Walking tall around the world
With technology, some skills may be “endangered.” Dr Anjani Ganase looks at the traditions of stilt walking around the world, and celebrates the revival of Moko Jumbies. The art of stilt walking was created by multiple cultures around the world for practical purposes. There were many advantages to being elevated, to be able to reach higher, see farther, wade deeper and move faster. In many places, the skills of stilt walking also drove the competitive and entertaining aspects of proving one’s skills, from which emerged the use of stilt walking in dance and games. Today, we may have moved beyond the need of the stilts as tools, but they continue to be used in lively art forms, with special appeal to youth. Here, in Trinidad and Tobago, our stilt walkers, the Moko Jumbies dare to go higher, and to move in more complex manners. Being among Moko Jumbies is mesmerizing, it’s like being among giants. Let’s dig into their history and find out what they represented. ...