Pan Trinbago is the governing body for steelpan in Trinidad and Tobago.
History
editViolence between rival steelbands was a part of the landscape in the 1940s. Activist and lawyer Lennox Pierre's investigation into the violence led the Albert Gomes and the Executive Council to establish the steelband committee. The committee was authorised to study the steelands and find ways to encourage "the cultural and recreational potentialities of the steelbands" to provide an alternative to the violence. The Trinidad and Tobago Steel Band Association was organised by the committee in 1950, which was later transformed into the National Association of Trinidad and Tobago Steelbandsmen (NATTS).[1]
During the Black Power unrest in 1970, NATTS built a closer relationship with the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC), the country's leading Black Power organisation. This led to tension between NATTS and the leadership of the ruling Peoples' National Movement, who encouraged the formation of a rival group, the Steelband Improvement Committee. In June 1971 George Goddard resigned as President-General of NATTS, and the Steelband Improvement Committee gained the support of a majority of the steelbands. In October 1971 the committee was recognised as the official organ of the steelband movement and was renamed Pan Trinbago.[2]: 150–157
Pan Trinbago was incorporated by Act of Parliament No. 5 of 1986.[3]
Membership
editIn 2011 Pan Trinbago's membership included over 125 conventional steelbands and about 80 traditional steelbands.[4]
Awards and honours
editIn 1987 Pan Trinbago was awarded the Trinity Cross for service to culture and steelpan in particular.[3]
References
edit- ^ Dudley, Shannon (2008). Music from behind the bridge: steelband aesthetics and politics in Trinidad and Tobago. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-972437-6. OCLC 648342026.
- ^ Stuempfle, Stephen (1995). The steelband movement: the forging of a national art in Trinidad and Tobago. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-3329-8. OCLC 33047255.
- ^ a b Pemberton, Rita; McCollin, Debbie; Matthews, Gelien; Toussaint, Michael (2018). Historical dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538111451. OCLC 1012682700.
- ^ Johnson, Kim (2011). From Tin Pan to TAPSO: Steelband in Trinidad 1939-1951. Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press. ISBN 978-976-640-427-7.