Band launch season is here.
Before scores of spectators recently at the Daphne Joseph-Hackett Theatre, Queen’s Park, Zulu International Inc. made its intentions known that it is one of the bands to watch.
It was the first band to reveal its Grand Kadooment costumes for the upcoming Crop Over Festival.
This year, the self-proclaimed “fun” band’s theme is Hidden In The Stars and each of its nine sections is titled: UWO (Unidentified Wukking Object), Supernova, Nebula, Milky Way, (Black Hole) SagiA, Comet, Aurora, Stargazers, and Apollo.
General ganager Aundrea Wharton said male revellers would lead three sections of the band for the first time, a deliberate effort to separate the sexes, based on their theme.
“The celestial objects that we were depicting for the females didn’t seem to fit with the males at all in terms of the nature of masculinity. So given that, we are studying celestial objects . . . we let the guys be the ones who would have been able to explore these phenomena – Apollo and Stargazers,” Wharton said.
The team of designers include lead designer David Dewer and Natalie Fonrose of Trinidad and Tobago and Kat Gittens and Janiece Springer of Barbados.
“We have made a real effort to give local designers an opportunity to showcase their talent.
“So we have given the opportunity to two Barbadians to produce for us this year and they have done a great job,” he said.
Grand Kadooment will be held on August 6 this year. (TG)