The proposed comparative research investigates ways in which social actors negotiate identities and their public expression in two creolephone island societies, St. Lucia in the Caribbean and the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. By examining instances of two specific processes of cultural change-'creolization' and 'folklorization'-the project seeks to determine how actors attempt to shape processes of cultural change and post­colonial identity formation. The ethnography focuses on the use of music and dance in 'everyday' contexts, and in the context of festivals and heritage tourism exhibitions that celebrate creole heritage and identity.