Beryl McBurnie

Beryl McBurnie

            Trinidadian pop culture is one of the legitimate cultures in the world. The history of Tobago and Trinidad does not forget the contribution made by Beryl McBurnie in developing such an influential culture. As recorded in Judy Raymond, Beryl McBurnie grew up at a time when the Trinidadians were struggling to break out of colonization. McBurnie was a dancer and used her profession in helping to change the mentality of her country people towards a psychologically and healthily handling of independence. Generally, the most significant contribution made by McBurnie to the Trinidadian culture was the transformation done in the field of music. McBurnie’s early life was based on dancing since she used to bring children together for purposes of acting in concerts. Also, McBurnie’s career as a teacher played a crucial role in developing the dancing culture since she could meet several young people in schools and instill on them the dancing culture at an early age. Judy Raymond writes the biography of Beryl McBurnie uniquely by employing a combination of several themes to bring out a history that has remained relevant up to date.

Appreciation of local culture is one of the achievements that McBurnie aimed at earning in her lifetime. Culture is crucial in the creation of an identity for any society, and McBurnie ensured that Trinidad and Tobago had an identity from the way the culture was development. At the beginning of McBurnie’s biography, Raymond recalls the launching of a beer with the name of Beryl McBurnie to pay tribute to the legendary dancer. The beer is associated with McBurnie in several ways since the original name of the beer was Little Carib, named after the first theatre in Trinidad. Coincidentally, the first theatre in Trinidad was opened by McBurnie, and the beer launch was a promotion from the theatre’s name to the founder’s name. The event is strategically introduced in the biography to develop the theme of local culture in Trinidad, which was supported by Beryl McBurnie. Besides, the Little Carib theatre still exists and is greatly associated with McBurnie. The activities that are carried out at the theatre are mainly aimed at promoting local culture. Generally, the biography of McBurnie is associated with the development of local culture within Trinidad. Moreover, the idea of independence comes out due to the way McBurnie carries her support for local culture.

Independence involves being free from foreign ideas that may compromise the beliefs that build one’s identity. McBurnie’s biography shows that McBurnie’s activities were aimed at redeeming the Trinidadians from the modality left behind by colonization. The nature of McBurnie’s dance was unique and was specific to the practices that were required to distinguish the dance from the one brought about by colonialists. Furthermore, the contribution of McBurnie towards the full independence of Trinidad is revealed through the biography by Raymond. McBurnie is seen to be advocating for a change in the government’s intervention of matters through a letter addressed to an unnamed woman before the design of a ceremony that McBurnie had been asked to design. McBurnie says, “If the gov­ern­ment is sen­si­tive, they will re­alize that as Trinidad is slow­ly dy­ing, there is a great op­por­tu­ni­ty to save it, via Car­ifes­ta,” Raymond (n. p). The letter shows that McBurnie s concerned with the state of her country and that she is confident that the government is in a position to address the challenges facing the Trinidadians. Moreover, the preservation of identity is among the central themes in the biography by Raymond.

The biography by Raymond unravels the efforts of McBurnie to preserve the identity of Trinidad through local art and culture. Identity forms a crucial part of any society because it is the uniqueness that differentiates the community from other communities — McBurnie advocates for cultural dancing styles that are not associated with foreign culture. For example, McBurnie believes that her dancing styles should not have any signs of seduction. Therefore, the main concern on the judgment of a dancing style by McBurnie is the level of sexual aspect seen in the dance moves. The existing video clips about McBurnie prove that she did not value seductive dancing since it was not accustomed to the local type of dance. In the biography, Raymond says, “She [McBurnie] nev­er wined, and she dis­ap­proved of her dancers do­ing so,” Raymond (n. p). Wining in dancing is taken to represent a seductive form of dancing moves that aim at drawing the attention of the audience. Instead, McBurnie wore a genuine smile on her face as well as making confident dancing moves. Generally, the dancing moves advocated by McBurnie were simple and not technically spectacular as most dancers would prefer. Moreover, the biography by Raymond presents a history built around McBurnie and dance.

The biography of McBurnie by Raymond is one of the Caribbean biography series developed to commemorate some of the outstanding architects of the Caribbean culture. McBurnie seems to have won the title of getting into the books with her excellent work both in dancing and promoting dancing. At her young age, McBurnie was both a dancer and a choreographer and used her talent to contribute positively towards the Trinidadian culture. The biography introduces the story with a history-bound cover photo that shows McBurnie in a photo reminiscent of that of the ancient Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo. Also, the photo holds the history of a time when McBurnie held a performance in New York back in the 1940s. The history written by the photo is crucial in dating back the events that have shaped the dancing culture of the Trinidadians. Although McBurnie lived in the pre-technology era and most of her works were not recorded, two video clips have lived beyond the test of time to bring out the glory that McBurnie resided in New York during her days. Generally, McBurnie’s biography is founded on a rich history that is still relevant today in Trinidad and Tobago.

McBurnie’s biography records the start of significant history as when McBurnie opened the Little Carib Theatre in 1948. The theatre was to open a center where a series of cultural activities were to be done. Several dancers have admitted to having started their careers from the theatre (Perloff, n. p). The theatre was opened from what had been McBurnie’s family’s home, and McBurnie decided to contribute towards building an avenue for talent development. Furthermore, the theatre was not limited to dancing, but any artistic activity would be carried out in the center. Generally, McBurnie saw the theatre as an opportunity to improve the interest in arts among interested people and to ensure that the dancing culture was growing according to her expectations. Besides, the national and international awards that followed the opening of the Little Carib theatre confirmed McBurnie’s efforts towards building a strong identity among the lovers of dancing.

