Canboulay 2013–2015: A Defining Chapter in Julianspromos’ Multimedia Era
During the early 2010s, Julianspromos was rapidly evolving beyond digital music promotion and establishing itself as a Caribbean multimedia platform. Original photography, artist interviews, event features, live performances and Carnival coverage were becoming increasingly important parts of the brand’s identity.
Canboulay became a significant part of that development beginning in 2013. What started with extensive coverage in New York would soon connect Julianspromos with Canboulay events in Miami and Barbados, creating a visual record across three major Caribbean entertainment markets.
The coverage also became closely associated with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, whose personality-driven hosting became an important part of Julianspromos’ multimedia presence during this period.
Canboulay New York 2013
On June 1, 2013, Julianspromos documented Canboulay in New York through original video and an extensive photo archive.
By this period, the platform was increasingly combining its established music-promotion work with photography, artist interviews, event recaps and on-camera entertainment coverage. Canboulay became one of the events that showcased this growing multimedia identity.
Hosted by Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, the surviving highlight video captures the music, paint, personalities and atmosphere surrounding the event while bringing viewers directly into the experience.
The Canboulay 2013 Photo Archive
Video tells only part of the story. Julianspromos also produced an extensive Canboulay New York 2013 photo gallery, documenting the crowd, personalities, fashion, performances and atmosphere surrounding the event.
The size of the surviving collection makes Canboulay 2013 one of the better-preserved examples of Julianspromos’ early multimedia work. At the time, photography had become an increasingly important part of the company’s event coverage alongside video, interviews and original entertainment content.
Together, the 2013 highlight video and large photo archive provide a broader visual record of Canboulay and preserve an important period in the development of Julianspromos’ multimedia identity.
Canboulay at Miami Carnival J’Ouvert 2013
Only a few months later, the Canboulay story continued during Miami Carnival weekend.
On October 12, 2013, Julianspromos documented Canboulay’s Savages of Dawn during Miami Carnival J’Ouvert, extending the coverage from New York into another major Caribbean Carnival market.
Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson again hosted the coverage, capturing the energy of J’Ouvert and the paint, music and crowd interaction that surrounded Canboulay on the road.
The move from New York to Miami also reflected the direction Julianspromos was beginning to take at the time as its multimedia presence expanded beyond its home market.
Canboulay New York 2014
Julianspromos returned to Canboulay in New York on June 8, 2014, continuing a relationship with the event that had become part of the platform’s expanding multimedia archive.
By then, Julianspromos was documenting an increasingly wide range of Caribbean artists, concerts, fetes, festivals and Carnival celebrations.
The surviving 2014 footage provides another snapshot of that period of growth while extending the Canboulay story into a second consecutive year.
Canboulay Barbados 2014
The Canboulay story expanded internationally again later that summer.
On August 1, 2014, Canboulay arrived in Barbados during Crop Over, adding another Caribbean market to the growing history surrounding the event.
The Barbados edition took place at Copa Beach and represented Canboulay’s expansion beyond its New York and Miami editions.
Julianspromos also preserved coverage from the Barbados event. Unlike the New York and Miami productions hosted by Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, the Barbados video coverage was handled by Intrigue Lane, with Julianspromos editing the footage for publication.
That distinction is an important part of the archive because it reflects the broader media network Julianspromos was developing as its event coverage expanded internationally.
Canboulay New York 2015
Julianspromos returned once again to Canboulay New York on June 6, 2015.
By this point, original multimedia coverage had become an established part of the Julianspromos story, complementing the platform’s continued growth as a destination for Soca music and Caribbean entertainment.
The surviving 2015 footage extends the Canboulay archive into a third consecutive year and captures one of the final chapters of this particular series of Julianspromos event coverage.
Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson and the Canboulay Coverage
One of the strongest threads connecting the Canboulay archive is Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson.
As a recurring on-camera host of Julianspromos’ New York and Miami Canboulay coverage, she helped give the videos a recognizable personality and continuity beyond individual event highlights.
During this period, Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson was a major part of Julianspromos’ multimedia presence, appearing across artist interviews, concerts, Carnival coverage, fetes and Caribbean cultural events.
The surviving Canboulay footage now preserves another chapter of her role in helping establish the presentation and personality of Julianspromos’ early media coverage.
Documenting the Caribbean Paint-Fete Experience
Beyond documenting individual performances and personalities, the Canboulay footage preserves the atmosphere of Caribbean paint-fete and J’Ouvert-style celebrations during the early 2010s.
The videos capture the Soca, paint, powder, water, fashion, dancing and crowd interaction that defined the experience, giving the surviving footage cultural and archival value beyond its original purpose as event highlights.
More than a decade later, the collection provides a visual record of how Caribbean audiences experienced these celebrations in New York, Miami and Barbados during this period.
A Multi-Market Chapter in Julianspromos History
Looking back, Canboulay represents much more than a collection of old event videos.
The June 1, 2013 New York coverage is particularly important because of its combination of original video and a substantial surviving photo archive. That extensive documentation came during a period when Julianspromos was actively developing its multimedia identity.
Only four months later, the story continued at Miami Carnival J’Ouvert, where Julianspromos documented Canboulay’s Savages of Dawn on the road.
The return to New York in 2014 was followed by Canboulay Barbados during Crop Over later that summer, giving the Julianspromos archive documented Canboulay coverage across New York, Miami and Barbados within little more than a year.
The final surviving New York coverage in 2015 extended that history into a third consecutive year.
Together, the photographs and videos preserve a period when Julianspromos was moving rapidly from digital music promotion into a broader Caribbean media operation, documenting Carnival culture across different cities and islands and building the international multimedia presence that became an important part of the company’s history.
Part of the Growth of Julianspromos Multimedia
The Canboulay years came during a pivotal stage in Julianspromos history.
After beginning with Caribbean digital music promotion, Julianspromos expanded into multimedia entertainment in the early 2010s through artist interviews, event coverage, photography, Carnival footage and original video production.
By 2014, JulianspromosTV had reached 100,000 YouTube subscribers.
Then in 2015, Julianspromos launched its first formal Multimedia Carnival Tour, covering ten Carnival destinations around the world and more than 100 Caribbean events during the wider multimedia era.
The Canboulay archive sits directly within that evolution.
The progression from New York to Miami, back to New York, onward to Barbados and again to New York, combined with recurring on-camera hosting, photography and original video production, shows Julianspromos developing the type of multi-market Caribbean coverage that would become much larger in the years that followed.
About the Canboulay Name
The name Canboulay has much deeper roots in Trinidad and Tobago Carnival history, including the resistance surrounding efforts by British colonial authorities to suppress Carnival traditions during the nineteenth century.
The modern events documented in this Julianspromos archive were contemporary Caribbean entertainment and paint-fete events using the Canboulay name and should not be confused with Trinidad and Tobago’s historical Canboulay reenactments.
Acknowledging that distinction preserves the cultural significance of the name while accurately representing the events captured in the Julianspromos archive.
From the Julianspromos Archives
The surviving Canboulay collection now provides a multi-year look at an important period in both Caribbean event culture and the development of Julianspromos.
Beginning with the extensive New York photo and video coverage in 2013, continuing through Miami Carnival J’Ouvert, expanding to Barbados Crop Over, and returning repeatedly to New York, the archive documents how Julianspromos’ multimedia operation was becoming increasingly mobile and international.
What originally existed as individual event videos and photo galleries now forms a much more complete historical record of Julianspromos’ early multimedia expansion and its growing connection to Caribbean Carnival culture during the 2010s.
