Syrai Resilience Mas
spirit, heart, youth and innocence,”
the youthful Alexander
added. “So, I was inspired
by her confidence to pick this
presentation.”
According to Variety, Chloe
x Halle member Halle Bailey
“is ready to become part of Disney’s
world.”
Variety said, on July 3,
that the R&B singer has been
tapped to play Ariel in Disney’s
next live-action adaptation of
“The Little Mermaid.”
“The Little Mermaid” will
incorporate original songs
from the 1989 animated hit, as
well as new tunes from original
composer Alan Menken, with
lyrics by “Hamilton” creator
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Variety
said.
It said the original 1989
animated hit followed the
mermaid princess Ariel, as she
sought to fall in love with a
human prince on land.
Menken wrote the film’s
original music, including the
songs “Under the Sea,” “Part
of Your World” and “Kiss the
Girl,” Variety said.
It said the role marks Bailey’s
feature film debut, following
the formation of her music
group Chloe x Halle with her
sister Chloe in 2015.
Variety said the pair first
rose to fame by posting
YouTube covers of Beyoncé
before they were eventually
discovered by the R&B superstar
and her record label.
Since their discovery, the
duo has signed a record deal
with Parkwood Entertainment
and has opened for Beyoncé
on her “Lemonade” tour, Variety
said.
Alexander – who has been
playing mas with her Trinidadian
born mother, Debbie
Parris, a mas producer herself,
since she was 10 years old –
said “Submerged under the
Sea” comprises five sections,
with all but one exclusively for
females.
She said about 35 to 40
masqueraders, of all nationalities,
will be in each section.
Caribbean L 34 ife, Aug. 16-23, 2019 BQ
Alexander said she is getting
the support of her mother
and her friends in putting the
production together, and that
masqueraders can expect “the
most fun day of their lives” on
Labor Day.
“We may now start our production,
but we’re experts in
this business,” she declared,
stating that Syrai Carnival
Creations will give other mas
bands “a run for their money.”
“Don’t underestimate or
judge a book by its cover,”
Alexander said.
The mas camp is located at
789 Rogers Ave. in Brooklyn.
Alexander can be reached at
(347) 744-8122, or on Instagram
at syraicarnivalcreations.
potato pudding, coconut slice,
sugar cake, sorrel and mauby
drinks, and handcraft made by
our local indigenous people.
Executives from the Bronxbased
Garifuna Evangelical
Council of Churches used the
occasion to present “tokens
of appreciation” to GIPSVG
members who participated in
the Council’s annual 13-mile
walk-a-thon, from the Bronx
to Brooklyn, in March.
The awardees were Sandy
Bay, St. Vincent and the Grenadines’
natives Rohan Childs,
GIPSVG vice president; Jemma
Lewis; and Jennifer Hoyte.
“I feel good doing this presentation
to show that the tree
of our original warriors completed
13 miles,” Belizeanborn
pastor Andrew Nunez,
executive director of the Garifuna
Council of Churches, told
Caribbean Life after the presentation.
“The purpose is to show a
symbol of our journey from
Yurumein to Honduras to
raise funds for the Garifuna
Council of events and to help
with the Garifuna community,”
he added.
Vincentian Charmaine
Adams said she was delighted
to trek from Mt. Vernon
to participate in the “Culture
Pot.”
“I’m pleasantly surprise by
the food and the people,” she
said feasting on the delicacies.
Her friend and compatriot,
Auldith Jordan, a Brooklyn
resident, agreed.
“It’s nice,” she said. “I’m
enjoying the local food.”
Ballantyne said proceeds
from the event will aid the
Garifuna community in St.
Vincent and the Grenadines.
Among the projects GIPSVG,
Inc. supported this year was
the just-concluded, first Garifuna
Heritage Camp in Owia,
a village along the northeastern
shores of mainland St.
Vincent.
Ballantyne said the camp,
which was organized by the
Owia Heritage Organization, at
the Owia Government School,
ran from July 22-Aug. 10.
It catered for children, seven
to 16 years old, residing the
Garifuna communities north
of the Rabacca Dry River.
Some of the activities of
the camp focused on learning
the Garifuna language, drumming,
dancing and field trips
to significant historical sites,
said Ballantyne, who journeyed
home for the event.
The Garifuna are a mixed
indigenous people, originally
from mainland St. Vincent,
who speak an eponymous
Arawakan language.
The Garifuna, also called
the Black Caribs, are the
descendants of the yellow Caribs,
Island Caribs and Africans
who intermarried and created
a large populous civilization
on the Anglo-Caribbean island
Bronx-based Chief Joseph Chatoyer Garifuna Ballet performs
at the Garifuna event. Photo by Nelson A. King
of St. Vincent, now called St.
Vincent and the Grenadines.
After the Carib Wars with
the British and peace the
treaties were made between
the British and the Black
Caribs, over 5,000 Garifuna
were exiled to Honduras, with
smaller populations in Belize,
Guatemala and Nicaragua.
A large number of Garifuna
have migrated to the United
States, with large communities
in California, the Bronx,
Harlem and East New York in
Brooklyn.
Continued from Page 33
Rania Lynch portrays “Starbursts” designed by Andrina Alexander.
Photo by Nelson A. King
Continued from Page 33
in 10 sections, will complete
the portrayal.
“A number of pieces will
have the flag and main area
code on the sleeves and the
front of the various costumes,”
he said. “We will
also reflect traditional cultural
wear, topping it off
with designs from the Caribbean
island that is the
mother of carnival and the
island that was there for
us big time, Trinidad and
Tobago.
“So, it a celebration of
our federation in Brooklyn,”
Noel declared.
He noted that on the late
afternoon of Sept. 18, 2017,
“after the winds of Hurricane
Maria increased to
a Category 5 storm, with
hurricane force winds that
extended 30 miles from its
center, it scored a direct hit
on the island of Dominica.”
“The improvisational
skills of Dominicans were
challenged after Maria left
the island dazed and isolated,”
Noel said. “Resilience
Mas takes its name from the
spirit of the people of Dominica
facing adversity.
“Nearly two years after,
signs of resiliency and rebirth
are plentiful in Dominica;
but, in some ways, the island
is changed forever,” he added,
stating that the costumes are
“a contemporary twist on the
patterns found in traditional
creole wear in Dominica.”
The mas camp is located at
204 Parkside Ave., Brooklyn.
For more information, call
(917) 477-9926; (347) 278-
6633; or (347) 276-9979.
Continued from Page 33
GARIFUNA’S CULTURE POT
Model Colette Ambo at the
Resilient Band launch. William
Farrington