Raymond creates a unique representation of McBurnie as a strict fan of culture through the record of several historical events. The fact that McBurnie worked professionally in the US would have meant that McBurnie gets influenced by US culture. After finishing her studies at Columbia University, McBurnie started performing in the “La Belle Rosette” and had a chance to take a path towards international professionalism. Most people who got witness the performance by McBurnie, as recorded by Raymond, believed that she was destined for greatness. The biography records that McBurnie’s works were based on West Indian folk songs and the Caribbean culture had taken hold of McBurnie to the extent that she had to give up the fame and money that international music promised. McBurnie instead chose to focus on the art that she loved and did not allow the pressure from her advisers to compromise her love for the Caribbean culture. Generally, the experience at Rosette worked perfectly towards bringing out the potential that McBurnie had an interpretive art and comedienne. Still, she decided to direct her new experience towards improving her local culture. Moreover, the prowess of McBurnie came at a time when independence moving in and the West Indian Islands were struggling to detach themselves from the colonial lifestyle.

The events recorded in McBurnie’s biography are dated back to a time when independence was getting its way into the West Indian Islands. The West Indians were struggling to detach themselves from the impacts of colonial culture. McBurnie saw the colonial issue as a perfect opportunity to use her talent in redeeming her country people from colonial slavery. The culture had significantly eroded with people borrowing heavily from the colonialists under the excuse of civilization. According to the biography, local dance was in danger of being forgotten since only the European and ballet folk dance were formerly taught. McBurnie was aware that she was not going to have an easy time advocating and developing local dance, but she decided to take the chance. In the beginning, McBurnie was seen by her people as resisting colonialism, and not many people were interested. However, more people got the sense and supported the move by McBurnie. The dancers trained by McBurnie were aware that McBurnie would not tolerate any kind of seductive dancing and adhered to her standards of dancing.

Moreover, the history of European and ballet folk songs involved in insignificant ‘raw materials’ according to McBurnie. In the biography, Raymond records that McBurnie was motivated by the fact that local dance had sufficient local content that would support it for an unforeseeable future. Besides, McBurnie was not afraid of failure, and she was determined to try anything that showed a sign of hope. In one of the speeches recorded in the biography, McBurnie says, “are we prepared to accept what is originally ours, and not be afraid because it is simple and given to cotton and not silk?” Raymond (n. p). Besides, McBurnie did not allow the colonial mentality to continue taking the better part of her country people.  Also, the biography associates the confidence of McBurnie with her early life. McBurnie’s childhood was based on dancing, and she had started dancing and organizing dancing events at the age of eight. Therefore, the biography presents McBurnie as an individual who was supported by history in achieving her dreams.

Caribbean civilization is based on upholding the identity of the people against all the odds. The Caribbean dance is part of the issues addressed when civilization comes into play. The impact of colonization has not been completely erased from the minds of the West Indians, and the widespread English speakers confirm the claim. The biography of McBurnie, however, gave a different perception concerning the Caribbean civilization. McBurnie was not by any means against civilization but did not allow colonization to take advantage of desperate Trinidadians in the name of civilization. Moreover, Caribbean civilization has struggled over the years with conflicts coming up on whether to accept colonial civilization or to uphold a local culture that creates its civilization.

The biography is essential in bringing out the roles that culture has played in developing Caribbean civilization. The Trinidadians were brought to believe that local culture would not become productive (Regis, 184). For example, the initial attempts by McBurnie met resistance in that history did not have local dancers who had managed to succeed in the dancing sector. The negative mentality showed how the country had suffered from impacts of uncivilization and needed determined individuals to bring back recognition of civilization. Besides, civilization does not necessarily mean that one has to forget their culture but rather that improvements are made concerning the existing culture. Moreover, Caribbean civilization appears to have been in existence for a long time.

Colonization has been, in several cases, been associated with civilization. Trinidad and Tobago fell at the hands of colonialists before McBurnie’s rise to prominence. Therefore, McBurnie came to find an already civilized society (Regis, 184). However, McBurnie was concerned with the direction that civilization was taking. The risk of forgetting the local culture existed, and McBurnie took it as a challenge to address using her career. The biography, however, recognizes that the civilization of Trinidad has not grown the firm, and it is at risk of dying. According to a record in the biography, Raymond admits that the words of McBurnie have remained relevant to the state of Trinidad more than two decades after she made them. Generally, the biography reveals a struggling nature of Caribbean civilization that requires intervention from the existing authorities.

In sum, Judy Raymond writes the biography of Beryl McBurnie uniquely by employing a combination of several themes to bring out a history that has remained relevant up to date. Culture is crucial in the creation of an identity for any society, and McBurnie ensured that Trinidad and Tobago had an identity from the way the culture was development. Moreover, the national and international awards that followed the opening of the Little Carib theatre confirmed McBurnie’s efforts towards building a strong identity among the lovers of dancing. The risk of forgetting the local culture existed, and McBurnie took it as a challenge to address using her career. The biography, however, recognizes that the civilization of Trinidad has not grown the firm, and it is at risk of dying. Generally, the biography reveals a struggling nature of Caribbean civilization that requires intervention, and McBurnie was confident to take the task that not many people would take.

Works Cited

Perloff, Carey. Beautiful Chaos: A Life in the Theater. City Lights Publishers, 2015.

Raymond, Judy. “Beryl McBurnie: The First Lady of Dance.” Caribbean Beat 20 (1996).

Regis, Louis. “Rawle Gibbons and the Theory and Practice of the Third Theatre.” Caribbean        Quarterly 63.2-3 (2017): 183-202.