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Blue Devil. Carnival. Trinidad and Tobago.

The Blue Devils are among the most vibrant and energetic traditional characters in the Carnival of Trinidad, one of the largest in the Americas. Akin to “jab molassi” (or “molasses devils”) and sometimes identified simply as “jabs,” blue devils paint their clothes and skin blue, often by using ‘azulillo’, an ordinary bluing laundry tablet. It is difficult to date the origin of the blue devils accurately, but they can be traced back at least to the period before World War I, and some claim much earlier. Blue devil “bands,” as the groups are known, appear throughout Trinidad, in places like Point Fortin and Arima. But they are often associated with the mountain district of Paramin, about a half hour from Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad.

Trinidad's Bess

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divalocity

“Cultural Preservation”

Artistry by Shani Crowe

Photography: Shani Crowe/Des/Saint Heron

tingsparis

raveneuse

Ras Nijinsky in drag as Pavlova in Peter Minshall’s The Dying Swan, King of the Bands Preliminaries, Trinidad & Tobago, 28/01/16.

“After a hiatus of almost a decade, mas man Peter Minshall on Thursday night returned to the Queen’s Park Savannah stage with a design that looked back one hundred years, and fused the Moko Jumbie with the Ballet Russes. ‘The Dying Swan’ – a mas designed and directed by Minshall – floated across the Big Yard, brought to life by former King of Carnival Jha-whan Thomas. With the simple addition of toes and heels, the stilts of the Moko Jumbie became a ballet dancers’ elongated calves, feet en pointe.”

raveneuse

Jab Jab Masquerader at Trinidad Carnival, c. 1950.

#trinidad carnival #jab jab

raveneuse

Whereas in your culture, it is the custom to pay your money to go into an enclosed space to observe other people perform, in my culture, on the island from which I come, it is the custom to pay your money to perform.

Peter Minshall, Mas Man: The Complete Work, 2015. (via raveneuse)

raveneuse

Peter Minshall, Mancrab’s Triumph over Washerwoman, Trinidad Carnival, 1983. Taken from “Mas-Man: The Complete Work”, 2015. Directed by Dalton Narine.