Brooklyn Jumbies, Inc.

As of early 2007, the Brooklyn Jumbies have begun to work with
Mexican artist Laura Anderson Barbata. Ms Barbata's artistic interventions with the Brooklyn Jumbies, include thematic development, costuming for street performances and has brought about major exposure in the international contemporary art scene.

The launch of this collaboration between Laura and the Brooklyn Jumbies will be presented in the upcoming exhibition titled: Jumbie Camp, at Galeria Ramis Barquet in Chelsea, New York from August 21st through September 29th with a special street performance scheduled for September 15th at 3 pm.
- Galaria Ramis Barquet-2007

The Brooklyn Jumbies, a trio of traditional African stilt-dancers, were out it force on Saturday afternoon at one of the regular street bazaars held on Clinton Avenue. Organized by a woman who lives in the Clinton Hill co-ops, these events typically benefit some local organization or charity. We can't imagine they actually raise that much money, but people in the neighborhood certainly seem to enjoy them. This weekend was special, as local kids got to run the tables. One charming brother-and-sister team was selling these home-made paper flowers

Comments:
I saw these guys jumping around and couldn't believe what they could do on those things. The kids loved it!- Posted by brownstoner
- Brooklyn Record- September 11, 2006

In the Main Space, the party had plenty of Caribbean touches, but a decidedly urban feel. The venue's super-high ceilings allowed plenty of room for stiltwalkers from Brooklyn Jumbies and more palm trees.

- Bizbash.To December 2005

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today hosted a reception at Gracie Mansion to celebrate the 36th Annual West Indian Carnival and Parade. The carnival will take place on Labor Day, Monday, September 1st along Eastern Parkway from Utica Avenue to the Flatbush Avenue Extension through the Flatbush and Crown Heights sections of Brooklyn. Among those attending the reception were Deputy Mayor for Policy Dennis Walcott, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Finance Commissioner Martha Stark, Human Resources Administration Commissioner Verna Eggleston, Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Sayu Bhojwani, Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate Levin, Aging Commissioner Edwin Mendez-Santiago, and West Indian American Day Carnival Association President Yolanda Lezama-Clark. Guests were treated to traditional West Indian food and entertainment from the Brooklyn Jumbies stilt walkers as well as the music of “Liquid.” - News From the Blue Room-NYC.gov-August 12, 2003

Every year, the West Indian American Day Carnival showcases some of the great artistic abilities to be found in youth from the Caribbean and other parts of the Diaspora……………………This exhilarating event closed with a grand finale in which the Brooklyn Jumbies Stilt Walkers strutted their stuff to the amazement and delight of the audience.
- Greenwich Village Gazette - 2005

At 5-feet-1, seventh-grader Burundi Johnson isn't even close to being the tallest kid in her class.

But yesterday, standing 8 feet tall on the route of the Junior Carnival, the West Indian kids' parade, she towered like a giant.

"It feels good," said Burundi. "I'm bigger than everybody, so they have to look up to me."
Well, not everybody.

Burundi, 12, walked, hopped and danced with 30 other children from a stilt-walking troupe called the Brooklyn Jumbies.

They were in a crowd of 1,000 children dressed in flashy costumes that snaked through Crown Heights for the mini version of tomorrow's West Indian American Day Carnival.

"Some of these children have been born in the United States and never seen Trinidad, but they can dance to the music and have a good time," said organizer Hyacinth Williams.
The kids' parade is important because it helps ensure the future of the regular parade, which is celebrating its 40th year, she said.
"We need people to be band leaders, to be costume designers and their assistants," she said. "We want them to learn about their culture."

The Brooklyn Jumbies practice a form of West African stilt walking called Jumbie Moko, which arrived in the West Indies with slavery hundreds of years ago.

"We're teaching you about your culture," said Jumbies organizer Najja Codrington, 32, who is originally from Barbados. "For a lot of them, there's no outlet like this - just watching TV and playing video games."

The Jumbies, who wore colorful, flowing bug, lizard or and toucan costumes, had practiced all summer, six hours each day.

"It's amazing to see kids walking on stilts," said co-founder Ali Sylvester, 27. "When you see them, people wonder, 'How are they walking like that?'"

Paradegoer Frank Metibier, 65, a transplant from Trinidad, grinned as he watched the stilt walkers on Kingston Ave.
"You live in America, and everyone grows up in that culture," he said, "But we want to teach our children our culture."
- BY JOE GOULD- DAILY NEWS 2007