[Leica] IMG: Cape Town Carnival

[h_arche at yahoo.com (H. Ball Arche)]

A really great set, John, lots of cool shots. My faves
are Tamburine Sunset, Trumpet bus, and most of all
Orange House. And if that's you holding the umbrella,
you should send it to Barbour for the portrait
gallery.

--- John Mason <profmason@yahoo.com> wrote:

> 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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