Photograph: Calypsonians dressed to perform a calypso drama at the Village Vanguard in Greenwich Village. New York, 1949.
From left: Killer, Radio, Atilla and Tiger.
The Village Vanguard began presenting calypsonians in 1939. In the U.S., like in Trinidad, groups of calypsonians occasionally performed short skits in which they sang the dialogue of individual characters.
Photograph by George Burns, Holiday, January 1949. Courtesy of Donald Hill.