South America

Kalenda (Trinidad and Tobago)

Kalenda (Trinidad and Tobago)

  • Name of sport (game): Kalenda, Calinda, Calenda, Caleinda, Corlinda, Kalinda, Kallinder
  • Place of practice (continent, state, nation):

    Trinidad and Tobago

  • History:

    The Kalenda (Calinda), a stick dance, owed its origins to pre-colonial times, as early as the late 1700's. The term Kalenda emerged as a general term for the stick-fight, the dance, the songs and other performances that accompany it. Contrary to some mythology, Kalenda is not a hybrid of African stick fighting and European fencing, but is more closely related to the African-descended martial arts.

    Calinda
    Calinda, dance of the Negroes in America, 1783, watercolour by François Aimé Louis Dumoulin, source: http://theexotic.ch/?p=1481

    The Calinda was a voodoo dance brought to Louisiana from San Domingo and the Antilles by slaves.
    Calinda (Kalinda) is a martial art, as well as kind of folk music and dance in the Caribbean which arose in the 1720s. Calinda is the French spelling, and the Spanish equivalent is calenda; it is a kind of stick-fighting commonly seen practiced during Carnival in Trinidad and Tobago. There, Carnival songs are considered to be derived from calinda chants and “lavways.”
    Though it is more commonly practiced as a dance because of the violent outcome of stick fighting, its roots are still that of a martial art originating from Africa, and stick fights still occur in Trinidad. They also have been formalised into annual Carnival competitions.
    Kalenda is one name assigned to an Afro-Caribbean form of stick fighting as practiced in Haiti and entering the United States through the port city of New Orleans. It is also practiced in other parts of the Caribbean, such as Martinique.
    The well-known Cajun song “Allons dancer Colinda” is about a Cajun boy asking a girl named Colinda to do a risqué dance with him; probably derived from the Calinda dance which was reported to have been performed in New Orleans by Afro-Caribbean slaves brought to Louisiana.
    Considered indecent by the respectable portion of the population, it was officially banned throughout the State in 1843, but continued to be performed for many years afterward.
    An early version of the Calinda was danced only by men, stripped to the waist and brandishing sticks in a mock fight while at the same time balancing upon their heads bottles of water. As soon as a dancer spilled a drop of his water he was banished from the field. Later the Calinda degenerated into a thoroughly lascivious performance.

  • Description:

    Kalenda, a lively and skillful dance, is an elegantly violent cultural practice that requires dancers to engage in mock combat with their sticks (bois) in the middle of circle called a gayelle to the accompaniment of drumming and singing, often in patois. They were led by a lead singer (chantuelle or chanteuse) whose duty it was to either encourage or deride the dancers. The chantuelle, in turn was backed up by a chorus of women.

    In terms of technique, the fighter uses a pair of sticks to “attack as well as defend” during a duel. Furthermore, a Calinda bout is accompanied by music produced by three drum combination. In addition, singing also plays a major part along with the music in this form of martial art.

  • Current status:

    Practiced

  • Importance (for practitioners, communities etc.):

    Stick fighting stands as a singular aspect of the lifestyle that is Kalinda. For those who subscribe to the teachings, every rebellious and protective attribute within the Trinidadian spirit is rooted in the sanctity of Kalinda.
    More than a dance, more than a show to enjoy, stick fighting is a spiritual, ancestral experience for anyone brave enough at adhere to the Kalinda lifestyle.

  • Contacts:

    Bois Academy of Trinidad & Tobago
    Fb: https://www.facebook.com/p/Bois-Academy-of-Trinidad-Tobago-100064316364132/

    bois academy logo

  • Sources of information :

    Articles:
    https://www.ncctt.org/new/index.php/about-ncc/departments/regional/trad-carnival-characters/319-traditional-mas-characters-calinda-or-kalenda-stick-fighting.html
    https://www.mysticfighters.com/kalinda-in-trinidad.html
    https://traditionalmas.com/portfolio/calinda/
    https://newsday.co.tt/2019/02/01/the-spirit-of-kalinda/
    https://musicrising.tulane.edu/discover/themes/calenda-dance/
    https://www.martialask.com/calinda-trinidad-and-tobago/
    https://tt.loopnews.com/content/origins-you-are-kalinda
    https://www.largeup.com/2013/09/12/bois-restoring-trinidads-stickfighting-legacy/

    Video:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiYoBGgTRxo&t=1s
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaE3lfLBF6E
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhGnDdBSG0s&t=3s
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=lttFDJFEL00

     

     

    The information contained in the article comes from the following sources:
    https://www.ncctt.org/new/index.php/about-ncc/departments/regional/trad-carnival-characters/319-traditional-mas-characters-calinda-or-kalenda-stick-fighting.html
    https://musicrising.tulane.edu/discover/themes/calenda-dance/
    https://www.martialask.com/calinda-trinidad-and-tobago/
    https://tt.loopnews.com/content/origins-you-are-kalinda

    Source of photos used in this article and gallery:
    https://www.ncctt.org/new/index.php/about-ncc/departments/regional/trad-carnival-characters/319-traditional-mas-characters-calinda-or-kalenda-stick-fighting.html
    http://theexotic.ch/?p=1481
    https://www.martialask.com/calinda-trinidad-and-tobago/
    https://www.largeup.com/2013/09/12/bois-restoring-trinidads-stickfighting-legacy/
    https://grjoseph.com/2018/09/04/culture-stick-fighting-bois-and-me/

  • Gallery: