Louis Tribute to Harold Saldenah

LOVE love love the Tembu Warriors headpiece!!!

Sensational City of Gold frontline

Glory of Greece 
Fantasy in Jewels
Atlantis

Psychedelic Latin America 1969

Mexico 1519-1521

Pacific Paradise

Masquerade to Carnival

Crees of Canada

Saldenah's website is now updated with female costume prices ($155) and online registration.

Carib 101.com Carnival calendar launch

Allison C., Miss Carib 101

We went to the launch of the Carib 101 Carnival Calendar launch last night at Elite Banquet Hall. A nice venue in the west end of the city, which I appreciated, as it's close to us. The calendar is very beautiful and goes on sale June 1st, and covers the period September 2009 to August 2010. Wonderful job on the costumes Bryant, they are very pretty.

Shiva Narine CEO Shiva Narine Photography, Bryant Sinanan CEO Crazytrain Carnival, & Grant Browning Carib 101.com CEO with Miss Carib 101 Allison C.
Summer months

Winter months

Fall months
Spring months
Second runner up Verena C. and first runner up Leanne A. with Miss Carib 101 Allison C.

Winter month models were especially thanked because the day of the photo shoot was
-27 °! They, along with the fall models, were praised for their dedication & professionalism considering the elements they were in. One model even got frostbite.

I couldn’t agree with costume designer Bryant Sinanan more when he said everyone should get out & support mas, no matter what band. What’s important is visiting mas camps and seeing Caribana being created. This is how I’ve always felt, & I strongly echo his sentiments.

~Karabana~ now on CARIB101.COM

CARIB101.COM - Your International Gateway to Caribbean Lifestyle
I have been asked to do a regular feature for Carib101.com. The first feature you can find on the website is the Louis Salednah interview.

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All Spice launch

All Spice launched Safari on Saturday (& unfortunately we were away).
I like the first three costumes the best with their jeweled & fringed bras and appealing colour mixes.
Pacific Paradise & this costume look similar.

The headpieces are strong & big, which I like. The orange & white collar/backpack has a very theatrical look to it, not sure how functional it will be on the road as it currently is, the design looks awkward to wear.

Strong first showing for All Spice, & remember a bit of history, when Carnival Nationz debuted in 2005, they were #15, second to last in the parade, but took Band of the Year.

Going on a Safari?

I wish I was going to All Spice's Safari band launch, but we're headed to Vancouver this weekend, so sadly, we'll miss it! But I'm working on having a guest contributor photographer who is able to attend the launch & take pictures for you all.

So hopefully I hear back before 11:00 p.m. tonight & there will be a post for everyone to check out on Sunday...

More Saldenah sections - Xpats & Crave Mas

I like the peacock feathers in the Xpats Mexico headpiece, & the full frontline backpack, but my first reaction to the makeup is I'm not feeling it.

Crave Mas sections are up on their website, and I'm really excited about Fantasy in Jewels!!

Crave mas photos

Love all those jewels, incl. the strings going across the shoulder, it creates a such a pretty necklace look. I'm thinking now that's a collar I can wear! My concern is the headband style headpiece though. I've (briefly) worn that style before, & while very attractive, it just didn't stay on my head! No matter how many hair pins or extra velcro my friend Buublenut & I used on ours, it just didn't stay on. We need headpieces that will withstand jumping up, not to mention the wind, so I'm really hoping that this design can be changed.

The furry bra on Pacific Paradise is cute and the frontline peacock feathers on the headpiece look nice.

They have a lot of pricing options: Basic Female Costume is $150, to add a large headpiece is $70, to add a feather collar is $70, to add a large headpiece & feather collar is $120, to add feathers on the back of belt is $10, & Male Costume is $140.
I'm really feeling Saldenah costumes, yay!

An Interview with a Band Leader... Louis Saldenah

El Dorado, City of Gold (1968)

Capturing Band of the Year 15 times and recently second place in ’07 & ’08, Louis Saldenah Mas-K Club is presenting A Tribute to Harold Saldenah this Caribana 2K9.
Louis father Harold Saldenah was a legend in Trinidad Carnival, producing his band in the 1950’s-1970’s. He created many historical epics including his first Band of the Year win, Imperial Rome. Bands that best display the use of colour are awarded a Harold Saldenah Award. Due to his band growing larger, he was a pioneer of “section mas”, putting masqueraders into sections to represent the entire theme. Harold Saldenah immigrated to Canada in 1977 and brought his mas to Caribana.

