Saturday, November 17, 2007

Flame dancing

Flaming passions
From all the comments, I haven't done a good job of filling in all the details of Mardi Gras. Partly because that is a big task. I did talk about why Mardi Gras falls when it does back in this post:

Purple, Green and Gold fever is sprouting

But, maybe I will take a couple of post to flesh this out. First though, today's post -- the flambeaux carriers. (flambeaux is French so the accent is on the beaux). Back before there were lights on the Mardi Gras floats, flambeaux's were it, except for an occasional street light. Back then they were fueled by a can of kerosene on top that would flow down to the burners to make light. Very dangerous.

Now they use propane cylinders - a lot safer. And the flambeaux's don't march next to the floats. Still, the wildness and fever of the flambeaux's -- the dancing, the spontaneity, the flaming colors -- all add to the excitement of the parade. Of course, the dancing, the gyrating flames and the dark, all make the scene hard to shoot -- you have to shoot the feeling, not the facts.

--steve buser

Lagniappe

I am convinced.
Totally, irrevocably.
You can't change my mind.
I believe that the sky likes to find things to build a sunset around. Hop over the Pixel Eyed today and see what I mean.

5 comments:

Gwen said...

Thanks for the history on the lighting of the floats and parade. Can you show a topless photo of a woman catching beads? Ha! Very much kidding, but you know we hear tales about this exact thing.:). Do the lighcarriers have some kind of activity they do before the floats, they look like they're marching in some kind of circle.

Marie said...

Mardi Gras took place earlier this year, didn't it? I have brought back beads from N.O. but I have never spent Mardi Gras there. I'd like to!

Jules said...

Hi Steve - i see what you mean about both our posts being firey - maybe you should invite my fire dancers to Mardi Gras one year. Of course i would have to come as their guide!!!

dot said...

Mardi Gras has changed over the years. When I attended back in the 60's there were no beads and moon pies but there was confetti and serpontine(I'm sure that's spelled wrong). At least that's the way it was in Mobile. The city outlawed the paper stuff because of the mess it made but it sure was fun.

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

Fine with a cajun song about "Mardi gras" la Toussaint or a good two steps like "Danse de mardi gras" or "chanson de mardi gras" by Steve Riley and the Mamou play boys !