Ready for Mas Again
I picked up my mas costume from
Sonia Mack's boutique in
Diego Martin the other day. A whole week before
Carnival! Pictured in the photo above, is the complete setup to play mas on Monday and Tuesday. In the box, are the costume arm and leg pieces, belt, bra and shoulder piece. Right above that is our
Black Widow spider cape. Also pictured is the headpiece and goodie bag filled with things like a rum cup, whistle, Tylenol, a purse, the obligatory flag for waving, and an address book for all the new friends you make during Carnival. We also received a guidebook with the parade route, contact numbers, food and drink menus, locations of the portable toilet facilities, and shuttle service schedule.
Island People was very organized and redeemed themselves from
my earlier experience. They really set you up nice for mas on Monday & Tuesday. (The band is all-inclusive, which means it includes food and drinks and an array of services.) In Trinidad, masqueraders do not wear the full mas costume on Carnival Monday. Instead, band members may wear band t-shirts and a specific color. For Island People, we will wear the cowboy hat, the bra top, and the silver shorts seen in the picture. The ENTIRE band will wear this on Monday, creating a unified presence before we split into our individual sections on Tuesday.
"
We're playing pretty mas", my sister laughed as we stood in the pickup line.
Nonetheless, on Tuesday the Black Widow section is the first chapter in Island People's "Animal Instincts" presentation. Road music will be provided by Trinidad biggest soca artist,
Machel Montano along with Patrice Roberts (the 2006
Road March winner). I can no longer write about Carnival without sharing the infectious music that drives it: soca. In this clip, I've started with Machel's "
Wining Season". This is followed by my personal favorite for 2008 Road March, "
Breathless" by Blaxx and then Faye Ann Lyons' "
Get On". As you are listening, feel free to
take a wine.
Posted by
Makeda Thomas on January 31, 2008 11:20 AM
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Hi Makeda,
Great blog! Keep me up to date on what's going on on both ends.
Best,
Renee