Arriving at SGU, we had a little time to relax and enjoy the
view from the room we would be performing in. It was on the top of the hill so
we had a great view overlooking the ocean. I started to get a little antsy as
people starting filing into the room. For some reason, I was expecting close to
100 people to show up (I think that is what Dr.B said was the max), but luckily
only about 30 showed up so it was a little less nerve-wrecking. I saw faces
that went back to our very first days in Grenada, including the Rainbow Inn and
Grenville. People travelled from all over the island to see our performances;
it was really sad when I came to the realization that this is probably the last
time we will be seeing some of these people. There was Krumah, Urias, and all
of the people that we interviewed all sitting to watch and witness what we
learned during our time.
The first group to go was the vocal group. They did a great
job opening the show because their performance was really high energy and
everyone enjoyed it. Their presentation was focused on calypso music in
Grenada, which is a dying art form. They presented some of the history of
calypso and then sang their very own calypso! It was so creative and definitely
must have taken them a long time. The crowd really got into it because it was
so fun. It kind of reminded me of an old school Caribbean rap. The second group
to go was the folklore group. They presented some stories and characters that
we’ve heard about during our time in Grenada. With Manni as the narrator, they
went through two different folk stories while acting them out. It was so
comical with Chris dressed as the grandmother with a fake baby made out of a
pillow and Kyle dressed as the La Diablesse with a long skirt and white hat.
The audience definitely got a kick out of it, and it was hilarious and a great
performance over all.
My group, the instrumental group, went third. We had decided
to take a more serious route with our project because we made a very
informational documentary, highlighting things that we will be discussing in
our paper. It ended up being about 15 minutes long with voice-overs and clips
from different interviews. We went into the history of the drums in Grenada and
the impact that they have had on culture. We worked so hard on the video, long
hours writing the script and finding the clips. I know my group was really
proud of what we were able to accomplish. I’m not sure how people in the audience
felt about it, because we didn’t get too many comments on our video, but I hope
they agree that we did a good job and that all of our information was correct.
After our video came the drumming portion of our
presentation. It’s funny to think back to when we decided on our presentation,
because the drumming part was kind of an after-thought, a way to fill time. We
weren’t expecting it to be the part of our presentation that would get the
crowd the most excited about our topic. The four of us set up chairs in a row
facing the crowd with our drums, donated by the Tivoli Drummers. We had
practiced playing four different drumming rhythms that one of our interviewees
showed us on video one time. There was the pique, bele, bungo, and kalinda
(probably all spelled completely wrong), which were all dances that we have
learned while being here. Kassie and I pretty much stuck to playing the bass
while Nathan and Drew played the more exciting parts, because they were way too
fast and complicated. I’m not that good at the drums yet, so I was happy to
stick with the easier parts.
Before each song Kassie gave a brief introduction to what we
would be playing. Once we started playing the first song, the crowd went wild!
Everyone was so excited to see us play and the mood in the room instantly
changed. We were all shocked at how well-received our drumming was by the
Grenadian community. We could tell everyone was getting into it and singing
along with us. I had so much fun playing, and I’m so glad that we had decided
to stick with our initial idea. Enjoy the video of us playing! (p.s. we do mess
up one of the songs and start over, but it’s only because it was incredibly
difficult)
The final group to go was the dance group who actually
danced versions of all the songs that we drummed, and added their own soca
arrangement. After the presentations, we all went outside for some light
refreshments and got a chance to talk to the audience members about our performances.
My group received a lot of positive feedback from the community which was so
exciting to hear since we had spent so long on preparing it. We got to say our
final goodbyes to some people we’ve been friends with the entire time we’ve
been on the island. It was a bitter sweet ending.
Today I woke up and immediately went right to the beach to
celebrate. Although, I might have celebrated a little too hard because I am
looking even more lobster-esque right now. There weren’t many clouds out today
and it was a little brighter than I was expecting, but that’s alright since
that was will be my last beach day until I go home! A few of us wandered off after
we had had enough of the sun to go to the Spice and Craft Market. There were a
lot more booths set up because it was getting closer to the cruise ship season,
so there was lots to look at. I bought a nice necklace with a heart made out of
driftwood from the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan from one man. We also bought
smaller presents and gifts like nutmeg syrup, which I can’t wait to try. They
are really big into nutmeg in Grenada! It’s used to often and sold everywhere,
it would be a shame not to buy something nutmeg related. Although I still do
have my spice necklace.
Tonight will be spent celebrating one of our final nights
here on the island.
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