MokoJumbie beginnings…

The life of the Great Alvin “Alli” Paul

The Great Alvin Alli Paul:  A man that has lived a special and interesting life, who passed on change, and knowledge to many including myself in his life time. I am honored to dedicate this page on his behalf of his greatness and life as I know it.  If anyone knew Ali, they knew a King, a leader and a Alpha entity in all aspects.  He is the torch bearer of the art of Stilt Dancing known as MokoJumbie to us today in the Caribbean islands.

 Magnitude:

The Awesome Magnitude of what Alli did to revolutionize our culture and tradition in the Virgin Islands will live forever pertaining to the Art of MokoJumbie. Which is the symbol you will find on every Virgin Islands Taxi license plate, as well as, for the Virgin Islands Department of Tourism.

 History:

In the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s here in St. Thomas, USVI, we had another great fearless man on stilts, known as John “Magnus” Farrell, who performed when Alli was a little boy. Magnus appearance was the wearing of a skirt, a cone style hat, bare feet and no clothing to cover his legs, feet or stilts.  Magnus performed in this fashion for years. This was his signature mark.

 How Ali Changed That:

During the 50’s Alli was longing to be a better, and greater entertainer on stilts after admiring Magnus.  As I was told, one evening Alli secretly and intensely observed Magus dismount from his stilts and watched the designed and construction thereof.  Later, Alli created his own stilts, with a new design and taught himself to balance up high on stilts, prior to the age of 11 in secret from his mother.

 First Carnival:

In 1960, at the age of 11, Alli made his debut and performed at Carnival Parade being the only MokoJumbie on St. Thomas for several years since that time.  Magnus had left St. Thomas and had been living in New York at that time. However, after that passing of Alli, a very old picture surfaced of him in 1959, on stilts by himself at a Carnival parade which was unknowing to his parents I was told. So therefore Ali Paul really started performing at carnival between 1958 and 1959.

 The Change in Appearance:

1.       Instead of wearing a cone hat as Magnus did, Ali wore a Chinese style or African style leather hat or sometimes no hat at all…

2.      Instead of wearing a skirt, Ali had pants made to cover his legs, stilts and feet.

3.      Instead of being bare foot on stilts as Magnus did, Ali designed stilts with shoes or sneakers and was worn by him.   

 Moko Jumbie as a symbol for the Virgin Islands:

Today, the symbol that represent the Department of Tourism is a MokoJumbie, wearing pants and throwing stars to the heavens.  It’s on Tourism’s banners, stickers, and emblems. Also, the Virgin Islands Taxi Association has the very same symbol and emblem of the MokoJumbie wearing pants on their license plates.  This is how deep and far Alli has come in revolutionizing the culture of Moko-Jumbie in the Virgin Islands.

Greatness and Popularity:

Alli’s greatness and popularity began after his first appearance in 1960 as the new MokoJumbie.  He shared his skills and knowledge of this art form creating the first carnival troupe known as “The Alli Paul’s Original MokoJumbies”.  This group made-up of family and close friends at first.  The very first MokoJumbie female, was his sister Ann.  His other brothers that learned the art were Frankie Hoheb, Derek Candyman Parilla, Jessie, rest in peace and Michael, rest in peace. 

Further family members included the late great Hugh Molenar, rest in peace.  Today no one I know of ever moved faster on stilts than him.  Another is John McCleverly Jr. who had been with the group since Hugh Molenar taught him and in turn he John McCleverly Jr. taught Willard John to perform on stilts.

Twelve years after Alli entered his first carnival parade, I personally met him at the age of nine, when he stopped me while I was training on my own homemade stilts in the Nadir area.  At the time, I too hid from my parents, made my own stilts and had a true love for this art.  Alli was my idol, just as Magnus was to him. After Alli convinced my mother that I would be safe with him, I became a proud member of his troupe- Alli Paul’s Original MokoJumbies. There were many other extended family members that were part of this troupe, names like Calvin Tully Testatmark, rest in peace, Shaun Testamark, Richard Testamark, Alan Billar Lambertist and his wife Lisa Maria, Denise Georges, Terry Christopher, Willard John, Suzette and many more including my siblings Arthur and Alfred Petersen just to name a few. We were all part of this Original MokoJumbie Group led by Alli Paul that traveled abroad.

Today:

All MokoJumbies today that wear pants and round style hats are a product of the style created by this legendary man.  The name Alli Paul will ring for centuries in the Virgin Islands as a cultural bearer for the art.  I will never forget those days performing with him, where his name rang out from spectators at every block on the parade route.  I can also remember before I became a MokoJumbie as a little boy, my own parents taking us to the parade and saying, “I hope Alli Paul aint pass up yet.” Alli meant a lot not only to me, but to others.  I do feel that for his greatness in changing our culture and traditions in the Virgin Islands, a street on the parade route should be named after him.  He alone is the root of the main tree on MokoJumbie culture and everyone else after him are extended branches and leaves of this art throughout the Virgin Islands.

Much respect and love for his family.  Today, I stand tall as always with Alli Paul.  I will end with the words of the wisest biblical man written in The Book of Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 – “A good name is better than precious oil, and the day of death, than the day of one’s birth.” 

Let us continue to carry on his great name to future generations so that we all will continue to stand tall with Alli Paul.