Legendary Artisan Geoffrey Holder, the Prodigal Prince and Steelband ‘Firsts’ -
In 1951, Geoffrey Holder tells of how he and his troupe represented his country of Trinidad and Tobago at the first Caribbean Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Haiti also sent a contingent of two hundred dancers. Haiti’s contingent was wonderful, according to Holder, who was himself very successful with his own dance company. “We opened the show, they [the Haitian contingent] closed the show.” Holder and company garnered rave reviews as well as a contract to perform at Hilton Hotels.
Holder subsequently whittled his troupe down from twenty to five performers. To remain viable and self-sufficient, he has always vehemently advised artists to hone additional skill sets. In line with this mindset, Holder ensured that his group also learned to play the steelpan. “I could always sell paintings, and sell photographs, and make ‘a bread,’ make some money. You should always have more than one talent,” counseled Holder. “Why don’t you all go and study to play the steel drum?” To which the men lamented “Well, we don’t have any money….” Holder deftly trumped their protests of not being able to afford instruction, by himself taking care of the expense. “…I paid the guy in Belmont [Trinidad] to give them steelband lessons. Nine dollars each man, to learn.” Here, Holder spontaneously breaks into the rhythms synonymous with the steelpan of that period.
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Legendary and versatile.