Wow, I haven’t
written a post in almost THREE months! The last time I posted was after Trinidad
carnival and that should say a lot.
“Carnival Tabanca”: The feeling of hurt and pain when
a Caribbean carnival experience has ended often compared to the feeling of
being lovesick… Sing away Bunji Garlin.
The weight of
my “Carnival Tabanca” post Trinidad was equivalent to about fifty elephants, the
weather in Toronto was horrible, I played catch up with a few of my projects, new
projects were beginning blah blah blah. It was a rough time – Ha! However, on a
lovely Saturday afternoon, friends of mine accompanied me for a pedicure and
dinner at my favourite Greek restaurant. They then brought me to Skyzone (for
my first time) where I literally jumped and jumped till I was happy again! Recovering from my tabanca experience exemplifies how life can change in a matter of minutes with
great people around you.
Moving
forward, you can expect biweekly posts on this blog from here on out! I have
many exciting projects and initiatives coming up that I can’t wait to share.
Wishing you all nothing but the best! Stay blessed!
Check out some of my most recent
work that I would like highlight:
CARNIVAL
Toronto Carnival just completed
their “band launch” season. Beautiful costumes from the city’s nine mas bands
were released to world. For the first time in years, costumes have been selling
out quickly! I was so happy to see models from Carnival Spice And Everything Nice hit the runway with bands Saldenah Mas-K Club, Carnival Nationz, and Jamaal
Magloire’s Toronto Revellers. The team DEFINITELY brought a different energy to
each stage we touched. I even tried a “ting” too! Ha! Warning, the Saldenah footage has lots of bum! Yowza.
DANCE
I and over 50 women brought the “Age
of Electronica” to the Mod Club stage with the High Heels High Hopes
Performance and Training Group. This company “enriches women's lives
not only through confidence building, but in strength and skill training!”, and
you KNOW I’m ALL about girl power. The show was filled lights, cameras, and a
whole lot of action. The company will be hosting a summer dance intensive in
support of Carolyn Van. A wonderful young woman and dancer who is battling
cancer… actually, she’s kicking cancers ass!
Read more about the HighHeels High Hopes summer intensive HERE
Read more about Carolyn via her websiteHERE - The site
actually shares much of her current journey. This woman is an absolute fighter.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
If you have not attended one of my
dance fitness workshops, you are definitely missing out! I hosted a public workshop
in February and will be hosting another one Sunday, June 22nd in
Downtown Toronto. See details HERE. My workshops are open to all ages, ethnicities, and dance levels. One of my awesome class attendees shared
this quote:
“I love the workshops, and the energy/enthusiasm of instructor
Shakera. Fun and exercise are all combined… it’s a win-win situation (or is
that ‘whine whine’?)"
For YEARS I have been told either “Shakera, you have to play
mas in Trinidad!” or “Ain’t nothing like Trinidad Carnival”… but still I had
never had an opportunity to attend. Well, Trinidad Carnival 2014 comes along
with Carnival Tuesday falling on the BIRTHDAY of my carnival sister! That
sealed the deal... And besides, with the Carnival Spice and Everything Nice website
launching this Spring, it only seemed fitting to visit the mecca of Caribbean
Carnival beforehand.
For Trinidad
Carnival 2014 I was on the road with Yuma as they presented their theme “Cirque”
where Carnival meets the Circus! After wearing several mas costumes in my
lifetime, I am very particular about the color choice I wear on the road. I
LOVE bright colors and have often selected bright blues, pinks, or orange.
This time I was looking for either a yellow or green costume so I can finally
have the opportunity to represent my Jamaican ethnicity through my mas! Sadly, yet not surprisingly, those color choices were not available this year. After
careful deliberation, I picked Yuma’s section “Immortal”. I have no idea what
Immortal has to do with the circus (lol) but it did not matter. I fell in love
with the costume immediately. The gold, the detailing, the chains, the headpiece, all gorgeous! I
instantly envisioned how the costume would reflect the Trini sunlight as I
chipped for hours on end. If this costume sold out before I registered I would
have been devastated because THERE WAS NO PLAN B!
Costume Registration
This was a stressful process to say the least. First of all
(for those who are unaware) Trinidad costumes often sell out very fast AND many
of the top bands do not allow “public registration”. Therefore, the costume of
your dreams can slip away easily unless you know someone who knows someone – Ha! So annoying. Thankfully,
a friend referred me to a service provided by the Carnival Connection that
specifically helps international masqueraders with
this very problem. In summary, you pay the Carnival Connection a fee and they order your costume choice in Trinidad on your
behalf. It was genius! We registered day one and day two we got THE EMAIL.
I passed
out for about 40 seconds! Lol. It was official. My first time playing mas in Trinidad would be with Yuma vibe AND IGOT MY FIRST COSTUME CHOICE,
Immortal!
Costume Collection
I did not know what to expect during this part of the process. I was
simply excited and hoped for the best. Well positive vibes do produce positive
results indeed. We showed up, waited in a line for about 15 minutes then were
directed to an area where I could pay the remainder of my balance and pick up my
costume. If you hate walking with lots of cash, I recommend paying for your
costume in full online.
My costume came in a cute little box accompanied by a cute
little patent leather messenger bag. I like cute things so we were off to a
great start.
My Yuma branded “goodie bag” was filled with a bunch of
little trinkets that you can bring home as a souvenir or use on the road. The only souvenir I really needed was my headpiece but I appreciated the gesture! Inside the box, sat my beautiful golden costume that looked
EXACTLY like the picture advertised… I think I teared up in my right eye at this point.
