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Mas Camp Performance Rehearsal, 2014

SubjectPortrait of Coryse Villarouel Trinidadian

Date2014 July 23

Mediumborn digital video

DimensionsDuration: 1 Minutes, 37 Seconds

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections

DescriptionVideo of Mas Camp students rehearsing their dance routine with dance teacher Coryse Villarouel on July 23, 2014.

Object number2015.196.465.1

CopyrightIn Copyright

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.

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 2014, 21 young people plus over 80 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 52th Anniversary Independence Parade and Festival on August 9.

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.

Subject Terms