Issue 76 (November/December 2005)
We look at the history of Jamaica’s National Pantomime; hear about the best contemporary music from the Spanish Caribbean; explore Trinidad and Tobago, BWIA’s home territory; and visit the village of Aishalton in Guyana’s remote south Rupununi; plus all our regular departments and a whole lot more.
Unwelcome guests: Caribbean hurricanes
After two devastating hurricane seasons in a row, Richard Costas looks at the impact of these meteorological disasters on the Caribbean’s economies
Sweet Calypso Dreams
Garry Steckles on Calypso Dreams, the documentary by Geoffrey Dunn and Michael Horne that celebrates the golden age of Trinidad calypso
John Hearne: two worlds in the blood
James Ferguson wonders if a new edition of John Hearne’s novel Voices Under the Window will revive the reputation of this pioneering Jamaican writer
Caribbean Cookup – November/December 2005
Articles for various contributors on what's cooking in the region
Pamenos Ballantyne: “Everyone is a winner”
Vincentian long-distance runner Pamenos Ballantyne on discipline, success, and his plans for the future — as told to Kwame Laurence
Braving Barbados’ Soup Bowl
The Caribbean’s best-known surfing event catches its biggest wave yet. All eyes on Barbados’s Soup Bowl
Rawle Gibbons: breaking down the Ivory Tower
Rawle Gibbons explains how the Centre for Creative and Festival Arts at UWI’s St Augustine campus rethinks the nature of arts education
Marooned? Guadeloupe’s Jean-Claude Flamand
Guadeloupean Jean-Claude Flamand’s Nèg Maron launches a new wave in French Caribbean cinema
Damian Marley: the name of the son
Damian “Jr Gong” Marley steps out of his father’s shadow with his new album Welcome to Jamrock
Have her cake and eat it | Classic | Last word
Attillah Springer on the world’s best black cake — her granny’s. Originally published in 2005, this Beat classic was reproduced in the November/December 2019 issue
Ibrahim Ferrer: Bolero Ultimo
Simon Lee remembers Ibrahim Ferrer, the honey-voiced Cuban singer who leaped to fame after he starred on the Buena Vista Social Club album
Aishalton dairy
In Guyana’s remote south Rupununi, the Wapishana village of Aishalton is rarely visited by outsiders. Liam Taylor spent a year teaching there, growing to love the rhythm of this place far from home
Twin-island pleasures: Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago may be the Caribbean’s most various country, an unexpected microcosm of the whole region, sometimes bewildering to visitors. Four locals- Jamie Elliot, Pat Ganase, Tracy Assing, and Dylan Kerrigan- offer personal introductions and insiders' tips to help you have a good time
The Latin music hotlist
The Hispanic Caribbean boasts a dizzying diverse musical scene, with sounds ranging from son to jibaro, bomba to salsa, cumbia to reggaeton. Where should the enthusiastic amateur start?
Jamaica’s pantomime: upstaging tradition
Jamaica’s National Pantomime has been a Christmas-season tradition since the 1940s, entertaining tens of thousands while preserving folk culture
