Mardi Gras Info

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#996699" TEXT="#080000" background="0a5b85a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Eureka Gras Mardi Gras Extravaganza</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Eureka Gras Mardi Gras Extravaganza"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="kings_day_kickoff.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kings Day KickOff">King's Day KickOff</A>   |   <B>Mardi Gras Info</B>   |   <A HREF="second_line_jazz.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Second Line Jazz">Second Line Jazz</A>   |   <A HREF="masquerade_ball.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Masquerade Ball">Masquerade Ball</A>   |   <A HREF="paradecontests.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Parade/Contests">Parade/Contests</A>   |   <A HREF="2ndline_krawl.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2ndLine Krawl">2ndLine Krawl</A>   |   <A HREF="news.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News">News</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#996699" TEXT="#080000" background="0a607053.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="0f7c1930.gif" border=0 width="193" height="147" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Mardi Gras Info</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Origins</B></div> <div>      Having roots in Europe, the day before Ash Wednesday, was one of feasting symbolized by the ritual slaughter of a fatted bull (<I>boeuf gras</I>) —thus, the day became known as Fat Tuesday or, as the French would say, Mardi Gras.  On a calculatedTuesday ranging from Feb. 3 through March 9, Mardi Gras is tied to Easter, which falls on the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the Spring Equinox. </div> <div>      When the French explorer Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'lberville explored the Gulf of Mexico in 1699 — upon finding the mouth of the Mississippi River on March 3, he set up camp approximately 60 miles south of what is now New Orleans.  To mark that day, Iberville declared his location as <I>Point du Mardi Gras.  </I>However, it was Mobile, which calls itself the <I>Mother of Mystics,</I> that entertained the first Mardi Gras celebration in 1704.  Nicholas Langlois founded <I>Societe de Saint Louis</I>, a prototype of the secret societies, or krewes, that would later institutionalize Carnival in New Orleans.</div> <div>      The Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor of Louisiana in 1743, assisted by a dancing master called Bebe, established society balls and banquets that eventually became the model for upper-class Carnival soirees of today’s traditions.<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >          </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Krewes </B></div> <div>      The establishment of <I>krewes</I> (organizations) were also founded in New Orleans. The first, in 1857, was the <I>Mystick Krewe</I> of Comus comprised of six men.   In a torch-lit procession on the night of Mardi Gras, the Comus krewemen, most of whom were well-to-do Anglo-Americans, were garbed as "The Demon Actors of Milton’s <I>Paradise Lost</I>."  Their thematic, meticulously organized street spectacle, and the tableau ball that followed, established a paradigm that would be widely imitated.  Krewes were private clubs that were not open for the public to join.</div> <bR> <div> <B>High Society Mardi Gras</B></div> <div>      Suspended during War times, Mardi Gras returned after the end of the Civil War, when in 1872, a group of businessmen and civic leaders invented Rex, King of Carnival.  While Rex and his krewe may have been partly inspired by the anticipated visit to New Orleans of a Russian royal — Grand Duke Alexis Romanov, who witnessed that year’s festivities — their primary motivation was to coordinate the various groups that had been informally parading on Mardi Gras and also to provide a tonic for a South that was still weary from the Civil War, thereby helping to lure visitors back to the city.</div> <div>      As part of their debut, the Rex Krewe-men introduced the Carnival colors of purple, green and gold. (Via Rex’s 1892 parade, entitled "Symbolism of Colors," they came to signify justice, faith and power, respectively.) </div> <div>      Except for identifying Rex each year, these "old-line" krewes adhered to a strict code of secrecy— nobody could ever reveal who was behind the masks at the parades or balls. Their debutante queens, however, were featured in newspaper society columns along with the rest of their make-believe courts.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Afro-American Mardi Gras</B></div> <div>      Organized groups of black and mixed-race celebrants masking as Indians began to appear on the streets during Mardi Gras. These Mardi Gras Indians, as they came to be known, identified with Native Americans, because they shared a common experience of subjugation under colonialism and because tribes indigenous to Louisiana once provided refuge to runaway slaves. By masking “Indian," they expressed ritual freedom while also providing continuity to African forms of festive merriment.</div> <div>      Another African-American Carnival institution, proving no less enduring than the Mardi Gras Indians, began in the early 1900s with a parade that lampooned the white man's racial stereotypes.  Negro participants wore grass skirts and outrageous black-face makeup. Originally known as<I> The Tramps</I>, the group changed its name in 1916 to the <I>Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club</I>.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Nouveau White Mardi Gras</B></div> <div>      During the early 1900s, the Carnival festival became increasingly important to New Orleans as a tourism industry.  New krewes comprised of business and professional men, such as the Knights of Hermes and the Knights of Babylon, appeared.  A gradual democratization of Carnival had begun.</div> <div>      In the late 1960s, entrepreneurs and others not born to the upper crust came together in furthering the cause of tourism and broadening the avenues of participation in a Gala Carnival. They formed the krewes of Endymion, in 1967 (primarily Italian based), and Bacchus (young business men), in 1968.  Social credentials were not a criteria for membership.  Instead of ceremonious balls featuring krewe royalty, these so-called "superkrewes" threw raucous "extravaganzas" featuring big-name entertainment.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Gay Mardi Gras</B></div> <div>      Gay Mardi Gras got started with the Krewe of Yuga, founded in 1958, holding a private costume party where a queen and a small tableau were presented.  