It was probably the most unique mas band launch I have ever attended. Striving to always be different and pushing the envelope, Trini Revellers (TR) launched its 2016 presentation—Woodbrook: Then and Now—last Saturday night at the Digicel Hospitality Lounge, in the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain. Bereft of any big stage and loud sound system, or a mammoth turnout, the event was a scaled down version of your normal mas band launch, produced by TR in conjunction with Digicel.
Woodbrook: Then and Now has a core of 12 designers who have come up with some attractive costumes which ought to return the band to the top placings in the Band of the Year race. This year, TR’s Jamette band placed second to eventual band of the Year winner Massy Trinidad All Stars.
In his short preamble to the display of costumes, worn by a bevy of shapely models, TR official Enrico Rajah said that the presentation is the second chapter of a trilogy designed to highlight aspects of traditional mas and indigenous icons. This was evident in the costumery as it showcased a myriad of motifs, sites and events recognisable to Woodbrook.
For instance, an entire section is devoted to the artistry of Woodbrook mas legend, the late George Bailey, and is entitled Tears of the Indies, one of Bailey’s epic mas presentations. Other sections included Adam Smith Square, A Tribute to Little Carib and today’s Casinos and Bars and Nightclubs that now adorn Ariapita Avenue.
Some of the sections and their designers are: Plantations (Collin Sookoo & Associates); Adam Smith Square (Harry & Rhonda); The Roaring Twenties (Don-Marie Reveillac); Pan Ramajay (Marlon Brizan); Tears of the Indies (Ainsley Mitchell & Dawad Phillip); Saturday Night Leggo and Casinos (Christine Sadler); A Tribute to Little Carib (Brian Chin); Mama dis is Mas (Rugeri); Woodbrook on Fire (Christine John); and Bars and Nightclubs (Kathy Nicholson).