|
| St. John, or "Love
City" to our Caribbean neighbors, is often called the best kept secret
in the U.S. |
| Virgin Islands. Much of
our Manhattan-sized island is protected from development by the V.I. National |
| Park, but we still have
room for a population of 3,000, with enough young people for our two |
| community-based steel pan
bands. The Pan Dragons and Baby
Pan Dragons provide a drug, alcohol, |
| and crime free cultural
activity for the young people of St. John. These 50+ dedicated kids practice
3 |
| to 4 times a week at the
St. John Youth Center near the Cruz Bay Fire Station. Besides performing
at |
| programs and events on St.
John, we load up the pans every April for the 20 minute boat ride to |
| St. Thomas to take part
in their Carnival Pan-O-Rama. In June every year, we host our own |
| Pan-O-Rama to kick off St.
John's Festival. |
|
|
| In September, 1998, Pan
Dragon graduate and |
| virtuoso pan soloist, Victor
Provost, formed the |
| Baby
Pan Dragons, for children aged 6 to 9. |
| They cut their performance
"teeth" on 1999 |
| St. Thomas and St. John
Pan-O-Ramas, then |
| expanded their repertoire
at Summer Pan Camp |
| under instructor/arranger
Samuel Lawrence, a |
| long-time school pan arranger
and an original |
| member of Trinidad's WITCO
Desperadoes Steel |
| Orchestra, and played their
first new piece in |
| August for the Annual National
Night Out Against |
| Crime and Violence. |
|
| Both bands celebrated Pan
Camp Graduation with a concert in Cruz Bay Park on August 29,1999. In |
| mid-0ctober the Pan Dragons,
elegant in tuxedo shirts and black pants or skirts, performed under the |
| stars at the Marriott Frenchman's
Reef Resort for a large convention of Stateside physicians. In |
| November, both bands performed
at our own Third Annual Pre-Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner on the |
| Cruz Bay Waterfront. They
closed out their Christmas performance season with appearances at the |
| Governor's Christmas Party
on St. John, Kwanzaa in Cruz Bay Park, Sputnik's in Coral Bay, and the |
| Cinnamon Bay Campground
Pavilion on the last afternoon of the 20th century. An ensemble of band |
| members played on several
occasions. |
|
| Y2K
brought many changes, such as, school, |
| jobs, and social lives,
which claimed so many |
| of the older Pan Dragons,causing
the older |
| band
to disband. The Baby Pan Dragons |
| absorbed a few the older
members and, at 35 |
| strong, gave a triumphal
performance in April |
| at St. Thomas Pan-O-Rama
of the late Lord |
| Kitchener's 1963 calypso
classic, "Love in the |
| Cemetery," the song with
which WITCO |
| Desperadoes won the "Kitch"
Tribute |
| competition in Trinidad
in February, as well as |
| the Sting classic, "Every
Breath I Take." |
| Resplendent in straw panama
hats, Hawaiian |
| shirts and white jeans,
the Dragons were |
| honored for the second year
in a row by a |
| second bow from perennial
St. Thomas |
| Carnival emcee and WSTA
radio host, Irvin |
| "Brownie" Brown. |
|
|
| They previewed their Pan-O-Rama
repertoire on St. John at a local softball tournament and at a private |
| wedding at the Westin Resort
St. John, then stole the show from a dozen St. Thomas steel bands at |
| St. John's Millennium Pan-O-Rama
on June 3. They also performed for the Carnival Food Fair, Carnival |
| Village opening, Boat Show,
and July 4th Parade. As this talented, disciplined and highly motivated |
| group of 5 to16 year olds
has matured both musically and personally, we honored them by dropping
the |
| "Baby"; they are simply
the Pan Dragons. |
|
|
|
| Steel Pan Summer Camp
2000 brought new |
| players behind the pans,
some of whom have |
| become Dragons, with others
forming the core |
| of a revived Baby
Pan Dragons in October 2000. |
| Performances in August for
the Night out Against |
| Violence and our own Community
Appreciation |
| Day, in October in Coral
Bay for the Bring Peace |
| to Paradise Festival, and
at our 4th Annual |
| Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner
in Cruz Bay Park capped |
| off 2000. A grant
from the Virgin Islands Council |
| on the Arts now funds part
of our instructor's fee. |
| |
| Webmistress's personal comment: |
| Mr. Lawrence (left ),is
the heart and soul of the |
| steel band...Mr. Music. |
|
| 2001 has seen fine progress
from both bands. Performances at the St. John Arts Festival and the |
| Westin capped off our winter
season this year. The Baby Pan Dragons
will be opening the show for |
| St. Thomas Pan-O-Rama on
April 22, 2001, with the Pan Dragons following later with the best of |
| Trinidad Carnival 2001's
hits, Shadow's "Stranger" and "Looking for Horn." |
|
|
Costs
for instructors and equipment for a steel band are very high. The
Pan Dragons have a long wish
|
|
list
and funding is very sparse; so they welcome help from the community.
|
.
|
|
Pictures
& text courtesy of Love City Pan Dragons
|
