First Night at Lincoln Center 31 December 1999
Channel: The Frisner Augustin Memorial Archive
Date: 2019-08-16

Frisner Augustin and La Troupe Makandal performed rara in the Josie Robertson Plaza at Lincoln Center (Columbus Avenue between West 62nd and 66th Streets) for the program First Night New York City 2000. The program began at 9 p.m. on December 31 and crossed the midnight line into 2000, ending at 12:30 a.m. The Mayor’s Office for the Millenium NYC 2000, under the direction of Mayor Rudolph Guiliani, organized events at fifteen sites in the City’s five boroughs, with seven in Manhattan, including three sites at Lincoln Center. Seven acts plus assorted stilt walkers and other roving entertainers shared the Robertson Plaza, and Makandal alternated within one area of it with the Chinese Theatre Company. NYC 2000 evidently reserved this venue for diversity, albeit at the expense of contextualization and interpretation. The Office billed its program as a “safe, affordable, non-alcoholic New Year’s Eve.”

The computer glitch dubbed Y2K, the Year 2000 Problem, or the Millenium Bug overshadowed many celebrations that night. In short, many computer programs represented four-digit years with only the last two digits, rendering 2000 as 1900. Some errors occurred, but programmers had time to develop a number of solutions. This did not stop fundamentalists, survivalists, and conspiracy theorists from spreading panic. Makandal traveled to the venue in its van, stopped at Hunter College to pick up instruments it stored there for its workshop, and continued on to Lincoln Center through eerily deserted streets. The company arrived at the venue to a fairly healthy—but maybe smaller than it might have been—audience of brave souls.

The company performed in the Plaza three times, parading back and forth in the twenty-seven-degree weather from its base in a heated tent. On the Plaza Makandal alternated performances with the Chinese Theatre Company, who depicted a dancer battling two sixteen-foot dragons to the accompaniment of drum, cymbal, and an oboe-type instrument. Makandal’s drums and off-key horns worked with the Chinese sound to produce a cacophony entirely appropriate to celebrations, and the sparkle of both companies’ dancers complemented the sound. The last appearance of the groups brought in the New Year—minus any signs of the End Time.

Frisner Augustin, tenbal (timbale)
Steve Deats and Markus Schwartz, conga drum
Donald Etienne, fè (iron beater)
Markus Schwartz, Luckner Salvador, bamboo and klewon (trumpets)
Mari Da Silva, Smith Destin, Daniel Moïse, dancers

Source identifier: MAK_LW_PER.042_0001mi_ma_19991231
Creator: Lois Wilcken
Rights: Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0
Date: 31 December 1999 (exact)
Source format: Video 8 cassette
Language: English and Haitian Creole