Cajun Mardi Gras Masks
Mardi Gras is a festival of feasting, dancing, and enjoyment of life. It is a time when the community gathers together and celebrates in merriment. Mardi Gras is the last day before Ash Wednesday. It is celebrated because it is the last day to really feast before Lent. Lent is a forty-day fast from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday that Christian cultures observe. Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday," is the time to eat lavishly before the commencement of Lent. The day-long celebration, or "run" as it is called, is something that the entire Cajun culture gets involved in. Contrary to popular belief, the real Mardi Gras does not take place in New Orleans with a huge parade and everyone watching and of course, extravagant parties. In the New Orleans celebration the main difference is the size. The audience gets up to a hundred thousand people just to watch a parade. In Cajun Mardi Gras, the parade bigger and comes to the audience. This means that the parade goes from house to house giving each family a private show. Made up of beggars and game players, the Mardi Gras, as they are called individually, put on a lively party for their audience. Also, the central theme of the New Orleans show is a parade
through the middle of the city whereas the central theme of the Cajun carnival is house visits. Basically, in New Orleans, the spectators visit the Mardi Gras, but with the Cajun the Mardi Gras come to the spectators. The wearers then proceed to play roles as they go about the run. They can be outlaws, beggars, thieves, fools and sauvages (Indians). They are sauvages because they invade the houses and go wild. There is a real sense of mischief involved with the Mardi Gras. There are differences in the dress as well. In New Orleans there are some common colors: purple, green and gold. They represent the liturgical banners used by the Catholic Church to mark the Lent season. The colors are draped all over the costumes, balloons, streamers and masks. In terms of masks, the New Orleans Mardi Gras uses a half-face mask. In the Cajun Mardi Gras, all of these aspects are different. The colors are vastly less conspicuous. They also have body suits to hide the gender of the Mardi Gras. They match along with the masks. And the masks are far different. The Cajuns use a full-face screen-wire mask. It is the same principle as a screen window. From the inside, one can see outside but those on the outside cannot clearly see inside. J.B. LeBlue was born in 1959 and began running when he was ten. He was also the wagon driver and maskmaker. He believes that screen masks are the only kind for Mardi gras. His daughters make up various designs to which he decorates the mask. He makes them really fast in sort of an assembly line method. He uses a lighter screen because it is easier to shape. He is then able to make more facial details. He also keeps some mouths open so the wearer can eat and drink. It is called t
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1171
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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