CIRC lauds three Road March Competition Leaders of Trinidad and Tobago

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Carnival Institute of Trinidad and Tobago, which is also regarded as The Carnival Institute and Regional Carnival-CIRC, has featured Road March Competition Leaders on Friday. The organisation praised three leaders through ‘Feature Friday’ and also informed general public about the achievements of the leaders.

Through social media, CIRC mentioned, “On Feature Friday, the Carnival Institute and Regional Carnival (CIRC) bring you a Fun Fact about three Road March Competition Leaders. These high achieving artistes with numerous Road March wins under their belts, have been noted for their boundary-pushing artistry and their ability to sway the crowd.”

In addition to this information, it also stated that they all shared a vision for Trinidad and Tobago culture and were able to meaningfully contribute to our local music. Their success has made them an icon and star.

Furthermore, Carnival Institute of Trinidad and Tobago asserted that Machel Monanto won 10, Aldwyn Roberts (Lord Kitchener) won 10 and Austin Lyons (Superblue) won 9. Each year outlined below are when they would have won the road March competition title-

Lord Kitchener – 1963, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1976
Superblue – 1980, 1981, 1983, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2000, 2013
Machel Montano – 1997, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019

Earlier this, CIRC also put some light on the old-time Carnival. It said hi to folks and informed, “Welcome to another #TopicTuesday. In the old-time Carnival so much of what we now enjoy as Traditional Masquerade took place in the “Theatre of the Streets.” This was before the advent of the noisy music trucks.”

It also noted that a performance of the traditional character could be done to crowds of spectators on the streets, that way the masquerader could be up close and personal with an audience. Approval or disapproval could be given according to how well one portrayed his or her character.

While emphasising on a traditional character – Midnight Robber, it outlined that one such traditional character that benefitted from this was certainly the Midnight Robber. With their frightening appearance and elaborate costumes to match, robbers sought to intimidate not only spectators but each other as well. Upon meeting in the streets, robbers competed with each other, not only in costuming but in speech as well. Woe be unto any robber who could not adequately give an account in words of his extensive exploits when challenged by his rivals. Delivering a “Robber Speech” was no easy feat and the loser would have retreated to try harder the following year.