Keegan Taylor (2015)

Keegan Taylor is no stranger to the stage as he started a successful career in the entertainment arena at the early age of 8. As an avid contender and performer in cultural arts during his primary and secondary school years, Keegan developed an extensive body of work and contributed to the art forms of calypso and soca over his 25-year involvement in culture and entertainment. As the first Junior Soca Monarch of Trinidad and Tobago, Keegan has also took his brand of music and performance internationally with popular bands like Caribbean Traffic Jam (Traffik) and many other groups including well known chutney bands like Melobugz and Triveni to name a few. In 2009, Keegan's less talked-about love and experience in martial arts led him to explore and discover the world of Kalinda or stick-fighting in a very intimate way. In an almost anthropological manner, he immersed himself in it with the guidance of Moruga stick masters. He began a journey to seek mastery in this ancient African tradition, hoping to acquire and transfer the learnings of the art to the present generation of youth. He aims to merge his love and competency in these diverse areas of Trinidad and Tobago culture to develop new ideas for change, innovation and even some level of retention of the old ways. With this, he hopes to create a better and more creative world for our children’s future. Keegan Taylor and his friend and business partner, Rondel Benjamin are the founders of Bois Academy of Trinidad and Tobago (B.A.T.T.). Together, they starred in the documentary film ‘No Bois Man No Fraid’ by Christopher Laird. Keegan was part of the duo for a TEDxPortofSpain talk on kalinda in 2013.