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

77 HAROLD “SALLY” SALDENHA (1925-1985) H arold “Sally” Saldenha had a deep love of history and intensely researched his topics to ensure that he was able to re-create the moments in time in history in his mas making. These historical epics are renowned for their magnificence, colour and splendour of their costumes. In the first of his six “Band of the Year” titles productions “Imperial Rome, 44BC to 96AD” in 1955, he designed and created costumes using velvet, leather and copper to portray centurions, gladiators, Caesars and Nero, even his soldiers in short skirts to be as “real” as possible. Ken Morris was the one employed to fabricate the copper breast plates who went on to become a master of the art of copper crafting. The use of foils and copper and having ‘sections’ in a band were innovations introduced by Saldenha. His first major production was “Quo Vadis” in 1953, based on the movie of the same name, and featured Roman soldiers with helmets made of papier mâché painted to look authentic. He won Band-of-the-Year titles in 1955, 1956, 1958, 1964, 1965 and 1968 before moving to Canada in 1977 where he assisted his son Louis with his Toronto’s Caribana bands. Band of the Year Titles: 1955 Imperial Rome 44 BC to 96 AD; 1956 Norse Gods and Vikings; 1958 Lost City of Atlantis; 1964 Mexico 1519 to 1521; 1965 Pacific Paradise; 1968 El Dorado, City of Gold. In 1976, to commemorate his 25th year as a bandleader, Saldenha produced his ‘ASailor Is a Sailor’, recreating each of his previous bands in the form of a traditional fancy sailor. In 1983, billed as the 200th anniversary of our Carnival, he returned to T&T to present ‘Masquerade to Carnival’, 40 sections in tribute to the history of the festival, with costumes celebrating the various traditional characters of mas. • 1972 Public Service Medal of Merit Silver Note: Lionel Jagessar (1950-2022) was an icon in the field of producing Native American mas (Indian Mas). His family, wife Rosemarie and son Lionel Jr., continue the tradition.