Robert Michael Guy-James began his career in Carnival Mas Production with Peter Minshall’s presentation, entitled“Donkey Derby”, in 1992. He has played an instrumental part in the construction and crafting of many of Mr. Minshall’s large “dancing mobiles” which have been seen on World Stages such as the Barcelona Olympics (1992). Having worked closely with Mr.Minshalland understanding his unique s
tructural and decorative techniques,Michael was relied on by Mr. Minshall and the Callaloo Company team for much of the prototype development work on various Carnival and Festival Art projects. And so, Michael has worked on every major Minshall production - both local and international - since his inception in 1992. These include the Opening Ceremony of the World Cup – Chicago (1994), concert spectacles in Paris with composer/musician Jean Michel Jarre (1995), the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympics (1996), and all Trinidad Carnival Presentations until 1999. Michael is also a member of The Callaloo Company Performance Core, has performed in the 1995 Paris project, and also in Chicago for a Walt Disney project in 1998. For Children’s Carnival, Mr. Guy-James has designed and produced Junior Carnival Kings, Queens and Individuals, as well as done extensive prototyping for the Mamie Nice Chile Mas Camp- the brainchild of Carnival Queen, Alyson Brown and her colleague Deborah Bath-Gift. Outside of his Carnival activity, Mr. Guy-James pursues the promotion of Art Education. He has taught costume construction techniques to children in the USA, and the UK. Additionally, he has designed and created costumes for a summer camp in St. Lucia, geared towards educating deaf children from various Caribbean islands. At home in Trinidad, he has conducted workshops in the Carnival Arts at the University of the West Indies, Creative Arts Centre. From an International perspective, Mr. Guy-James has also constructed costumes for the opening of the Doc Museum in Barrow, England. In 1996, invited by London-based textile artist Ali Pretty, they were commissioned to produce “The Open Sea” in collaboration with a local Carnival band, to create a carnival-type atmosphere as part of the opening celebrations. They continued their collaborations in their work for Gale Productions, a British Theatre Company whose production of “Peter Pan” featured costumes designed and constructed by Mr. In 1997, he was contracted by the group South Connections in the UK, to design and production manage “Neverland” which featured surrealistic costumes influenced by Trinidadian folklore. At the same time, the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio, contracted Michael to design and produce costumes for “Parade the Circle”. He has created both individuals and sections for this parade as well as leading costume construction workshops in outreach programs geared to assist the members of the community in realizing their artistry for the creation of the costumes they would masquerade on the day of the parade. From the Theatre Arts perspective, Mr. Guy-James has worked with the Cleveland Public Theatre, Magical Theatre, the Bagasse Company, Raymond Choo-Kong Productions, UWI Festival Arts Chorale, Must Come See Productions, The University of Trinidad and Tobago, Academy for The Performing Arts, Queen’s Hall, Kurt Alleyne,and the roles of set and costume design and construction, for the Student Theatre Enrichment Programme (STEP) in the 2000 and 2001 seasons. Keeping within the realm of Art Education, Mr. Guy-James also had the opportunity to work with children from ages five to fifteen in the PASSPORT program (1999 – 2001), which encourages Universal Cultures with a hands-on experience in Dance, Music, Drama, Set and Costume Design. After his experiences as an individual artist, Mr. Guy-James decided to open “Guy James Studios”, a Set and Costume Design and Production Company. It is comprised of a wide range of skilled, qualified and experienced design practitioners and craftsmen, and specializes in constructing dancing mobile structures that are comfortable, lightweight, and flexible; as well as sets that are practical, and allow easy transition from scene to scene.
