New Online Docuseries: Women in Pan

By Michael Mondezie

Yuko Asada, Dr Mia Gormandy-Benjamin, Vanessa Headley, Michelle Huggins-Watts and Natasha Joseph. That fabulous fivesome of female pan arrangers form the subject of musician Mark Loquan’s intriguing online docuseries Women in Pan.

Loquan has teamed with photographer Maria Nunes to produce the informative tenpart web series that explores contemporary issues in pan through the lens of those five leading ladies of the national instrument.

Women in Pan is featured on Mark Loquan Music YouTube Channel. The musician/engineer, who daylights as President of the National Gas Company of T& T (NGC), says he was inspired to create the expose after observing ‘the way steelpan history had always focussed on the men, despite the constant and consequential presence of women’.

‘I was observing the increasing number of women playing, composing, arranging, conducting, teaching, making and tuning pans, and visiting from abroad to play in Trinidad and Tobago.”

Released under Loquan’s ‘A Better Tomorrow’ banner, Women in Pan is presented by writer/cultural activist Attilah Springer and co-produced by director Caroline Taylor.

Tasked with bringing the project to visual life, Nunes said she immediately reached out to Springer and Taylor ‘to work with me on developing ideas for the best way to approach the project’.

‘Given the number of women over the decades who have contributed immeasurably to the art form, and continue to, one of the early challenges was determining how best to approach such a vast subject area.

This doesn’t try to tell the history of women in pan – that was beyond the scope of what we could do. So Mark decided on five women he’s worked with on various projects over the last 20 years.’

Exploring The Real Issues Faced By Women In Pan 

Loquan said the weekly series, which premiered on Friday, features five thematic episodes ranging from seven to 18 minutes long, followed by five in-depth interviews with each of the women averaging 60 minutes each.

On Friday the series debuted with the first of the issue-driven episodes:

‘We Love a Challenge: Gender Issues in Steelpan’. The next four Fridays will see the series explore the art and science of pan building and tuning; music literacy; leadership; and perspectives on Panorama.’

Headley, who famously became the first woman to win a National Panorama title when her arrangement for Golden Hands steel orchestra won the 2018 Small Conventional competition, will lead off the interview phase of the series when her episode premieres on October 14.

Recently appointed Trinidad All Stars artistic director and UTT music professor Dr Gormandy-Benjamin will feature the following Friday on October 21. Japanese-American Asada will tell her story and share her views on October 28. The Northern Illinois University, United States-based music educator flew into T& T to record her interview earlier this year.

Pan prodigy Natasha Jones and veteran Valley Harps arranger Huggins-Watts round off the series on November 4 and 11 respectively.

Loquan said the series was shot with four cameras with careful attention, making the series visually appealing and a rich representation of its subject matter. The production also features complementary archival video, audio and photographs.

‘In my mind, these are (not only) highly accomplished women with their individual skills, experiences and insights,’ Loquan started saying.

‘But (women) who as a holistic group would be able to discuss a wide range of issues that they would have all faced individually or collectively,’ he continued.

Nunes described the production days as ‘an extremely rewarding journey’ and feeling ‘a real responsibility’ to accurately depict the stories and perspectives of the five women.

‘It’s stretched me to further expand my horizons in the realm of producing video content. I feel a real responsibility to present their stories and perspectives in ways that they will feel very good about. There is equally that sense of responsibility to present a series that will hopefully have enduring value and also inspire other producers to create more steelpan-related content,’ Nunes said.

Loquan, meanwhile, summated the project as shining light on the inner workings of the perpetual journey of the pan.

‘It’s about showing the people we see are a culmination of challenges overcome, experience gained, and knowledge being transferred to benefit or inspire others. The Women in Pan series does just that,’ Loquan concluded.

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