[Leica] IMG: Cape Town Carnival

[jhnichols at bellsouth.net (Jim Nichols)]

John,

That's a beautiful collection of photos to document a project that must be a 
lot of work as well as fun.  Congratulations on the success of the effort. 
I particularly like the baritone sax player, since I once played one in an 
earlier lifetime.

Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Mason" <profmason@yahoo.com>
To: <lug@leica-users.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2007 2:53 PM
Subject: [Leica] IMG: Cape Town Carnival


>I spent most of the last three months in Cape Town.
> It was the carnival season, and my longest stay in
> South Africa since I lived there in '89 and '90.
>
> Taking advantage of the circumstances, I accepted my
> friend Zane Ibrahim's invitation to join the
> Pennsylvania Crooning Minstrels, one of several dozen
> minstrel troupes that are the heart and soul of the
> carnival.
>
> Carnival is deeply rooted in Cape Town's working class
> communities.  Minstrel troupes have been around for
> over 100 years--the Pennsylvanians date back to the
> '30s--and the tradition of marching through the city
> around Christmas and the New Year goes back to the
> days of slavery in the early 19th century.
>
> The most spectacular part of the carnival is die
> Tweede Nuwe Jaar--the Second New Year, January
> 2nd--when the troupes march through the center of the
> city, effectively taking it over.
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/03FlagAndCoke.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/yuxef8>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/01ClownUpClose.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/2e7dn9>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/04BandAndCoke.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/2437nt>
>
> For each troupe, a day of marching or competing begins
> at the klopskamer--the clubhouse--where members
> assemble to march through the neighborhood, before
> boarding buses that will take them downtown:
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/06Clown.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/2gorvx>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/09OrangeHouse.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/2yv3n8>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/11ManUmbrellaBus.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/yqe8wj>
>
> An important part of the carnival are the competitions
> in various local stadiums, where the troupes bands,
> choirs, and marching are judged:
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/17FlagsAthloneStadium.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/3cf7eh>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/18DancingBoyGreenPoint.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/2otrg2>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/19TarikInGreenPoint.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/2jun9h>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/20BandInStadium.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/35ysal>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/21ChoirSingsGreenPoint.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/3yoeh9>
>
> None of this comes easily.  Rehearsals start in
> October and continue until the end of the competitions
> in late February:
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/22CoachAndSingers.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/24vjby>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/24Singers02.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/27gfk8>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/25BariSaxRehearsal.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/yr5w7s>
>
> For the members, participation in the troupes (which
> is very often passed down from father to son and
> mother to daughter) is a mixture of fun and
> tomfoolery...
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/14aDancingGirls.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/ytv57r>
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/10RedFace.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/2y4ou7>
>
> ...and great seriousness:
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/16TamborineInSunset.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/yqg5wk>
>
> By happy coincidence, we are this year's
> championship-winning troupe:
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/27ChampionOfChampions.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/2534pt>
>
> And, when I say "we," I mean it:
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/28EkIsNKlops.jpg.html>
>
> <http://tinyurl.com/2hyylq>
>
> See more here:
>
> <http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/CapeMinstrels/>
>
> --John
>
> John Mason
> Charlottesville, Virginia
>
> DEMOCRACY OF SPEED, a Photo Documentary Project:
> http://www.virginia.edu/history/DocSpeed/
>
> Additional Documentary Projects, here:
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Mason/
>
>
>
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