This awe inspiring performance is symbolically powerful...
Julie carries a stem of 'fig', as green bananas are known locally in Dominican Kweyol. The fig is the most basic staple food of the island. It was previously colloquially termed 'green gold', attesting to the once lucrative value of this export crop to Dominican farmers who would bring the fruit to Roseau to be shipped to England, bringing relative economic prosperity to the island in the decades leading up to independence. Julie and his brother grow bananas in abundance in their garden and are currently developing a small business selling a flour made from dried fig.
Yet when Julie - a rastaman who's powerful mastery of the delicate skill leaves marveling onlookers' mouths agape as he passes on his one wheeled bike, bananas aloft - meets the bay-front, he finds not a 'banana boat' transporting banana cargo and departing migrants in hat and tie to 'Englan', but a 'tour-ris boat' - signalling the tourism / service economy aspirations of the island after WTO rulings crippled the Dominican banana export economy in the 90s and early 2000s.
Later, passengers from the boat taking a tour through through the botanical gardens excitedly lift their cameras to their eyes as Julie passes - visibly thrilled by the figure of a Rastaman riding by on a unicycle. Continuing on, we begin an interview whilst he weaves along the pot-hole filled road exiting the gardens. When asked what inspired him to pick up the unicycle and request his brother in New Jersey, NY send one down for him, he told me he first saw Jamaican reggae artist Peter Tosh riding a unicycle and was inspired.
The article below tells more of the story of Peter Tosh and the unicycle as a pre-lude to Julie's unicycle video, to be released later this year.
A screenshot of Ras Julie's Video:
-------------------------------------
Peter had a love for unicycles or "inicyles" as he
called them. He also had a large collection of unicycles and would often be
seen riding his unicycle downtown through the streets of Jamaica. Peter was an
imposing figure, standing more than 6 feet tall, rather lanky and gangly and so
to see the 6 foot plus rastaman riding through the streets of Kingston was a
sight to be seen. The unicycle was great for cruising the streets, being able
to maintain a steady speed, making travelling on foot a thing of the past.
No one is quite sure when Peter's interest in unicycles
first began, one would guess that it was after his split from the Wailers as
Peter had made no mention or reference to unicycles whilst with the group. It
is also not certain what sparked Peter's interest in them either, was it the
unusuality of them, complexity, uniqueness or was it Peter's way of gaining
attention, gaining the limelight to spread his message?
After all not too many
other musicians traveled by one wheel, by doing so this made Peter stand out
even further.
Or was Peter's interest in the unicycle down to being in
complete control of his own destiny?
Peter not only took to the streets with his unicycle though.
He went every where with his unicycle, riding through Babylon by bike.
Riding a unicycle is a lot tougher than it looks, Peter had
great balance, and had a great deal of elogance and so able to master this art,
and so the wheel became an extension of his legs, as much as a spliff became an
extension of his mouth or a guitar of his arm. There is a wide variation of
athletic fitness, balance perception, and reaction time involved when learning
to ride a unicycle.
The unicycle had been all over the world with Tosh and
seemed emblematic of its owner's stance in a dangerous world: precarious yet
balanced, eccentric but uniquely upright.
On a number of occasions Peter would ride his unicycle
onstage much to the delight of the fans on hand. Peter would zoom from one side
of the stage to the other before stopping and parking at the microphone where
he would start to sing still perched atop his bike. Microphone in hand Peter
would continue to sing whilst free-wheeling across the stage.
His unicycle proved a hot topic of conversation during
interviews too, many journalists intrigued by Peter's interest in the "one
wheel bike". On a number of occasions Peter would demonstrate his unique
talents by hopping on his unicycle and riding around, back and forth, side to
side. One such incident took place in 1983 on MTV, Peter was promoting his latest
album Mama Africa, he wheeled into the studio on his bike, talked for a few
minutes about the album and then wheeled out of the studio.
Tosh was not just content in cycling forward, he even
mastered the art of cycling backwards and a number of other tricks. Peter
obviously spent a great deal of time riding and practicing, he became a master
and in 1980 he showcased some of his tricks and other skills for a Austrian TV
station.
Peter also had a love for other bikes too, especially the
penny-farthing which had a large front wheel and a small front wheel, this is
where the design of the unicycle is rumored to have come from. Peter had a
great interest in all cycles, no matter how many wheels and collected a number
of unusual cycles.
In 1983 during Peter's historic concert in Swaziland spent
most of his free time in his hotel lobby wheeling around on his unicycle
conversing with onlooking guests in awe at Peter's agility.
Peter's oldest son Andrew inherited Peter's passion for the
unicycle and carries on the Tosh tradition of riding a unicycle around onstage.
Continuing to spread his fathers words on one wheel [follow link for interesting Jamaica Observer article on Andrews inheritance of the skill].
No comments:
Post a Comment