Profiles: Heroes, Role Models and Pioneers of Trinidad and Tobago - by Nasser Khan

59 FELIX EDINBOROUGH (1943- ) H e is credited with reviving the dying art of the Carnival character the Pierrot Grenade and performs at many shows especially around Carnival time. JULIA EDWARDS (1933-2017) S he is recognised as Trinidad and Tobago’s limbo dance pioneer. Her early dancing was with Boscoe and Geoffrey Holder. But after they left T&T, she started her own dance troupe, the Julia Edwards Dance Group. Her dancers were recruited to appear in the 1957 American movie “Fire Down Below”. She was credited with introducing the flaming limbo in 1959 when she included it in a performance to mark the opening of Queen’s Hall. Edwards’ dance group has appeared on various stages throughout the world. She later appeared on the famous Ed Sullivan Show where she held a wide television audience spellbound. Julia describes the limbo as Trinidad and Tobago’s only true national dance, originally performed at wakes for nine nights. On the first night, the bar would be at its lowest and would be raised each night. This meant the rising of the soul from its lowest levels on earth to the highest in heaven. The film Julia and Joyce by Sonja Dumas, captures the lives of Edwards and Joyce Kirton, also a dance pioneer and founder and leader of the Les Enfants Dance Group. • 1991 Humming Bird Medal Gold • 2003 St. James Community Improvement Committee’s Honoree