PORT of SPAIN: Charlie Boys wins tassa competition

PORT
of SPAIN: Charlie
Boys Tassa Band and Bri-Ann Sylvan Bharath Youngstars Tassa Band are the two
top winners of this year’s National Tassarama Virtual Competition.

Charlie
Boys won with 2,547 points while Qualitech Sanjay Boys Tassa Band was second
with 2,382 points and Tri-Stars Tassa Band third with 2,379 points.

In the
junior category Bri-Ann Sylvan Bharath Youngstars Tassa Band was first with
1,336 points while Moving Stars Junior Tassa Band placed second with 1,311
points.

Young
Maestro Tassa Band took third place with 1,290 points while Venom Young Stars
Tassa Band was fourth with 1,244 points. The competition’s final was held on
Independence Day (August 31).

The Tassa
Association of Trinidad and Tobago hosts the annual event. It decided to host
this year’s competition virtually as it did not want to go another year without
having the event, president Dr Vijay Ramlal Rai said. The association did not
host the event last year because of the covid19 pandemic.

The
competition – which started more than 20 years ago – was crafted to gain
recognition for the instrument and the artform.

“The
competition was extremely intense,” Ramlal Rai said.

There was
not a semi-final this year and all bands were required to send in a
three-minute audition video from which the finalists were chosen.

This year
there were 15 senior bands and four junior bands competing for the winning
titles.

The
association has plans to reshape the competition in 2022 and will have three
categories going forward – small, medium and large – as opposed to simply
seniors and juniors.

The
junior category will instead become a school-based competition held at both the
both primary and secondary levels, Ramlal Rai said.

He said
the inspiration for having the three categories was drawn from the pan
movement. In the national Panorama competition steelbands are judged according
to the size of their ensemble with small, medium and large being the defining
categories.

Ramlal
Rai said there are many tassa bands with more than 12 to 15 players which would
constitute a large band.

Over the
years, tassa bands were limited to four people. However, there was a call by
the tassa community for that to be improved and so the idea of having three
categories was birthed. The small bands will be a minimum four people.

“We will
have that new category and you will be seeing more skilful drumming. It is
going to be great and more exciting.”

This was
the first time the competition was hosted virtually and organisers ensured it
adhered to covid19 protocols and regulations.

“Because
of the pandemic we had to give bands a certain time to reach. They all could
not be there at the same time. We had to have three bands at a time. And
distancing as well. They could not be next to each other.

“It was
quite an occasion for us for our first virtual,” Ramlal Rai said while also
saying that he enjoyed it.

“The responses
that we got from yesterday were tremendous.”

He said
the event drew about 4,000 to 5,000 views on its YouTube channel.

He
thanked its sponsors such as the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts;
National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB); First Citizens Bank (FCB) and Xtra
Foods.

Ramlal
Rai said the event did not have a lot of sponsors this year simply because the
pandemic was a deterrent.

“We have
managed to have a very good corporate sponsor for this year and we were happy
about that…”

He said
it was not easy to get this year’s competition going because of the pandemic.
It was streamed from the Divali Nagar site, Endeavour, Chaguanas, which has
been used by the Ministry of Health during the ongoing covid19 vaccination
process.

The space
was large enough to get the streaming done within the covid19 guidelines and
regulations, Ramlal Rai said.

A small,
20-by-20 stage was erected where the bands would come, perform and leave, and
there were no supporters or no props and only two dancers per band, he said.

He
believes TT would have to devise some formula to preserve its artforms should
the pandemic continue like it has been going.

TT’s
artistes and performers may also have to look at opportunities outside of the
county simply to keep the artforms and skills alive, he said.

He does
not think that TT having no Carnival will go beyond 2023.

“We have
to come up as a people, as the Government, with a new formula for our arts and
entertainment. We cannot continue to have it suppressed like this all of the
time. We don’t want our artforms to die,” he said.

He hoped
people can come together and do something so TT’s cultural institutions are not
left in darkness forever.