The gentleman helping us could not stop laughing at our reactions... I think he thought were were crazy. Then we told
him it was our first time playing mas in Trinidad and his response was “Ohhhhh, Well Then... CARRY ON!”
Just when I
thought this moment could not get any more perfect, the song below started
playing! HA – #Bliss!
"We Ready For Di Roaddd"
I had a great time both days on the road with Yuma. My experience
was filled with endless food, drinks, sunshine, soca, and pretty people in
pretty costumes. The YUMA bar ran out of ice a couple of times, but hey, no one’s
perfect. Big thank you to the YUMA "extraction" crew who helped keep us safe and organized along the parade route. Toronto Carnival could use some extraction CREWS... (indirect message to band leaders)... You can see in the photo to the left, the extractors are all holding hands. This helped prevent my section (and anyone behind us) from going the wrong way before we crossed the stage. Big up to all the deejays on the road even though they didn't play ANY dancehall! lol... I girl can dream :) I felt quite proud seeing D'Enforcas doing their thang with Yuma - repping all the "Canadians" on the road. I had another proud Canadian moment when a D.J. played "Worst Behaviour" by Drake! That was the ONLY hip hop song I heard the whole day... #Big MY Road playlist included "Junction" by Machel Montano,"Truck On Di Road" by Bunji Garlin, and "Shake Dat" by JoJo. If these songs were playing you know that you could find me right beside the speaker! ...EVERYONE else lost their mind when "Big People Party" by Farmer Nappy came on! Machel's "M.O.R' was the road march, Kerwin's "Too Real" was undeniably THE groovy track, BUT "Big People Party" was THE song for Carnival... I say this with the most neutral opinion.
Now the YUMA masqueraders were a good time. Everyone was smiling, I didn't see any fighting, and everyone was either dancing or chippin'... no stush people welcomed roun' here! ha! The ladies looked lovely on Carnival Monday... and the men, I thank you for working hard on those abs! Yuma
provided everyone with a pair of shorts and socks to wear Carnival Monday but mostly everyone wore
something else. The Monday costumes were so creative and shined bright in the
sun. There were variations of monokinis, feathers, and beads that I had never seen before. I was in awe so much that I didn’t take any photos! That should say a lot.
I did a little better Carnival Tuesday with the photo taking. Check out some of
the YUMA massive in the photos below:
"Immortal"
"All yuh get in yuh section"
Ironically my section "Immortal" was in first position to cross the stage #Epic... It also felt
amazing to be a part of Trinidad Carnival history by being the FIRSTsection
EVERto cross Trinidad’s new Socadrome stage. Normally masqueraders “cross di stage” in the
Savannah however this year the four largest bands (Tribe, Bliss, Yuma, & Fantasy... I think) headed down a different
route.
"I jumpin up, me an meh crew, watch how we just doin it E.P.I.C"
Immortal Male & Female Frontline
... She bad <3
As our band made it's way down “the avenue” I spotted Toronto MUA Nikki
D. This lovely lady works fast! She applied some gems and
sparkle lips to the birthday girl and me.
Eh Eh! Look who Nicky found in my section! It’s the Queen of
Bacchanal Destra Garcia. Yuma had a few performances along the route including 5 Star Akil, Olatunji, Nutron and Destra... I totally missed Destra's performance though! (Stilllllll not sure how though!)
"LaNouba"(Misfits)
When I first seen this costume I wasn’t really into it - not gonna lie. On
the road however this section looked awesome and the entire crew wore the costume well. Head to toe customization from their belts to their cups! loved it!
Woyyyy watch Tara ah bruck whine!
Loved these three and their energy!
Toronto Massive!!!!
"Amaluna"
Dale <3
"Alegria"
Get Onnnnnnnn!
"Dralion"
My dawlin from NYC - We finally reunite after Miami Carnival
Her shoe game is a 10!
"Iz a winah tuh meh heart, a masqueradah tuh meh hawt"
"Kooza"
All the way from NYC … meet the lovely Tamiko
"Quidam"
#selfies
“O”
I loved how this beauty was reppin’ her Jamaica flag the
entire day!
"Totem"
This beauty wore these wings the WHOLE DAY - like a boss!
"Ka"
"Mystere"
Behavin Di Worseeeee!
"Varekai"
This beauty makes me want to wear a head piece the next time I play mas!
Toronto massive! Found my homie Camille during lunch break! Best nap ever! Wish I got a puncheon popsicle.
Also spotted Mister Tin-Man ...or so I call him... remember him from Toronto & Miami carnival?
#blastfromthepast
I was so busy chippin’ around town with Yuma that I didn’t
get to really see other bands and sections during the day (when the photo light
was nice). However, I managed to get a few snap shots of Tribe. It felt like Tribe
masqueraders and trucks were everywhere! lol
Sioux (Tribe)
Spirit Seeker (Tribe)
Hawkeye (Tribe)
Everyone I seen wearing this costume looked amazing!
Cheyenne (Tribe)
This costume was designed by Project Runway winner Anya Ayoung-Chee
Thank you Yuma for a great time and great investment… An area
of improvement would be your bra manufacturer. I had to re – sew and alter the
strings on both my bra and my friend’s bra for it to fit. This meant not
wearing both our leg and arm pieces because we needed the extra string to fix our
bra! The bra was the right size but it did not fit because the quality was low.
I read several other reviews and many folks mentioned the same problem. Use
bikini bras or actual bras NOT a crossover between the two. Also please provide
snacks if you say you will. Now I have souvenir “snack chit” that I would have
loved to use … That is all… I am still smiling though!
