Haitian Carnival

This is a picture of some haitians dancing in the carnival dressed as africans and some regular people that live there.  A carnival in Haiti is a very unforgettable experience where people from the islands and Diaspora join to marvel at this grand performance. The location varies. It may take place at Jacmel, Port-Au-Prince, or any other place in Haiti. One thing that always stays the same is the high energy, excitement, singing, and dancing . It is said that the Carnival in haiti begins at a very holy time in the year.  It is a time where they repent and remain abstinent. At this time period many believers in Christ from everywhere in the world come to pray and fully in a submerge themselves with time of prayer and asking God for forgiveness. Besides the many christians coming many people from all over visit to watch this spectacular show.  The music is so enticing you cant help but dance and "try" to sing along.



In this video its basically one of the many carnivals really highlighting this one singer called Michel Martely nicknamed "Sweet Mickey". Its like a mini concert. The singer , who sings live, is on the stand while a huge amount of people surround him and sing along. Here he is singing classics and hits he has produced. By the by did you notice the pink bandana's on the heads of people? That's his signature color.

In his picture we have a more traditional dance going on. Here the dancers are doing a more traditional  piece rather than all the modern stuff they do in many of the Carnivals or Kanavals they have.

History and where it all came from a.k.a the boring part:

Carnival orginated from Rome back in the day to the medieval European countries. The history behind this shows how each carnival demonstrated a desire to express the culture with arts and some what dramatic gestures.  It began as a "festive revelry" (textbook pg. 136) but then turned into a more intricate theatrical performance. Amongst the 18th century, the europeans carried on with their masquerade type celebrations, but mostly as private get togethers.  When Romans released their slaves they were allowed to participate in the carnival but only if the would not do anything that would conflict with christian beliefs. It wasn't long till African influence began to take a hold on parade. For example the way they paraded throughtout different area's is now part of the carnival experience. Some other things like masks, bold costumes, drums, and dance are another thing you can see in present carnivals today.




Experience/Actually being there

From experience at these festivities you will usually get pushed and shoved. Everyone is dancing and jumping and many times the area you are in doesn't allow you to move as much. Its really fun but many times fights break out and there can be violence.It is common that you will see people having sex all over. Its kind of like a big orgi. Its not a good look for the many minors , like me, that attend. Also when there is a live perfomer and they are set up in the middle everyone wants to get close to the live band/ artist so that's where all the shoving and pushing comes into play. Just like how in a concert people want to get close to the artist performing the same goes for this type of carnival.


OH I'M HAITIAN :)
-I hope you enjoyyed it.







                                                 Work Cited

"Haiti Carnival, Carnival in Haiti." World Travel. Web. 30 Sept. 2010. http://travel.mapsofworld.com/haiti/carnival-in-haiti.html.

Felner, Mira, and Claudia Orenstein. The World of Theatre: Tradition and Innovation. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2006. Print.

Web. 30 Sept. 2010. <http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/345.html>.