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NEWORLEANS

[PAGE 38] Queen Ya (Barbara Gordon), Wild Magnolias [RIGHT] Gang Flag DooWee Robair, Hard Head Hunters [BOTTOM LEFT] Little Chief Bam (Kendell Cook, Jr.), Creole Wild West

[BOTTOM RIGHT] Big Chief Troy Young, Algiers Warriors

T he Carnival season, in all its over-the-top glory, has more than its share of impressive spectacles. Block-long Super Krewe floats lit by pulsing neon. Flambeaux carriers sweeping kerosene fire under live oak canopies.The Richter-scale blast of St.Augustine High School’s Purple Knight Band, the famed Marching 100. The costumed inventiveness and seemingly infinite variety of the boozy Society of St. Anne procession.

But none of these experiences are nearly as flat-out overwhelming as witnessing masking Black Indians on the streets Mardi Gras Day. The thundering power of drumbeats and the throaty chorus of chants. Technicolor ostrich plumes jumping with every step. Glittering rhinestones catching the sun. Spectators crowding in to watch the intense, choreographed confrontations punctuated by the dance, and the slow reveals of intricately beaded patches.

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