In 1962, the event was held at a private children’s school — and raided by the police.  The attendees' names were published in the newspaper.  But despite the scandal, gay balls mocked “straight” Carnival traditions and appropriated it.  By the early 1980s, before the onslaught of AIDS, there were as many as 15 Gay Krewes. </div> <div>      In 1964, Arthur Jacobs, an ex-police officer looking to drum up some business for his French Quarter restaurant, the “Clover Grill,” started a Mardi Gras costume contest called<I> The Bourbon Street Awards. </I> It became a showcase for female impersonators and risqué creativity, attracting spectators and camera crews from around the globe.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Naughty Revelry</B></div> <div>      While families still flock to the parades, the demographics of New Orleans Carnival have been changing.  Especially in the French Quarter, the festivities have taken on a Spring Break atmosphere, attracting visitors more interested in drunken escapades and flashes of nudity than Carnival’s cultural significance and storied pageantry.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Mardi Gras Floats</B></div> <div>      The earliest New Orleans’ floats were horse drawn flat bed wagons which were later substituted by the Sanitation Department’s mule-drawn garbage binned wagons that were draped with material and flat-boards that were simply decorated.</div> <div>      Floats had become predictable and continued to be somewhat drab, typically resembling large, gussied-up baby carriages until the early 1950s.  Blane Kern went to Europe to study Carnival traditions in Cologne, Nice, Frankfurt, Viareggio and Valencia.  The floats that Kern subsequently introduced to the streets of the Crescent City were fanciful and outlandish — decked out with oversized, vividly colored busts of storybook creatures and characters whose heads turned and whose eyes moved.  The new parades boast celebrity riders upon huge, Disney-esque floats with Krewemen generously tossing out “throws” to crowds of millions.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Grand Bal Masque and Tableau</B></div> <div>      The Royal Court consists of Dukes and Maids, and our Royalty, <B>King Krazo and Queen Eureka</B> who are chosen by drawing eligible members' names from a hat. <B>No one outside the Captain, the Costume Mistress and the witnessing Board Member know who the King and Queen really are.</B>  The other Court Members don't even know.  Preserving identity secrecy of the Royals is another old tradition dating back hundreds of years. </div> <div>      Themes are chosen by the Captain, who consults closely with the Founding Members and the Costume Mistress and Creative Director.  Themes can be chosen on virtually any subject: historical figures/events, Ozark topics, or legends/mythology, to name a few.  These and many other ideas can be linked with appropriate costumes, music and with a thematic core that forms the basis for the pageant, <B>called a Tableau, </B>that takes place within the context of the ball itself. </div> <div> <B>     The basic outline of the Mardi Gras Bal Masqué is:</B> A Cocktail Hour, where guests who are dressed in strictly formal attire, according to the oldest Mardi Gras traditions, arrive at the Basin Hotel Ballroom/Grand Salon, and turn in their invitations.   Guest participation is limited, making invitations a highly-coveted item!  Our guests are always invited to wear masks to add to the ambience and excitement of the evening.  During the cocktail hour, the members of the Court are tapped by the Founding Members, and quickly excuse themselves to retire to the Court Den. </div> <div>      As the guests file into the Ballroom and take their seats, the emcees direct the ushers to close the doors, another old tradition that enables only those privileged enough to be inside to view the <B>Tableau </B>that will soon unfold.  Anyone exiting the ballroom for any reason during the Tableau is not allowed to reenter.</div> <div>      Once the signal is given, the Tableau gets underway with the formal welcoming of all guests, and introduction of the emcees.  The <B>Captain's debut</B> comes next, followed by the entrance of the <B>Krazo Revelers</B>, who take their places at the feet of those guests who are seated around the dance floor.  The new <B>King Krazo</B> is introduced, fully costumed and masked, in white and gold, and he then waits for his new <B>Queen Eureka</B> to make her first promenade, also masked and costumed to hide her true identity. </div> <div>      Pairs of Dukes and Maids are introduced according to their character roles within the script, and these roles relate directly to the theme.  Costumes can reflect symbolism directly or indirectly, with use of color, special fabrics, feathers and nuances of accessories to convey the thematic image desired.</div> <div>      Then unmasking takes place, one Duke/Maid at a time, leaving the King and Queen for last.  At that time, the members finally learn who is really whom on the Court, along with the other guests.  Guessing and speculation are all part of the fun. The retiring King and Queen then come forward for a final promenade ending their reign as they invest <B>King Krazo</B> with his Royal Goblet and crown <B>Queen Eureka </B>with her diadem. </div> <div> <B>     All past Kings and Queens are then called out</B>, restoring their crowns to their heads only for a few moments, as they bow before the new Royals, and then the Captain leads the new Royals, the Courtiers, and all Past Royals in the <B>Grand Promenade, </B>a glittering spectacle of crystal rhinestones, sequins, glitter, embroidered capes, feathers and custom-made costumes, for everyone to behold. </div> <div>      After the <B>Grand Promenade</B>, the Royal party pauses at the back of the room, and the Captain signals the Krazo Revelers to begin throwing thousands of beads to all the guests, for the enjoyment and entertainment of the Royal Court. When the revelry ends, the King and Queen lead the entire assembly of Courtiers and guests to the Grand Salon, where the Royal Feast has been prepared for all. Professional photographers record memories for guests and members. Courtiers are happy to pose with guests, if asked. </div> <div>      Dancing begins almost immediately and lasts until 1:00 a.m. <I>(11:00p.m.) </I>The Royal Courtiers and the Captain return to the Court Den to remove their costumes and resume their formal attire for the balance of the evening. </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="second_line_jazz.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Second Line Jazz"><B>Next Page</B></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>