The BVI Elite Sky Dancers get plenty of opportunities to perform at home, but each year they also make sure to travel to the St. John Festival.
“We love it: It’s peaceful, it’s short, and the people show a lot of gratitude for our presence here,” leader Andrew “Charlie” Turnbull said as the moko jumbie troupe prepared to perform in the island’s Independence Day parade on Saturday. “This is the one warm-up prior to our carnival in Tortola, so we come and we do it, and we feel like we’re home when we’re here.”
About ten Sky Dancers were among dozens of people from this territory who travelled to the neighbouring island over the weekend, as a month of activities culminated with a dual celebration: the United States Virgin Islands’ emancipation day on Friday and the US Independence Day on Saturday.
Both themes were represented in the more than 40 entries in Saturday’s parade, which included dancers, classic cars, beauty queens, majorettes and steel drummers.
One float was a sculpture of Moses “General Buddhoe” Gottlieb, the St. Croix slave credited with leading the July 3, 1848 uprising that led to emancipation in what was then the Danish West Indies. Several other entries included the red, white and blue of the US flag.
See more photos on the Beacon’s Facebook page.
See the July 9, 2015 edition for full coverage.
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