A celebration of Independence Day to Trinidad and Tobago will be held on the evening of Saturday 6th September at the West End State School with headline act, the River City Steel Band.
Kicking off at 6:00pm the evening will feature Conga lines, soca line dancing, a pan shoot out and limbo dancing. There will be lashings of Caribbean food, a cash bar featuring authentic Caribbean Rum Punch and a coffee cart.
Children are free, adult entry is $10.
The Rivercity Steel Band is a community steel band playing Caribbean style music. The origin of steel bands lies in Trinidad where the discovery that oil drums could be hammered and tuned to make musical instruments was made. The basic instrument is the steel pan, or drum, which is made in a range of different sizes to match the range of notes of the instruments of an orchestra. Formerly associated with poverty, the steel pan is now officially recognised as the National Instrument of Trinidad and Tobago and has millions of players and followers throughout the world.
Steel pan music was introduced to Australia in the 1970s when Amral Khan’s Cavaliers Steel Bands toured the world and made several visits to Australia. A number of its members decided to stay, including Alvin Rostant, who later teamed up with Paul Santiago and formed the Australian Academy of Steel Drums. www.steeldrums.org The Rivercity Steel Band evolved from one of the Academy’s workshops and was formed in 2008. Alvin is the band leader and music director and brings a wealth of experience to the band. Alvin is an well known professional musician who performs solo, with his band, Jahbutu, and provides a range of workshops including the Banana Joe schools program. More info on www.caribbeanartscompany.com.au