The Steelpan Revolution will be Televised
- And Then Again Maybe Not...
Symposium tackles the Panorama question: Is
there a need to revisit the Steel Band
Panorama Format?
Brooklyn, New York - The
recent events in Tunisia, Egypt and other
parts of the Middle East have again taught us
that revolution and change will not
necessarily happen when and where you think.
In addition, those recent occurrences have also
illustrated, that the incident or voice
which will become the pebble that precipitates the
crystallization, or start of an
avalanche - is not necessarily what or who
you think it might be.
Last week, the Trinidad and Tobago
Folk Arts Institute held a special symposium titled
“Is there a Need to Revisit the Steel Band
Panorama Format?” While
the symposium went on without a major shift
on the seismic scale of steelpan music
activities, the aftermaths of what was
put out there on the table for public
consumption, may have massive volcanic
repercussions in the future, all over the
steel orchestras and steelpan music panorama
world.
Garvin Blake
|
Les Slater |
Andy Narell
|
Dalton Narine
|
Kenton Kirby |
Desmond Chase |
Ike Hinds |
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When Steel Talks Stats two days after Semi Finals - Tuesday 9:00am Stats
There were presentations by
seven noted steelpan music personalities. Among the symposium’s presenters
and papers put forth
were acclaimed steel pan instrumentalist and arranger
Garvin Blake; Anthony Hinds, leader of Dem Stars Steel Orchestra of New York and president of the National Alliance of Steelbands;
Kenton Kirby, editor-in-chief of
Caribbean Life and formerly a multiple
Panorama-winning arranger in St. Vincent;
songwriter, performing and recording artist
Andy Narell who sent in his thoughts on
the subject via an article, as did noted
award-winning film director, journalist,
historian and
panist Dalton Narine; Desmond
Chase, an instrumental figure in the
formation for original panorama events, and;
noted journalist, and former arranger and
chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Folk Arts Institute
Les Slater.
There are few topics that
can generate as much emotion and passion as
"panorama". The When Steel Talks
(WST) web stats
recorded over 4,000 individual visitors to the
PanOnTheNet.com site - before the early
morning was even over, a few days ago.
The majority of members were seeking
panorama-related information. And the WST
social network presence (facebook, Twitter
and Ning) lit up with ‘popcorn’ sounding
alerts as pan folks from all over the world
chimed in for ‘panorama 411’. Panorama has
never been bigger globally -but is it
better?
At the symposium each
presenter offered different perspectives,
angles, interest and solutions to the
panorama question asked.
Clearly, as Garvin Blake so
eloquently demonstrated and expounded upon
in his presentation - “panorama means
different things to different people... and
it is a very complex beast”. This was more
than abundantly clear even among the
presenters. Garvin Blake gave one of the
more reasoned and thought-provoking
presentations on the subject of Panorama to
date. His discourse is required reading.
Rather than attempting to
paraphrase and/or translate what each
orator presented, WST has received
assurances from almost all of the presenters
that they will provide the WST readers
access to their papers and/or summary of
their salient points. We will publish the
articles as they arrive. Check out the first
available presentations from
Dalton Narine and
Les
Slater.
Garvin Blake: If not
Panorama, Then What?
Desmond Chase: An Insider's
Review of What Inspired the Creation of
Panorama
Anthony Hinds: The Challenge
of Sustaining a Panorama-Geared Steel Band
in NYC
Kenton Kirby: Yesterday,
Today and Tomorrow; Pan's Journey and the
Need for an Informed Way Forward
Les Slater: Panorama's
Ill-Advised Drift Away from Carnival
Dalton Narine: The Business
of Pan
Andy Narell: Thoughts on the Panorama
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