Welcome to Calvary Hill, a shanty town in Port of Spain, Trinidad, where "the sun set on starvation and rise on potholed roads" and shacks "leap out of the red dirt and stone, thin like smoke, fragile like kite paper". This is the home of Aldrick Prospect, dashing, out of work, unproclaimed king of the Hill; of Cleothilde, fading beauty, and of Sylvia, her youthful usurper; of Fisheye, a "bad John" and rebel idealist; and of Philo, Calypsonian, songwriter. Joined in poverty, they are invisible to the rest of society, except once each year, during Carnival, when their masquerades briefly grant them the power of their neighborhood personas. Aldrick, now a glorious dragon, dances proudly, menacingly into Port of Spain; Cleothilde becomes a queen and Sylvia a princess; Fisheye flaunts his strength in steel band rivalries; and Philo sings Calypso, his own songs straight from his soul. At the beginning, a kind of harmony reigns: "All o' we is one", says Cleothilde.
Then things change: businesses sponsor the steel bands, which lose their rebellious spirit; Philo writes a hit song and moves to a better neighborhood; lovely Sylvia gives up on Aldrick and allows Guy, an older man, to take care of her. Only Aldrick and Fisheye remain loyal to the old ethos: no accommodation. Then, for Aldrick, Carnival loses its fascination. He is no longer content to find power in masquerade. But it will take one more masquerade of another kind -- involving guns and hostages -- before Aldrick is able to gain the self-knowledge and wisdom to become the true leader of Calvary Hill.
Beautifully told from varying points of view, The Dragon Can't Dance is a major work by a wise and inspiring literary artist.
