The Dragon Can't Dance
SynopsisPlot
The people of the shantytown Calvary Hill, usually invisible to the rest of society, join the throng and flaunt their neighborhood personas in masquerade during Carnival. Aldrick, the dashing "king of the Hill," becomes a glorious, dancing dragon; his lovely Sylvia, a princess; Fisheye, rebel idealist, a fierce steel band contestant; and Philo, Calypso songwriter, a star. Then a business sponsors Fisheye's band, Philo gets a hit song, and Sylvia leaves the Hill with a prosperous older man. For Aldrick, it will take one more masquerade―this time, involving guns and hostages―before the illusion of power becomes reality.
Story
About this book
On Calvary Hill, a shantytown above Port of Spain, residents pass most of the year unnoticed by the rest of Trinidad. Carnival changes that. For a few days they take the streets and become someone. Aldrick Prospect turns into a dragon in a costume he prepares for months. Sylvia becomes a princess, Fisheye leads a steel band, and Philo, a calypso songwriter, finally draws a crowd.
The pressures arrive with outside money. A business sponsors Fisheye's steel band. Philo records a hit song and moves toward respectability. Sylvia leaves the Hill with a prosperous older man. For Aldrick, the changes hollow out the masquerade. Costumes and performances once carried identity and defiance; now their power feels borrowed. Warrior contests give way to entertainment shaped for visitors.
Earl Lovelace follows Aldrick and others on the Hill as they try to convert the illusion of power into something real, moving from street performance toward an armed confrontation with consequences that reach beyond Carnival week. The novel looks at how a community organized around one season of ritual holds together when that ritual is bought and sold.
