PHOTOGRAPH BY STICKNEY DESIGN, GETTY. Retrieved from nationalgeographic.com
‘Unspoilt’ is a word you’ll repeatedly hear if you ask visitors to describe Tobago — an island of roughly 60,000 people that sits near the southernmost end of the Caribbean archipelago, just north of its big sister, Trinidad. Connected millennia ago to the South American mainland, Tobago is gifted with a distinctive mix of continental and Caribbean island ecology. It’s now home to beautiful beaches, colourful coral reefs, 10,000 acres of protected rainforest — the oldest such reserve in the Western Hemisphere — and over 260 species of birds.
The island’s cultural character is similarly diverse. Originally settled by First Peoples tribes, Tobago changed hands some 33 times during the colonial era. Yet, through it all, the island has maintained its own distinctive identity. And Tobagonians know it. Celebrating the natural beauty and rich history of the island is key to Tobago’s communities and is often demonstrated through music, dance and theatrical performance.
Here, we talk to some of the island’s most well-known figures: award-winning, multi-disciplinary performers Lesley-Ann Ellis and Garvé Sandy; accomplished dancer and artist Shakeil Jones; and local musical legend Lawrence ‘Wax’ Crooks.