Here is my interview with Louis Saldenah.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

► ~K~ : Louis, what are some of the themes we can expect for your presentation in tribute to your father?
L.S.: The sections are: El Dorado, City of Gold; Festival of the Tembu Warriors; Mexico 1519-1521; Fantasy in Jewels; Psychedelic Latin America; Glory of Greece; Masquerade to Carnival; Atlantis; Crees of Canada and Pacific Paradise.
► ~K~ : How do you decide on a presentation? Where do you get your inspiration from?
L.S.: I decided to pay a tribute to my father since he contributed greatly to Trinidad Carnival and I could not leave the Caribana area without paying respect to one of the great bandleaders, so that happens to be my father.

1957 - "The Glory That Was Greece"

►~K~ : Do your section designers get their materials and supplies locally, or from an international supplier?
L.S.: All our costumes are being built in the mas camp except one. I do not believe in getting ready-made costumes, for example China and India.
► ~K~ : How is the order of the bands chosen?
L.S.: The top eight bands draw in the position of the results of Band of the Year the previous year. For example: I placed second last year, I was called second to draw from 7 balls, 3rd place draw from 6 balls, etc.

► ~K~ : Security at Caribana has become a concern over the years (with people not in costumes entering the band/parade route). What are your thoughts on how to deal with this issue? How has your band had to adjust to this?
L.S.: Last year was the first time in years that we went 8 and it was a disaster. I have told the City and the festival management team over the years that if they can't control the crowd, lets cancel the costume part and have one big blocko. I have spoken to the Deputy Chief of Police a few weeks ago advising him of the serious problem we have with spectators coming into the bands and if the problem isn’t corrected, the parade will die a slow death. We have to have police on the route and higher fences.
► ~K~ : Have there been any changes to your band? Or is there anything you would like to let your masqueraders know?
L.S.: As we go along, we are trying to correct mistakes we made in the previous year and our number one goal is making each masquerader fell appreciated in choosing our band because without them we would not have had the success over the years. We hired security last year and we will continue to do so in position number 2.
► ~K~ : For those who’ve never played mas, what kind of experience can they expect playing with Louis Saldenah Mas-K Club?
L.S.: Our band over the years is noted as a family band, the masquraders come first, classy costumes, beautiful people to be with on that day and are totally taken care of on the road Caribana day.

25th Anniversary, 2005

► ~K~ : How has Caribana evolved for you, and what kind of future do you envision for Caribana?
L.S.: Caribana has changed over the years, the young people have forced designers to design around two pieces which has limited us from designing more beautiful costumes, & we are basically forced to comply otherwise they are not going to participate. We have done our part in Caribana and our record speaks for itself. 15 times Band of the Year, 10 seconds and 2 thirds, and I will leave it to the next generation to make the changes. Caribana is in good hands, we have about seven bandleaders in the parade who came from my band and are doing quite well. I would like to see the parade moved to a better location and where we can end in a park, so every one can wine down (so to speak). All my three sons are involved in the band so the Saldenah name will continue in mas and hopefully when I am long gone they will pay a tribute to me.

Louis Saldenah Mas-K Club band launch is on May 30th.

The Ganges Meets the Nile - Callaloo

We unfortunately couldn't make it to Callaloo's band launch on Saturday, as we were tied up at the Revellers launch. About that, I wonder why there are no bands launching this upcoming weekend, but last weekend & on the 23rd, there are several? I'm not sure why next weekend is dead, I think most people don't go away for the Victoria Day long weekend.
Anyway.
Here's a look at some of their costumes for their theme The Ganges Meets the Nile, which had a lot of design potential.

The above gold costume is the one I like, especially the huge white cat headpiece. I'd like it better with a bikini bottom instead of boy shorts though. Speaking of that, where some bands have gone the skimpy route, Callaloo is the band with coverage. I like the below colour mix of purple & blue, particularly in the headpiece. As often is the case with this band, they've produced some strong headpieces and mens' costumes this year.

Callaloo is offerering their costumes for $99 again as an early bird special when you email them or if you joined their facebook group before the launch.