Little Carib Theatre

The Little Carib Theatre (LCT) was established in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1947 by Beryl McBurnie "to showcase the vibrant and rich culture of the Trinbagonian people".[1] The first permanent folk-dance company and theatre in Trinidad, it has been described as "the mecca of West Indian folk dance".[2] It remains the only dance theatre of its kind in the region.[3]

History

The Little Carib Theatre was formally opened in November 1948. The foundation stone was laid by Paul Robeson, who at the time was visiting Trinidad, and whom the founder Beryl McBurnie had met in New York.[4][5]

By the 1960s, the work of the Little Carib Dance Company had been recognised and celebrated overseas, having performed at such events as the Caribbean Festival of Arts in Puerto Rico in 1952, the Jamaica Tercentenary Celebrations in 1955 and the opening of the Federal Parliament of Toronto in April 1958. The Little Carib building had to be demolished in the 1960s, and it was rebuilt in three years.[4]

Many of the plays of Nobel Prize-winner Derek Walcott were first staged at the Little Carib Theatre,[6][7] where he held weekly theatre workshops[4] as founding director, from 1959 to 1971, of what became the Trinidad Theatre Workshop.[8][9]

References
  1. A Brief History of Woodbrook, Nalis.gov.tt.
  2. Mark Fraser, "Keeping Little Carib alive", Saturday Express (Trinidad), 20 July 2013.
  3. Stephen Spark, "Little Carib Theatre brings Caribbean dance to London" Archived 22 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Soca News, 29 July 2015.
  4. Judy Raymond, "Beryl McBurnie: the First Lady of Dance", Caribbean Beat, Issue 20 (July/August 1996).
  5. Pearl Connor, "Beryl McBurnie" (obituary), The Guardian (London), 29 April 2000.
  6. "NGO pays tribute to Derek Walcott", Sunday Express (Trinidad), 12 March 2015.
  7. Martin Banham, Errol Hill, George Woodyard (eds), The Cambridge Guide to African and Caribbean Theatre, Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 247.
  8. "Derek Walcott", Change Performing Arts.
  9. "History" Archived 8 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Trinidad Theatre Workshop.

Further reading
  • Molly Ahye, Cradle of Caribbean Dance: Beryl McBurnie and the Little Carib Theatre, Heritage Cultures, 1983.
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