Jonkonnu

The other night I was getting dinner in Ochi when I heard some interesting music playing. I looked down the street and saw a little band playing music on drums and pipes. There were people dressed in crazy costumes too. Devils, a green monster, a guy dressed like a pregnant lady, a zombie creature... They were dancing all around the street and the stores of Ochi and chasing people around. I had no idea what all this was about but it was crazy fun. The Pregnant Lady even came up and danced on me. Later I asked Nurse what all that was about and she said its a tradition called Jonkonnu. This is what I found on Wikipedia about it:

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Jonkonnu in Jamaica

Jonkonnu, or Jonkanoo (John Canoe) is parade that links music, dance, symbols and mime. It is a Jamaican traditional dance form of African descent. Typically Jamaican’s would parade in the streets and enact mime-style plays. This folk form has gone through many stages of development until today when it is rarely performed on the island.

The Jonkonnu festival is secular in nature and used to be performed at Christmas. It was the festive opportunity afforded to the slaves by the planter class, Christmas was one of the few times that slaves were relieved of their duties.

The Characters : Core participants; Pitchy patchy, The cowhead, The horsehead, The devil,

Other participants The King, The Queen, The police, Belly woman

The characters parade through the streets in very elaborate costumes; they are attired costumed with head dresses, masks, pitchforks (devil), batons (police), fans (set girls) and any other paraphernalia that is necessary to complete the character.

There basic jonkonnu steps that are done and each character has a signature movement. E.g

Pitchy Patchy – turns, cartwheels, large movements in circular patterns.

Belly woman - moves belly in time with the music

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It was awesome to experience this cultural tradition first hand and reminds me how lucky I am to be living and learning about a different country/culture from my own.