Survivors take Troupe and Individual Titles
PHILIPSBURG — It was a combination of the uses of colors with huge doses of creativity that enabled the Survivors Productions who paraded under the theme ‘Simply Survivors’ to capture the awards for best troupe and best individual piece when the curtains went down on the 2018 Junior Carnival parade yesterday.
Ironically, the Survivors were not only the best troupe, they were also the biggest, with a 135 participants divided into two sections. The SXM Zulu Tribe face painting done by Rassheb Illis added the midas touch to the elaborate outfits they wore and the choreography was on point.
Janice Philips, a veteran costume designer is no stranger to winning over the years, exhausted but happy after her most recent win she said. “I feel great and thankful, as much as we like to say, this is for fun. But as a troupe leader, I know also it’s a competition and my team worked hard towards both of them,” Philips noted.
According to Philips, her winning the troupe title was a result of the collaboration with the National Institute of Arts (NIA) and another dance school from the French side of the island whose dance teachers did an excellent job.
The shortened parade which started in the vicinity of the LB Scot Sports Auditorium and ended outside the Festival Village after turning back at the Freedom Fighters round-about did not fail to attract lots of attention.
Feathers, the most common aspect of any carnival could not be missed, some pieces were designed to look like butterflies and some like bees. What they had in common was that they were vibrant and beautiful under the theme Tropical.
The all-inclusive pre-teens troupe ‘Aquatica’ Rise above the waters were in two sections, Nirvelli (kids) and Nerida (pre-teens) sponsored by UTS. The ‘Talk Data To me’ t-shirts worn by the volunteers were self explanatory.
It was rather unusual that the National Bird, the Pelican was not depicted in any of the outfits. However the uses flowers adorned the pieces the kids wore in the MO Fantasy Troupe. The young participants also felt as if they too were in touch with nature attired in a variety of elaborate looking costumes.
More photos by Milton Pieters can be found online on our Facebook Page by clicking on this link…
Visit https://www.facebook.com/StMaartenNewsOnline for more photos and videos by Milton Pieters of the children’s Junior Parade held on Sunday, April 15th, 2018.
