Traditional Folk Forms |
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MOST
OUTSTANDING TRADITIONAL SCHOOL GROUP BEST
COSTUMED SCHOOL GROUP Clonmel Primary &
Jnr. High School
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Jamaican
folk forms, the essence of our nation’s culture,
are rooted in the ceremonies and traditions of our
forebears. The JCDC plays a critical role in the preservation
of these folk forms, which, without support, would
simply die. These folk forms are sustained through
the Commission’s annual Festival of the Performing
Arts and through the National and Regional Mento Yards,
which showcase the variety of these forms and accord
them dignity and their rightful place in the consciousness
of the Jamaican society.
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Traditional Music
Mento |
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The Mento is the original
folk music created by Jamaicans. Instruments range from
saxophones, flutes, bamboo fifes, PVC pipes, banjos,
violins, bamboo fiddles, guitars, rhumba boxes double
basses, rhythm sticks, shakkas and drums played with
both sticks and hands.
Tribute to Vincent
Price - Click
here
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MENTO – Blue Graze Mento Band, Clarendon
(Festival 2001) |
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Traditional Folk Dances
Maypole |
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MAYPOLE,
Class 3
Ocho Rios Primary School |
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A
European retention which was originally celebrated on
May first at the May Day fertility celebration in England.
It is now very Jamaican in character. Groups may comprise
12 to 16 dancers - sometimes all female or with mixed
couples. The plaiting of the pole with coloured ribbons
has basic traditional patterns, starting with the grand
chain, basket weave wrapping the ribbons around the
pole from the top. The plaiting then continues away
from the pole ending with the 'cobweb' plait before
the full unplaiting takes place. Mento music is usually
the musical accompaniment, but it is now not unusual
to have groups perform this dance to popular reggae
tunes. |
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Quadrille |
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is a ballroom set dance, which originated in the courts
of Europe and was danced in Jamaica by the gentry during
slavery. There are two styles - the Ballroom and the
Camp Style - the former European, the latter the Creolized
version. Mento Bands
accompany these dances playing a variety of traditional
European tunes, except for the fifth figure which employs
the Mento, the first music created by Jamaicans. |
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QUADRILLE
CAMP STYLE, Class 3
Clonmel Primary & Jnr. High school
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| Kumina
/ cumina |
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KUMINA
- Kumina Queen – Bernice Henry of the
Port Morant Kumina Group
(Festival
2001)
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Kumina
is the most African of Jamaican cults. Kumina ceremonies
are usually associated with wakes and entombments, but
can also be performed at births, anniversaries and thanksgivings.
During a Kumina ceremony the exponents call upon their
ancestral spirits. The dance and music are two of the
Kumina's strong features - the drum playing an integral
part in this dance ritual.
KUMINA by Dalvey Kumina Group
Festival 2001) |
Other instruments used include shakas and grater. The
dancers move in a circular pattern anti-clockwise around
the drummers in the center inching their feet along
the ground with the back held in an almost erect posture.
The hips, rib cage, shoulders and arms become involved
as spins, dips and breaks in the body movements occur
throughout the dance. Kumina is to be found primarily
in the parish of St. Thomas and to a lesser extent in
St. Mary and St. Catherine. |
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Jonkunnu / Burru |
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| Jonkunnu
(John Canoe) a Jamaican traditional dance of African
origin. It is performed mainly at Christmas time and
a strong feature of the dance is the characters, all
males whose movements match their roles. Some of these
characters are Pitchy Patchy, Devil, Horsehead, Cowhead,
Actor Boy, Belly Woman, Warrior, Wild Indian, to name
a few. The rhythm of the Jonkunnu Music is quite distinct
from other ritual folk music with its fife and "rattling
drum"- carried on the shoulders and played with sticks.
Meet the Jonkunnu
Characters!
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JONKUNNU,
Class 5
Clonmel Cultural Club |
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