TTT Live Online, Feb 6, 2020
This masquerader usually stops male passers-by and accuses
them of fathering her child. She embarrasses them into giving her money for
milk, clothing and other needs or so that she stops the accusations. Can you
guess who this is?
-snip-
TTT Limited, is a state owned national television
broadcaster in Trinidad and Tobago with its headquarters located at 11 A
Maraval Road, Port of Spain.[2] [Wikipedia]
****
This pancocojams post presents information about Trinidad and Tobago's traditional Baby Doll carnival character.
This post also showcases five videos of Trinidad and Tobago's carnival Baby Doll character.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those past and present Trinidad and Tobago Baby Doll maskers. Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
-snip-
New Orleans, Louisiana also has a Baby Doll carnival masking tradition and a contemporary Baby Doll masking custom. However, the historical and the contemporary New Orleans Baby Doll character is very different from the Trinidad and Tobago Baby Doll character.
Among other significant differences, the fact that the Trinidad and Tobago Baby Doll character carries a toy baby doll is central to that character's portrayal. However, the New Orleans Baby Doll character doesn't carry or otherwise have any toy baby doll. Also, the Trinidad and Tobago Baby Doll carnival character focuses on comedic questioning random males in her audience and/or other dramatic, comedic monologues. In contrast, the New Orleans' Baby Doll character is non-verbal and focuses on dancing routines (including performing group line dances) and parade, second line strutting.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-new-orleans-louisiana-baby-dolls.html for the pancocojams post entitled "The (New Orleans, Louisiana) Baby Dolls Masking Traditions & Contemporary Adaptations (information & videos)".
****
INFORMATION ABOUT THE TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO (CARIBBEAN) BABY DOLL CARNIVAL CHARACTER
Excerpt #1
From http://www.tntisland.com/carnivalcharacters.html "Traditional Carnival Characters" [No publishing date is given in this article. This description is obsolete as the Trinidad and Tobago Baby Doll carnival character has been revived since at least 2008 [Video #2 below.]
"Baby Dolls
The baby doll character, which is now extinct, was
played up to the 1930s. The masquerader portrays a gaily dressed doll, decked
out in a frilled dress and bonnet. In her arms she carries a doll which
symbolises an illegitimate baby. The masquerader portraying the baby doll,
stops male passers-by and accuses them of being the baby's father."
-snip-
This article lists other Trinidad and Tobago carnival characters, including "Fancy Indians" characters which may have been modeled after the New Orleans, Louisiana Mardi Gras Indians.
****
Excerpt #2
From https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-161/the-return-of-the-baby-doll-backstory#axzz80ea9qSEh
The return of the baby doll | Backstory
With a frilly dress and bonnet, carrying a replica of an
infant, the traditional Baby Doll is a playful Carnival character with a
serious message about the social roles of women and men. A new generation of
activists have adopted the Baby Doll as form of feminist intervention,
by Amanda T. McIntyre and Jarula M.I. Wegner, issue 161 (January/February 2020)
...."The Baby Doll masquerade is not unique to Trinidad. As early as 1888, it was documented by the journalist and writer Lafcadio Hearn at the Carnival of Saint-Pierre in Martinique. And possibly the Baby Doll masquerade travelled from one of the islands to New Orleans. The city near the mouth of the Mississippi delta in the southern United States is often described as part of the Caribbean in terms of its migrations, cultures and, of course, Carnival. The historian and Carnival expert Samuel Kinser argued that, apart from the queens on floats, Baby Dolls were the first women to march in New Orleans Mardi Gras. These performers often came from the city’s racially mixed and black creole French Quarter. Throughout the year, many Baby Doll performers earned a livelihood with sex work, but for Mardi Gras they dressed in “tight, scanty trunks, silk blouses, and poke bonnets with ribbons.” Around the year 1910, these performers took to the streets, for instance, as Million-Dollar Baby Dolls, lighting their cigars with dollar bills.
Baby Dolls were first recorded in Port of Spain as part of working-class jammette culture in the late nineteenth century. By 1972, Hill reported that the Baby Doll “is now extinct” in Trinidad and Tobago, but since then the character has once more become a regular sight in traditional mas presentations. And in recent years, the Baby Doll character has also become an important figure for the Caribbean feminist justice movement — deployed by the Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women, the Single Mothers Association, the Family Planning Association, and independent activists, for feminist interventions that negotiate performances of sex, gender, and sexuality.
