Celebration of Women
and the Steelpan Art Form
Tribute To Women In Pan - Antigua
Woman On Pan
My name is Dotsie Isaac Gellizeau. I am an Antiguan mother, a sister, a wife, a writer and above all else a - renaissance woman. Women doing their natural thing excites and tickles me. Women committed to being all of the woman they can be and breaking new and untraditional ground is cause for celebration. In fact; it’s like sweet steel pan music to my ears.
In Antigua and Barbuda, that special dot on the world map, where I’m from, it is an exciting time for women. We have found our voices and unveiled our talents and we are unstoppable. We have taken on the men in traditional “men” activities and are excelling.
The steel pan is just one small area that we have challenged and taken by storm. Traditionally, steel bands have been a “man” thing. Women listened and enjoyed, probably never entertaining the thought of being a part of it. Well, at least one woman must have thought about it and dared to try it, and then it caught on like a "bad flu."
Just about every steel band in Antigua and Barbuda now has female members. The schools of pan have a high female enrollment from as young as seven years up to the forties. We aren’t just learning to beat the pan but also are learning music theory; which means that we have a real understanding of and appreciation for what we are doing.
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