Chanté mas
| Chanté mas and Lapo kabrit | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | West African percussion instruments and other carnival elements. |
| Cultural origins | 19th century, Dominica |
| Typical instruments | lapo kabwit drums, tambou lélé, chak chak (a maracas), scraper-rattle, cowbell, tambourine, triangle, iron, conch shell, and several horn players. |
| Fusion genres | |
| bouyon | |
| Other topics | |
| Music of Dominica | |
| Music of Dominica | |
|---|---|
| General topics | |
| Related articles | |
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| Media and performance | |
| Music festivals |
Carnival World Creole Music Festival |
| Nationalistic and patriotic songs | |
| National anthem | Isle of Beauty, Isle of Splendour |
| Regional music | |
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Chanté mas (masquerade song) and Lapo kabrit is a form of Carnival music of Dominica. It is performed by masequerading partygoers in a two-day parade, with a lead vocalist (chantwèl), who is followed by the responsorial chorus (lavwa), with drummers and dancers dancing backwards in front of the drummer on a tambou lélé. The Carnival has African and French roots and is otherwise known as Mas Dominik, the most original Carnival in the Caribbean.
Carnival in Dominica is held in the capital city of Roseau, and takes elements of carnival that can be seen in the neighbouring French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, as well as Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. Notable events that take place during the season leading up to carnival include "j'ouvert" the opening of Carnival celebrations, the calypso Monarch music competition, the queen of Carnival Beauty Pageant and bouyon music bands. Celebrations last for the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Dominica's carnival is known to be the most original and least commercialized in the Caribbean giving the carnival its name the original mas
The French were known to have celebrated this ‘freedom of the flesh’ prior to the Lenten season since the 4th Century. The Africans however, being enslaved in the Caribbean, were known to have carnival since emancipation in 1838. It is no wonder people have argued whether the festival is of historical or religious origin. Truth is though, this festival, as celebrated in Dominica, is a combination of both history and religion. The Europeans, most of whom were Roman Catholics, had celebrated carnival as the day before they would stay away from meat, as well as all fleshly desires.
The Africans on the other hand, are well known for their pulsating rhythms as they shake their bodies to the beat of their drums. Both people lived in the West Indies during the slavery period, and so, Carnival celebration in Dominica arose as a result of the influence both ethnic groups.
On July 31, 1834 the Emancipation Act came into effect. With this, as of midnight, the now ex-slaves took to the streets in celebration. However, the slaves were soon brought back into a state of slavery without the chains, as they were made dependent on the white planters, and felt forced to work on the plantations. This system of Apprenticeship, a period in which the ex-slaves would gradually grow into a state of self-sufficiency, was supposed to last until 1840. However, visits by special magistrates to the Caribbean during that period proved that they were, hypothetically speaking, still slaves, because of how the planters treated them. The metropolitan countries then aborted the apprenticeship system two years earlier, bringing it to an end as of August 1, 1838.
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