event was styled as a Caribbean Block Party, held during West Indian Independence Week in association with the Taste of the Caribbean Festival. In 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2018 the Mas Camp Band “Exotic One’s” performed their dance routine at the Block Party. In 2015, Mas Camp choreographer Clerona Cain and the Mas Camp masqueraders led a workshop for visitors attending the event, teaching them the steps of Caribbean dances.
Biographical Note: Coryse Villarouel is from Trinidad where she grew up playing mas. In Hartford, she learned to dance with the Cultural Dance Troupe of the West Indies, and she still teaches there part-time. Coryse has organized her own dance group for young people in Torrington. She assisted Harold Springer in advising the teens on dance movements when wearing the costumes, so they could learn Carnival performance skills. With her guidance and choreography, the teens were able to perform an extended high-energy routine as the main attraction at the Taste of Hartford event and during the long route of the Parade. She also choreographed dance routines that the teens performed at the Festival held at Bushnell Park after the Parade in 2014.
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
Mellissa Craig
2017 August 3
Kay-Kaniele Reid
2015 August 6
