Violaceous Euphonia and the Scarlet Ibis
We've been here for over two weeks now.
There is a really thriving art and music scene here. Almost daily
we meet more artists: painters, musicians, potters, writers,
film-makers and more. Rory and Bunty took us to a concert at the
National Academy of Performing Artists for a concert of the faculty
and some visiting faculty from the US. We followed that up with a
trip a few blocks away to the “pan yard” of Phase II, one of the
favorite Pan drum Orchestras. They were in “practice-mode”
preparing for the first phase of competition which will culminate in
a huge show, Pandemonium, in the main open air stadium downtown Port
of Spain in less than a month. Pan orchestras are something really
exceptional about Trinidad. They are made up of up to 125 players
playing anywhere from two to nine drums at a time. Each drummer's
drums are positioned into a metal rack on wheels. They practice
their one song that they will compete with each year, specially
composed for them, over and over again; maybe as many as 100 times a
night; night after night for about a month in advance. The leaders
are celebrities in their own right, with stories of last minute
'saves' in the competition. There is a documentary called Pan
Odyssey which tells about this phenomenal thing.
On the other end of the day we wake
surrounded by bird song and sip our coffee with a binocular in one
hand. I've mentioned the hummingbird but some of the other highlights
have been the Turquoise Tanager, the Orange shouldered Parrot,
Violaceous Euphonia (love that name) and the Toucan. But the most
spectacular bird on the island is the National bird of Trinidad, the
Scarlet Ibis. To see them we booked a tour into the Caroni Swamp
where the birds come at sunset to roost in a particular grove of
trees. Thousands of bright red large birds all congregating on a
small green arborial island. The world's largest Christmas Tree! At
the base of the island, the skirt, are flocks of the Snowy and the
Cattle Egret, both intense white. Place this all against a steel
blue sky! WOW!
Hi Jeanne and Yata. Trinidad sounds amazing--your descriptions are lovely. And so are your paintings. I've long wanted to go to Trinidad this time of year for the steel drum competition. You've renewed my desire!
ReplyDeletePlease tell Yata thank you for the CD. I've been listening to it in the car and really enjoing it. Your voice sounds so great Yata!
Keep soaking up all that is on offer in Trinidad you two. And keep blogging about it for those of us back here in the frozen north.
Best regards,
Bette
Hey Bette, have you since made it to Trinidad? We are going back Feb 1, 2020 for three weeks. WE'll be there for the Pan Drum Semi-finals. We're intentionally avoiding the finals- too intense.
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