Mas Camp Costume-Making Activity at CHS Free First Saturday, 2015
SubjectPortrait of
Clerona Cain
Date2015 September 12
Mediumborn digital photography
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.523.1-.5
DescriptionPhotographs of the Mas Camp costume-making activity at the Connecticut Historical Society's Free First Saturday event on September 12, 2015.
(.1-.2) Images of feathered and sequined headbands being created.
(.3-.5) Images of visitors to the Mas Camp exhibition at the Connecticut Historical Society after they participated in the First Saturday mas costume-making activity.
NotesSubject Note: Mas Camp educator and dance instructor/choreographer Clerona Cain and two participants from Mas Camp gave a workshop at the Connecticut Historical Society for its Free First Saturdays Family Program in September 2015, showing museum visitors how to make a Caribbean headdress and perform a simple dance routine.(.1-.2) Images of feathered and sequined headbands being created.
(.3-.5) Images of visitors to the Mas Camp exhibition at the Connecticut Historical Society after they participated in the First Saturday mas costume-making activity.
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: 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.
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.
In the years 2011-2016, 2018, and 2019, CCHAP presented an exhibit of the work and activities of Mas Camp, from 2011-2014 at the Institute for Community Research, and from 2015-2019 at the Connecticut Historical Society. Curated by Mas costume designer Keimani "Q" Delpeche, the exhibits featured over three dozen individual costumes made each year by teens and community volunteers, as well as the more elaborate “section leader” and “Frontliner” costumes. The exhibits included historical and cultural interpretation through signage texts, a slideshow that presented historical images, talks by community cultural leaders at the opening events, and an illustrated lecture on Carnival traditions in 2016. The exhibit projects produced a multi-faceted “Mas” experience that included the art work, exhibit, music, food, informational talks, community leaders, and scholars. Ideas presented by the exhibits included: that the West Indian community has a long history in Greater Hartford; that the community has made many contributions to the state in fields such as agriculture, art, sport, education, and small business; that Carnival embodies tradition, innovation, celebration, and creativity; that “masquerade” as an essential component of Carnival derives from a creative alteration of one’s historical and personal circumstances; and that young people can learn about and carry on cultural heritage in their own lives.
Each year the teens and volunteers who were part of Mas Camp received certificates of participation at a graduation ceremony held during the exhibit opening. Hartford Steel Symphony played at the event, and the students performed their dance routine. Exhibit and project sponsors over the years have included: the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the City of Hartford, the Hartford City Council, the West Indian Foundation, the West Indian Independence Celebration, the UConn Caribbean Interdisciplinary Research and Outreach Institute, the UConn El Instituto/the Institute for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the National Endowment for the Arts, Connecticut Office of the Arts/DECD, the San Juan Center/Brighter Futures, Fiona Vernal, Hugh Freeney, the Freeney Foundation, Ellen M. Brown, Shipman and Goodwin LLP, and Connecticut Humanities.
During the summer of 2015, twenty-two young people and eighty-four adult and student volunteers, children, and students from Our Piece of the Pie participated. Costume maker Keimani “Q” Delpeche created four large costumes – a spectacular Queen and three Junior Queen outfits along with experienced assistants Lerry Cooper and Tanya Bynoe, and many volunteer parents. Artistic director Harold Springer, dance teacher Clerona Cain, 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 nine sections of masqueraders in different color schemes portraying the theme of “Hollywood in Colors.” The Band performed with their costumes in the Taste of the Caribbean Festival at the Riverfront, the Wadsworth Atheneum Block Party, and the West Indian 53rd Anniversary Independence Parade and Festival.
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
