补充阅读 The Greatest Show on Earth

The Greatest Show on EarthThe oldest and one of the greatest of them all, there are few experiences on earth that can compare. Trinidad Carnival is the mother of all Carnivals; it is far more than two days of masquerading. Its a whole explosive: season in itself. Trinidads carnival is a beautiful example of how carnival can unite the world, for within this season barriers fall, rank ceases to matter, and the whole country forgets their differences to celebrate life!Carnival was introduced to Trinidad around 1785, while under British rule. French settlers began to arrive, with their customs and traditions as well as their slaves. One such tradition as noted earlier was Carnival. The tradition caught on quickly, and fancy balls were held where the wealthy planters put on masks, wigs, and beautiful dresses and danced long into the night. The use of masks had special meaning for the slaves, because for many African peoples, masking is widely used in their rituals for the dead. Banned from the masked balls of the French, the slaves would hold their own little carnivals in their backyards, using their own rituals and folklore to celebrate but also to imitate their masters behavior at the masked balls. For the African slaves in Trinidad, carnival became a way to express their power as individuals, as well as their rich cultural traditions. After 1838 (when slavery was abolished), the freed Africans began to host their own carnival celebrations in the streets that grew more and more elaborate, and soon became more popular than the balls.Important to Caribbean festival arts are the ancient African traditions of parading and moving in circles through villages in costumes and masks. Circling villages was believed to bring good fortune, to heal problems, and chill out angry relatives who had died and passed into the next world. Feathers were frequently used by Africans in their motherland on masks and headdresses as a symbol of our ability as humans to rise above problems, pains, heartbreaks, and illness, also to travel to another world to be reborn and to grow spiritually. Today, we see feathers used in many, many forms from carnival masks to costumes to jewelry. African dance and music traditions also helped transform the early carnival celebrations in the Americas, from mere street festivals to an explosion of culture and excitement, incorporating African drum rhythms, large puppets, stick fighters, and stilt dancers in the carnival festivities.Carnival in Trinidad, also noted as “The Greatest Show on Earth”, begins actually after Christmas. The Carnival season involves numerous fetes (parties), that help unify not only the country but the entire Caribbean, such as the famous “Glow Party”, where everyone dresses in all white from head to toe to signify Unity.Trinidad also sponsors an International Soca Monarch Competition, where soca artist throughout the world come to compete for the title of reigning “Soca Monarch”, but most importantly showcase their talents and gain popularity throughout the Caribbean. The actual start of Carnival is marked by “Jouvert” which is known as “dirty mas” or mud mas”, where Carnival goers are drenched in paint or color mud dancing and celebrating. Jouvert begins in the early morning around 4am and leads into Carnival Monday and Tuesday which are the two day always before Lent. On Carnival Monday we see the Parade of the Bands (a procession of beautiful, vibrant, elaborate costumes, sectioned off by themes designated by the individual mas camps), steel pans (a percussion of rhythm sand beats from a steel orchestra) and the infamous traditional carnival characters. The closure of Carnival is signified as the “Last Lap” to the beach to continue the party.Carnival is such an important aspect of life in Trinidad that the whole nation comes to a halt on Carnival Monday and Tuesday, it is regarded as a National holiday. In fact many schools believe that sponsoring a carnival band in “Kiddies Carnival” is a way to teach young people about their roots and culture. In Trinidads Kiddies Carnival, hundreds of schools and community organizations work together to develop stronger friendships and greater respect for the many cultures that makes up Trinidad and work endlessly to bring these influences to life in Carnival.Today, carniva