The Rainbow Voyager

"Chutney" at the Rienzi

By Kamla Rampersad-de Silva

As Friday draws near, patrons who frequent the Rienzi Complex, Couva in the central part of Trinidad and Tobago get more excited. The Rienzi Complex, built by labour leaders for their supporters, and sugar cane workers in particular, has taken on the image of a mosaic of Indian culture.

It is here that hundreds of artistes perform every weekend. Most frequent are the "chutney" singers, men and women who specialise in the hot tempo style of song and music which draws the crowds.

While the origin of this basically folk style of singing can be traced back to the arrival of the first set of indentured labourers from India, it is only in recent years that it was baptised the "chutney" which is named after a hot, spicy food in Trinidad and Tobago. Since then it has also grown in popularity from the small cultural performances at wedding celebrations to the very sophisticated Queen's Hall, a concert hall in the capital of Port of Spain for the prestigious Indo Caribbean Music Awards.

Singers are now no longer relegated to the memory of a few whose taste for the music lead to their seeking them out. Instead names like Anand Yankaran and Ramrajie Prabhu are household in the East Indian community and have crossed the shores of Trinidad and Tobago to the wider Caribbean and even places like New York, Toronto and Holland.

An additional attraction of the chutney singer is the nimble bodied dancers whose sensual movements have elicited reactions ranging from gasps of outrage to screams of orgasmic joy among an otherwise conservative ethnic group.

Most of the dancers are teenage girls, sporting long flowing hair and well toned bodies. The movements can be smooth and rhythmic or a frenzy of hair, hands and especially hip motions in a mesmerising fury. The mood is usually dictated by the beat of the drum and the skill of the dancer.

It is often said that if you can't move your waist you can't dance chutney. Therefore great emphasis is placed on the sway of the hips and the manipulation of the pelvic area. The sexual connotation is hardly subtle. Names like Sandra Beharry and Kathrine Hayes evoke images of long full gathered skirts resting low on provocative hips, a variety of styles of tops all with the common purpose of decoratively covering the beasts and exposing the lower torso.

Also featured on occasions at the popular Rienzi entertainment centre are concerts featuring Indian orchestras with pop songs from India and group dances. Such shows would attract the more conservative crowd, which would prefer to sit and enjoy song, music and dance made popular by the films from Bombay, India. There is little comparison between them and their more boisterious contemporaries who drink and dance freely during the chutney shows.

Such shows frequently feature names like Indar Kanhai and the Trishul Indian Orchestra, Vidya Babwah and the D. Rampersad Indian Art Orchestra and the family Rennie, Raymond and Richard Ramnarine in the Dil-e-Nadan Orchestra. Dance groups include the Caribbean's most popular Carib Shiv Shakti Dance Company, the Dairy Dairy Desh Premee Dance Company and/or the KNS Enterprises Vikash School of Dance.

Particular mention may be made of Ramnarine "Molly" Bridgelalsingh, also known as "Vikash" whose preference for performing in female costumes and whose ability to manipulate his hips has led to great popularity and years of public demand.

Innovative promoters began a trend of featuring shows at the back of the Rienzi complex in the car park area since the auditorium can only accomodate about 1,000 seats. Tents are built over the stage, and the crowd of patrons grows into several thousand in the cool tropical nights.

Sometimes these events attract a mixture of the feisty and the conservative crowds. The latter arrives early and occupies the seats. The former are noted for late attendances, standing in groups at the back or leaning against walls, waiting for the chutney singing which dominates the end of the show.

On less frequent occasions, classical artistes perform at the Rienzi Complex. They prefer the pure "ragas" (musical notes of India) and classical dance of North and South India. Such shows attract audiences which would hardly be found at chutney shows. Some perhaps never attend concert type shows, unless it features an artiste from India like singers Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan or most recently Nitin Mukesh.

The classical shows feature dances of India like Kathak or Odissi by the Nrityanjali Dance Theatre or music by India-trained artistes, like sitarist Mungal Patasar, and\or their students. The crowds are never overflowing, and the shows might only be staged once a year.

Every weekend however patrons of Rienzi are getting ready for the chutney shows. Featured performers could be artistes like Sonny Mann, whose sudden rise to the top has been unprecedented. His popularity spread through exposure in political campaigns and radio airplay. But while his fame has taken him to the Caribbean and North America, Sonny Mann continues to perform at the Rienzi Complex, where he was first known.

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