The Baby Doll can be interpreted as either a parody of a toy doll, a young girl, or a woman who is dressed in a young girl’s fashion, with all three performing feminine behavioural codes. The doll, the girl, and the woman become a triad in a discourse of Caribbean femininities which is influenced by and builds on patterns of movement, speech, dress, and viewer expectations. And for the women — and, occasionally, men — who portray contemporary Baby Dolls, the performance addresses the historically gendered disenfranchisement of women and girls in the area of sexual and reproductive health and rights.
On the street during Carnival 2019, the Belmont Baby Dolls met diverse reactions. Some small children ran away, while others were curious and engaging. Women generally responded positively, with mixed reactions from men. Confusions were outnumbered by signs of surprise, laughter, and exhilaration.
Our performance had as its sonic backdrop the wildly popular soca hit “Famalay” by Skinny Fabulous, Machel Montano, and Bunji Garlin, winner of the 2019 Road March title. The toy doll we shared “parenting” duties for was called Rambo. On Carnival Monday, a vendor on Charlotte Street asked the doll’s name and burst out laughing. On Carnival Tuesday, this same vendor greeted our Baby Doll family again “Look, Rambo! Look! Is yuh auntie!”
Our performance transgressed gender stereotypes and advocated inclusion. We returned a traditional Carnival character to widespread attention, yes, but our You are worthy intervention also sought to include and acknowledge people and communities on the margins of Carnival — to draw them into the family. “
About the Belmont Baby Dolls mas band
The Belmont Baby Dolls mas band, which made its debut during
Carnival 2019, is a project of New Waves! MAS, which is a programme of the
Dance & Performance Institute, founded by Makeda Thomas. New Waves! MAS
made its inaugural Carnival presentation at Brooklyn’s West Indian American Day
Carnival in 2017 with Whitewash, and presented Blue Blue in 2018. Belmont Baby
Dolls was its first presentation for Trinidad Carnival.
[…]
The Belmont Baby Dolls’ 2020 presentation, Spirit Dolls,
is a collaboration with Trinidadian artist Brianna McCarthy. As the band
explains, “Materials are a mix of authentic African textiles, European lace,
and fabrics commonly found in Caribbean homes — florals and cotton prints. In
this way, we are interested in a ‘Caribbean’ Doll, with all those respective
cultural influences, and moving towards something that is truly unique;
self-defined. And while the aesthetic is strong, this mas is less about what a
Baby Doll looks like, and more about what Baby Doll mas can do.
“Spirit Dolls act as vessels for beings of powerful spirits — spirits of the dead, familiar-spirits, Divine-beings, a spirit-of-divination, and even spiritual entities which have never had an earthly incarnation. Spirit dolls hold intention — for reasons that can include healing, honouring ancestors, divine connection, and expressing love . . . The making of the Spirit Doll is a deeply personal ritual to bring to form a part of oneself that is emerging from the unconscious. Carnival is the performance ritual to invoke the spirit of the Doll; to open a path to the impossible.”
SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Victoria Square Mas 2008 - Baby Doll
NALISTT, Feb 17, 2010
Victoria Square Mas 29th January 2008: Baby Doll
The baby doll character was portrayed mainly in the 1930's,
but is still seen every year at Ole Mas competitions. The masquerader portrays
a gaily dressed woman, decked out in a frilled dress and bonnet. In her arms
she carries a doll which symbolizes an illegitimate baby. The masquerader
usually stops male passers-by and accuses them of being the baby's father. She
would then demand money to buy milk for the baby. This character was sometimes
portrayed by a man who would speak in a high-pitched voice.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 -Baby doll 3 - Orchid
CarnivalOnTheNet, Feb 16, 2012
All in black and white
Christopher Mahabir, Feb 4, 2016
SHOWCASE VIDEO #5 - Traditional Carnival Character Baby Doll Portrayal
Austin Legacy, Jan 14, 2022
In Trinidad & Tobago Carnival is the main event that brings
all cultures together within our little twin island republic. Throughout this
period there's a lot of skits or I should say portrayals of this said
(BabyDoll) character among many others. I hope you all enjoyed this little
skit!!
-snip-
This performance was at a secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago.
Visitor comments are welcome.
I didn't know that Trinidad has a carnival like this
ReplyDeleteHello, barbie film online. Thanks, for your comment. Yes, I didn't know about Trinidad's carnival and I wish I could have experienced the old school carnivals in person.
Delete