Saint Kitts 1987 - Carnival Clowns

Date of Issued: 28 October 1987

Perforation: 14.5 x 14.5

THE CLOWN

Always a spectacle during carnival celebrations

More commonly referred to as St Kitts, the island of St Christopher has a rich legacy of folk traditions. The language, culinary habits, artistic and recreational pursuits of the large masses of the people might not have had the attention of historians as have the settlement and exploits of the conquerors, but they nevertheless remain a testimony to the creativity, adaptability and endurance of the people of this tiny island.

Along with the Mock Jumby, Masquerades, Mummies and the Bull, to name a few of our traditional folklore groups, the Clowns are part of our folk culture that finds expression at Christmas time in a festival that has been celebrated for hundreds of years. We, in St Kitts, still celebrate what we now term Carnival in December, a series of competitions, shows, and street activities that culminates on New Year's Day when street parades and performances climax in a grand finale. Although Carnival now incorporates masked bands costumed to depict themes universal and local, the true essence of the Kittitian celebration manifests itself in our traditional folklore groups who perform on the street as they have for generations.

The Clown troupe is a somewhat unique phenomena in the English speaking Caribbean and is thought to be a legacy of the renowned French Governor Lonvillier de Poincy, a gentleman who ruled French interests in the Caribbean in the 17th Century and who resided in his Chateau in the hills overlooking Basseterre. It was there he held court and the magnificence of his hospitality and the entertainment he provided were celebrated by visitors to the island.

The characteristic costume of the European court jester is transformed in the Kittitian Clown into a beautiful flowing suit, bellowing as the several dancers execute a series of intricate movements. Performed by the descendants of African slaves who make up vast majority of the population of the island, the sinuous and harmonious body movement of the dancers blend with the String Band rhythms, the musical accompaniment for this particular troupe and the elegance and grace as the dancers as they serpentine behind and between each other is a spectacle to behold. The pink wiremess mask worn as part of the costume, hiding the face of the performer, apparently depicts the European, and is a feature of almost all the local folk dance characters. The sounds of bells and the crack of the Hunter, a leather whip carried by each performer, punctuates the rhythms of the String Band, binding closer the dancers to the musicians.

Early in the century, this troupe began to take on shades of North American culture with the inclusion of Cake Walk and Japanese Girl characters. Performed mainly by men, the groups might have forty (40) to fifty (50) members, some Kittitians remembering times when there were groups eighty (80) strong. There was even a time when little boys longed to get a gift of a clown suit so as to identify with the splendor of he troupes at Christmas time. Men migrating to North America and England took their culture with them and clown troupes have paraded at Labour Day parades in New York, CARIBANA in Toronto and Nottinghill in London.

With the exodus of Kittitians, especially in the 1950's and 60's, this rich cultural expression dwindled as more and more emigrants left to take up residence overseas. Costumed individuals would stalk the streets in vein in search of a clown troupe to join. The ascendancy of the Clown fell as did the lustre of his lustre of first half of this century when this troupe flourished as a major force among the folklore group at Christmas time. As a new appreciation for the rich legacies of our ancestor takes hold, the re-emergence of the Clown troupe could be the symbol of what can be regained and won if we truly wish to look deeply into our heritage and revitalize the legacies of generations past. Christmas 1995 saw the appearance of a clown troupe once again on the streets of Basseterre, when the strains of the String Band and the beauty of the costume gave hope that the Clown had not in truth disappeared but was reawakening from a long slumber. May the restoration of this once vibrant form of our folklore take place and live on for the appreciation and enjoyment of generations to come.