She recalls a deafening hush as the anxious crowd waited. The song Flag Woman dominated the 1976 Carnival season and won Lord Kitchener–Aldwyn Roberts–another Road March title.Despite having had a miscarriage, Valerie Green, Kitchener's partner and dancer, felt she could not disappoint the eager crowd. She did her own unique flag dance while Kitchener delivered a rousing performance, with the Mighty Sparrow at his side. Between them, says Green, they "mashed up Dimanche Gras that year."
Green, through that song and dance, is a living personification of the flag woman. To many, it seems that the flag woman is now a symbol of the steelband movement of long ago.For pan historian Dr Kim Johnson and Prof Gordon Rohlehr, such comments ring true. In separate interviews with the Sunday Guardian, both said they hoped the art would be retained, but did not see it featuring as a prominent part of the modern steelband movement.
Johnson on thedecline of flag women
Johnson noted as a direct result of steelbands no longer being the major music provider on the streets on Carnival Monday and Tuesday, flag women no longer featured as prominently as they once did. Recalling past popular flag women such as Bubulups of Bar 20 (1940s) and Lil Hart, who waved for Dixieland, he said initially flag bearers and dancers for steelbands were not women but men, since women who featured in steelbands were often of ill repute.
"There was a sprinkling (of women) in the early days," he said.The proliferation of women as flag wavers for steelbands occurred in the 50s, 60s and 70s, when steelbands became the main music provider for Carnival."Large bands were steelbands and there was a large number of women. Steelbands dominated the road," Johnson said. The flag bearer often cleared the path for the band to pass on the road on Carnival Monday and Tuesday.
The decline of flag women began when steelbands no longer dominated the road.Although he hoped the art of flag waving would not be lost, Johnson did not see it being a part of the modern steelband, since it was too integrally linked to the steelband on the road. He hoped it could be revived, since many bands play on the road during borough days."Professional dance might preserve the art of the flag woman, but it won't be in the same way like before," he said.
Rohlehr: They were part of the visual and bacchanal of Carnival
Prof Gordon Rohlehr said while he could not offer a concrete explanation for the decline of the flag woman, both the lack of the visual and a move away from the communal could be seen as possible explanations.He said flag women were a part of the visual and bacchanal that was Carnival, but the visual was no longer an instrumental part of Panorama and the steelband, since there was greater focus on the music.
Rohlehr also suggested the decline might be attributed to the move away from steelbands being largely communal. "The flag woman helped to identify particular bands from particular communities, but that element has diminished somewhat. Bands no longer have to belong to a particular community."
Diaz: Flag bearers were traditionally male
However, Pan Trinbago president Keith Diaz, in a phone interview with the Sunday Guardian yesterday, said there were never a lot of flag women. "I can count the number of flag women on my hand," he said.
Diaz said flag bearerswere traditionally male and dispelled the notion that flag waving had become a lost art. "For nearly every band who has come forward, there is always a flag waver," he said. Asked about suggestions to keep the art of flag dancing and waving alive, Diaz said if corporate sponsors wanted to assist in that regard, they were free to do so.
Learning the flag woman dance
Valerie Green will never forget what it felt like to be on the stage dancing as a flag woman. But she, too, accepts that the era of the flag woman has long gone and now belongs to those "remember-when..." moments. Even Kitch's 1976 hit was meant to revive the art, since "it was not fully functional all the time."Green, sitting in Rain-o-Rama's patio in Diego Martin, looking at the hills, recalled that at first, she knew very little of the flag woman dance.
"I did not know anything about flag women, since back then we were not allowed to take part in Carnival. When he (Kitchener) came up with the idea, I was already dancing for him. We went to Alwin Boynes' dance troupe and they taught me how to wave the flag and incorporated aspects of the sailor and fire dance in it," she said.
Green's flag woman role took her on many tours with Kitchener and she was asked to bear the flags of many steelbands that year. She recalled that the art involved a lot of wrist and foot action, and movement in different directions.
"I did the sailor band dance first and used the stick of the flag like a poker...in practice I had to pass the flag over my head, then swing it around my waist and go on my knees and go back. A lot of people won't want to do it now because it is a lot of work," she said.She, too, believes the flag woman will not last unless a conscious decision is made to keep the art going, and attributes the decline of the flag woman to the focus on the music as opposed to the visual.
"There isn't enough room on the stage to move the flag," she said. "People are more interested in hearing the band than seeing the woman wave the flag."
Music takescentre stage
Another prominent modern flag woman, Odilia Garcia, agreed in a phone interview that the flag woman no longer features, since the music has taken precedence. She disagreed that the flag woman was not integral to the steelband, sharing Kitchener's view that "is only a flag woman could add some pepper inside the band.""I think it is so important to have a flag woman. It gives the band an extra drive," she said, arguing that crowds are attracted to the band by the flag woman.
She disagreed as well that the art form was dying.Asked what should be done to revive the art and the presence of the flag woman in steelbands, Garcia said, jokingly, "more interesting outfits"–but stressed that the art of flag waving and being a flag woman needed to be taught. She also suggested infusing the art with modern dance techniques to keep it relevant and interesting."You have no band without a beautiful flag woman...The band will have no control...The music will have no soul."
Kuei Tung:The art could be revived
For former government minister and patron of Playboyz Brian Kuei Tung, the flag woman still has a role in the modern steelband, especially with electronic media. While he agreed greater focus has been placed on music in steelbands, for television audiences only hearing the music might be "visually boring."
Kuei Tung said a good flag woman who would keep audiences enthralled needed to be able to dance well, though for many bands it was hard to find a good flag woman who could also dance. He recalled that Pan Trinbago attempted to revive the art but it was unsuccessful.
Kuei Tung was not without hope, however, saying the art could be revived. He suggested that during Panorama or even on the street, each band could have flag women, like the cheerleading teams that often accompany football matches abroad, which would keep it visually interesting.
