Documenting Goombay and Little Bahamas is “a research project spearheaded by FIU’s Wolfsonian Public Humanities Laboratory (WPHL)…[archiving] for perpetuity the iconic festival and the Bahamian community it celebrates.”* The Library of Congress American Folklife Center funded the project which was led by “principal investigator (PI) Rebecca Friedman, director of WPHL and professor of history; co-PI Valerie Patterson, director of the African and African Diaspora Studies Program and clinical associate professor of public administration; and Aaarti Mehta-Kroll, a Ph.D. student in Global and Sociocultural Affairs.” **
After a colleague sent me an article ***about this project last year, I was immediately interested and felt that it connected to my research on the embodied performance of women in Bahamian Junkanoo, which is an under discussed/written about subject. I reached out to one of the members of the team and the rest is history.
Aaarti Mehta-Kroll and I spoke about the possibilities, which included working with 3 amazing students**** in the dance program at Miami Dade College—Kendall Campus as well as the Director of the Dance program, Michelle Grant-Murry to document the embodied expressions of Goombay/Junkanoo participants (performers and observers), capturing their feelings, emotions, and memories—orally and kinesthetically. The students took amazing photos and videos of the festival goers and Junkanooers over the 3-day event. To culminate the 2024 project/festival, I wrote a reflection***** and created a reel demonstrating the wonderful moments featured.
The second part of the project is the “Documenting Goombay and Little Bahamas” exhibit at Sanctuary of the Arts on Grand Avenue between SW 37th Avenue and Elizabeth Street, where images from the 2024 festival were on display. Both Fernanda Romero and I are featured photographers. My selected image was ripe with activity. As, I analyzed the image, I remembered that there was something about this image that stuck out—this led me to search for the video in my archives.
As I went through the videos and images we took of women of all ages, living their best life—dancin’, winin’, jukin’, and jammin’ to the goat skin drums, cow bells, and the brass instruments, engaging in what seemingly appeared to be a spiritual experience—I was reminded of the transformational opportunities that people felt and witnessed.
What is the narrative? What happened? What is going on?
Leading up to the still that was taken of the drummer, there are multiple events occurring simultaneously in the video. In the middle of his ferocious drumming, the strap for his drum popped. Because I was watching him, I was able to read his reaction and see the frustration in his face and body. He leaned over (for which seemed like a very long time) to gather the strap and hook it up, which probably took him longer than he thought it should take. It would have been great to interview him, have him watch the video, and also code it.
Another captivating moment was watching the lead female Junkanooer skin out. Her hips rotated and swayed to the beat of the drums and horns. With her legs open, in a deep second position, her torso parallel to the floor, matching the cadence of the band, she dipped low, performing an oppositional knee drop and wine.
My absolute favorite moment were these two sensationally seasoned women who weaved in an out of the band while rushin’. One of the women, dressed in a yellow skirt and black tank top shook her keys as if they were a cow bell or shaker, making music with what was available to her—how African! She blew her whistle, bopping and marching, moving from one side of the procession to another. The other lady, her dance partner, dressed comfortably in printed pants and a black shirt, and wearing a “borrowed” head piece from one of the Junkanooers performed her version of the Junkanoo Prance******. She arched her back like a peacock, waved her arms, did a grape vine step—got low, and gloriously swayed her hips.
This analysis of the physical expression and performance of the dancers is important, particularly as the Bahamas just had their Carnival celebration, which was instituted in 2015. As I looked at the images and videos of the revelers and read the comments on Facebook on the pages of the “Nassau Guardian” and “Our News Bahamas” by members of the community, the comments revealed a deep descent from cultural history—a history of rebellion, power, the political, and expression of identity through music, dance, and dress. Many in the comments described the performance/presentation of the Bahamian Carnival revelers as “vulgar”, “devoid of morality and Christianity”, and the most popular was that “it’s not a representation of Bahamian culture.”’ The dancing performed by the Nassauvians was no different than the Miami Goombay participants, myself included. Why is that when women move their bodies, expressing a certain freedom and erotic *******power, it is misread/miscoded negatively? And don’t let no skin be out! BLASPHEMY. The hypocrisy is galling, particularly in a nation that have no laws to protect women and children, rape is justified, and government officials and Christian leaders have very soiled and sullied reputations.
I will say this, to really offer an informed analysis, one must research the history of Junkanoo, Goombay, and Carnival and the politics of respectability (there is an entire history surrounding this discussion). This knowledge will unearth some of the reasons why people choose to participate in these events, what they feel and experience during these events, and why certain groups of people are demonized. For those open to the discussion, this context should inform you about the embodied expressions of the participants and how this phenomenon may/can translate into their everyday lives in positive ways.
Foot notes
*Ellenberg, Todd. 2024
** Ellenberg, Todd. 2024
***Ellenberg, Todd.
https://news.fiu.edu/2024/preserving-goombay-fiu-team-receives-library-of-congress-grant-to-document-iconic-miami-festival
**** Fernanda Romero, Lisbeth Moqueteca, and Michelle Paredes
***** https://www.facebook.com/watch/?mibextid=wwXIfr&v=945332730728182&rdid=xSVg6IOcDY0vrgDt
****** A’Keitha Carey has developed a Junkanoo Codification System in which Junkanoo Prance is featured.
Images
After a colleague sent me an article ***about this project last year, I was immediately interested and felt that it connected to my research on the embodied performance of women in Bahamian Junkanoo, which is an under discussed/written about subject. I reached out to one of the members of the team and the rest is history.
