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Doubles? No Troubles. At least not last Saturday night.

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Creators Cultural Arts  and  De New Regulars and  Foreva Carnival 2018  hold their launches in Toronto By Stephen Weir for the Caribbean Camera Photographs by Don Moreland (Belasco at lunch) and Anthony Berot (model in blue) photo by Anthony Berot Toronto Doubles.    Two Mas Camps hold costume launches on the same Saturday night the second weekend in a row!    This past weekend it was a pair of long established Mas Camps - the  Costume Creators Cultural Arts  and  De New Regulars and Foreva Carnival 2018  holding their launches on the same night. Both events were successful, probably because each launch appealed to different sections of the city. Costume Creators Cultural Arts with Freedom Carnival  is the oldest mas band in the festival and the only that can lay claim to being part of the first parade in 1967.   Founders  Wilfred  and  Calvin Belasco  have turned over the camp (formerly known as Costume Concept )  to Melissa Ramlochan, a model and cuttin

Trinidad Canadian Author David Chariandy Wins Again

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Two Brothers Grow Up Rough In Scarborough By Stephen Weir - Caribbean Camera It is another win for Brother and its author Trinidad Canadian author David Chariandy.  Over the weekend The West Coast Book Prize Society honoured him when he was presented with the 2018 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize for writing the best work of fiction in the province! The $2,000 Ethel Wilson Prize was one of several prizes. The Society award honours the achievements of British Columbia’s writers and publishers.   David Chariandy, formerly of Scarborough, now lives and works in Vancouver.    In Brothe r, Chariandy tells the story of two brothers, the sons of Trinidadian immigrants, who confront violence and prejudice in a Toronto housing complex during the sweltering heat and simmering violence of the summer of 199 1. The BC win is the second major prize that the book and the author has picked up. Last fall Brother won the $50,000 Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Like the brothers in t

Jamaican Canadian actress back on stage this weekend

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Yvette Martin – Her life is a play that doesn’t have an end yet By Stephen Weir for Caribbean Camera If you pulled back the drapes at many Toronto events, you would find 52-year    old  Yvette Martin pulling the strings, firing up the musicians and cueing the talent.    This weekend, for the first time in many years, the Jamaican Canadian actress is going to be on this side of the curtain joking about running from death! Ms. Martin has so many titles.  Actress, Artistic Director, Writer, Stage Manager, Arts Educator, Forum Theatre Specialist and well, the list goes on from there. She has been actively working in the Arts & Entertainment Sector here in Toronto for the past 35 years. Although Yvette has worked with various cultural groups and mainstream entertainment projects, she always credits the Black & Caribbean Theatres that laid the foundation for her successes. This weekend she is taking to the boards  starring  in a two act play that she also wrote and directs

TWO BAND LAUNCHES IN ONE NIGHT

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Elements and Reign – Reign had the biggest crowd, Elements won the WOW factor By Stephen Weir with Craigg Slowly and Don Moreland - Caribbean Camera Don’t try this after a couple of drinks: checking out two costume launches on the same night half a city apart. A few die-hard revellers with fast cars and spotters at both events, managed the impossible seeing both the Fantazia Carnival’s Elements and Sunlime Canada’s Reign costume launches. It is risky business having two events on the same evening, but, the increased interest in this year’s launch shows, meant that neither mas camp was handed their hats, albeit, both have softer attendance numbers than predicted. The launches showcase the costumes that will be worn this year at the August 4 th Toronto Caribbean Carnival parade. Long time costume designer Will Mortimer used the Elements – Earth, Wind and Fire - as the theme of his Fantazia Carnival launch which was held this year at the York Mills Gallery in North To

Straight out of John John to the Nugget on Nugget

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Original launch date postponed by bad weather Photograph by Anthony Berot De New Regulars and Foreva Carnival 2018 had to put the breaks on their planned April costume launch because of bad bad weather. With spring finally arriving in Toronto, one of Carnival’s longest running Mas Camps is confident that the show will go on for sure this weekend. De New Regulars and Foreva Carnival band Launch will be held May 5th at the Nugget Banquet Hall, (55 Nugget  Ave) in Scarborough. Doors open at 10:00 p.m. Admission is $25 per person and includes dinner, a live steel pan performance, D.J. music and, of course, their costume presentation. The theme for the evening is “Straight Out of John John”. John John refers to a housing district in Trinidad. “Janet Lewis aka “flag woman” is a true Caribbean icon,” reads a press release issued by De New Regulars and Foreva Carnival. “In celebrating Janet’s contributions to Carnival in Toronto and the world, we also recognize the importance of the ro

The Godfather of Carnival knocks them dead - Sunlime up next

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By Stephen Weir for the Caribbean Camera Louis Saldenah’s Mas-K-Club took no prisoners on Saturday night. The biggest band, with a legacy of winning that stretches back to the early days of Caribana, held a dramatic costume launch at the Chandi Banquet Hall in Scarborough in front an estimated crowd of over two thousand people. Sixteen sections with a theme of the “Wonders of Spring” entertained the audience for 90-minutes of sexy, innovative costumes for both men and women. Costumes shown on Saturday will be worn by the city’s largest band (5,500 anticipated in 2018) during the August 4th Toronto Caribbean Carnival’s Grand Parade. “Louis Saldenah’s Mas-K Club has got class,” said photographer Don Moreland. “Louis filled the place, the whole event had a great vibe at the Hall.” Moreland has covered all of the Carnival launches this season and reports that the Saldenah’s launch was one of the best he has worked .... ever. “Louis is good at what he’s into and that is Carnival,” he