A Grenada Shortknee in Barbados Kadooment

Carnival should never pass by without some kind of masquerade, and Barbados' Kadooment Day, the culmination of its Cropover festival, is their main mas day.  I'm not a player per se, and I especially avoid the bikini and bead extravaganzas that now pass for mas.  Last year we made a stand with Am-Bush but with Baby V on the way, this year was more subdued...

The Kadooment parade is on the first Monday in August, and starts at about 8 am. Varia thought we could could go as tourists, and then on Monday morning, we remembered my Shortknee costume, graciously donated by Hambone, Captain of the Grand Roy Shortknee band, last year when I was in Grenada (read about that here).

A full-on Shortknee costume is not for the fainthearted.  Yards and yards of cloth, a face mask and head cover make it a hot affair.  As I went in search of the pieces, Varia suggested I only wear part of it, but for me that was never an option - it seemed that for this traditional costume, it was all or nothing.  Not to say that I wasn't somehow wondering how a Shortknee might fare in the Kadooment crush...

So I persevered, with little time to plan.  My blog entry from last year with the pictures of Hambone in his costume were carefully studied - it needed to be as authentic as possible.  An ageing towel was converted to headgear; a torn bit of tunic was quickly mended with needle and thread; the elastic waist, leg and sleeve ends were loosened (Hambone was a lot more skinny than me); a container of baby powder was 'borrowed' from a gift from Baby V's shower. I fell short in two areas - I had no white sneakers, and Varia drew the line on the tights (and I couldn't find the 2 pairs Hambone had given to me).

So that's us above, three tourists and a Shortknee from Grenada in Barbados Kadooment. We parked halfway along the route and Lili, I and Morgane (a Martiniquan exchange student who was staying with us) walked the mile or so back to the judging point, leaving Varia at base.  Whenever we encountered a band, we made the most of the music; Shortknee don't chip or wine; they run, stamping their feet to make the ankle bells jingle and they chant. 

I did my best, conscious of some code to respect the costume and to play it right.  The costume is entirely anonymous, so that even people who knew me well only recognised me because of Lili's presence.  I did mini performances for the crowds at the main intersections, stamping and prancing on one leg, baby powder flying into the air from the container in my hand.  Children were fascinated by the sight, many of the younger ones shrinking back in fear at the sight of the mask; one mother invited me to come frighten her son, a toddler, "come take this one" she shouted, I declined.

Several persons asked about the costume, Barbados doesn't have traditional mas, and a fully masked individual was a unique sight to many.  Several women (and some very young girls) invited me to 'go dung'; my explanation that Shortknee didn't wine down left most unimpressed.

As it is these days, there were hundreds of cameras.  Here we are above, captured by a photographer from Barbados' main newspaper, the Nation. When we eventually joined Varia back at base at the Waddada bar in Bank Hall, I disrobed and put the costume away.  A shortknee should never be seen just hanging around...I think Hambone would have approved.