Aaarti Mehta-Kroll and I spoke about the possibilities, which included working with 3 amazing students**** in the dance program at Miami Dade College—Kendall Campus as well as the Director of the Dance program, Michelle Grant-Murry to document the embodied expressions of Goombay/Junkanoo participants (performers and observers), capturing their feelings, emotions, and memories—orally and kinesthetically. The students took amazing photos and videos of the festival goers and Junkanooers over the 3-day event. To culminate the 2024 project/festival, I wrote a reflection***** and created a reel demonstrating the wonderful moments featured.
The second part of the project is the “Documenting Goombay and Little Bahamas” exhibit at Sanctuary of the Arts on Grand Avenue between SW 37th Avenue and Elizabeth Street, where images from the 2024 festival were on display. Both Fernanda Romero and I are featured photographers. My selected image was ripe with activity. As, I analyzed the image, I remembered that there was something about this image that stuck out—this led me to search for the video in my archives.
As I went through the videos and images we took of women of all ages, living their best life—dancin’, winin’, jukin’, and jammin’ to the goat skin drums, cow bells, and the brass instruments, engaging in what seemingly appeared to be a spiritual experience—I was reminded of the transformational opportunities that people felt and witnessed.
What is the narrative? What happened? What is going on?
Leading up to the still that was taken of the drummer, there are multiple events occurring simultaneously in the video. In the middle of his ferocious drumming, the strap for his drum popped. Because I was watching him, I was able to read his reaction and see the frustration in his face and body. He leaned over (for which seemed like a very long time) to gather the strap and hook it up, which probably took him longer than he thought it should take. It would have been great to interview him, have him watch the video, and also code it.
Another captivating moment was watching the lead female Junkanooer skin out. Her hips rotated and swayed to the beat of the drums and horns. With her legs open, in a deep second position, her torso parallel to the floor, matching the cadence of the band, she dipped low, performing an oppositional knee drop and wine.
My absolute favorite moment were these two sensationally seasoned women who weaved in an out of the band while rushin’. One of the women, dressed in a yellow skirt and black tank top shook her keys as if they were a cow bell or shaker, making music with what was available to her—how African! She blew her whistle, bopping and marching, moving from one side of the procession to another. The other lady, her dance partner, dressed comfortably in printed pants and a black shirt, and wearing a “borrowed” head piece from one of the Junkanooers performed her version of the Junkanoo Prance******. She arched her back like a peacock, waved her arms, did a grape vine step—got low, and gloriously swayed her hips.
This analysis of the physical expression and performance of the dancers is important, particularly as the Bahamas just had their Carnival celebration, which was instituted in 2015. As I looked at the images and videos of the revelers and read the comments on Facebook on the pages of the “Nassau Guardian” and “Our News Bahamas” by members of the community, the comments revealed a deep descent from cultural history—a history of rebellion, power, the political, and expression of identity through music, dance, and dress. Many in the comments described the performance/presentation of the Bahamian Carnival revelers as “vulgar”, “devoid of morality and Christianity”, and the most popular was that “it’s not a representation of Bahamian culture.”’ The dancing performed by the Nassauvians was no different than the Miami Goombay participants, myself included. Why is that when women move their bodies, expressing a certain freedom and erotic *******power, it is misread/miscoded negatively? And don’t let no skin be out! BLASPHEMY. The hypocrisy is galling, particularly in a nation that have no laws to protect women and children, rape is justified, and government officials and Christian leaders have very soiled and sullied reputations.
I will say this, to really offer an informed analysis, one must research the history of Junkanoo, Goombay, and Carnival and the politics of respectability (there is an entire history surrounding this discussion). This knowledge will unearth some of the reasons why people choose to participate in these events, what they feel and experience during these events, and why certain groups of people are demonized. For those open to the discussion, this context should inform you about the embodied expressions of the participants and how this phenomenon may/can translate into their everyday lives in positive ways.
Foot notes
*Ellenberg, Todd. 2024
** Ellenberg, Todd. 2024
***Ellenberg, Todd.
https://news.fiu.edu/2024/preserving-goombay-fiu-team-receives-library-of-congress-grant-to-document-iconic-miami-festival
**** Fernanda Romero, Lisbeth Moqueteca, and Michelle Paredes
***** https://www.facebook.com/watch/?mibextid=wwXIfr&v=945332730728182&rdid=xSVg6IOcDY0vrgDt
****** A’Keitha Carey has developed a Junkanoo Codification System in which Junkanoo Prance is featured.
Images
- 2024 Goombay Festival Miami, Florida Image: A’Keitha Carey
- Research Participants: Fernanda Romero, Lisbeth Moqueteca, Michelle Paredes, and A’Keitha Carey
- Co-PI Dr. Valerie Patterson and Fernanda Romero
- Documenting Goombay and Little Bahamas Poster
- 2024 Goombay Festival Miami, Florida Images by: Christine Cortes, Fernanda Romero, and Enrique Rosell
- 2024 Goombay Festival Miami, Florida Image: A’Keitha Carey
- 2024 Goombay Festival Miami, Florida Image by Michelle Grant-Murray
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