PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Just as the heart was groaning under the weight of yet another foreign franchise coming to serve us coffee, in floats Ras Nijinsky to turn the imperial order upside down before sending it forth, unrecognizable to itself in ras and drag.
This Minshall Ras Mas is, indeed, a high Mas, a real Mas – a Carnival maestro making new Mas with old European masters.
When it emerged on stage last Thursday night, the marvel of The Dying Swan – Ras Nijinsky in Drag, did what Peter Minshall does best. It cut the clutter, silenced the noise, changed the rhythm, re-contoured the imagination and posed the question: What is Mas?
None of these being particularly relevant for the title, the field of quite splendid costumes remains open for the King of Carnival competition and may the best masquerader win.
But when the Carnival is over and the recession begins to bite, this Ras Mas of elegant pathos and delicate beauty created by Carnival’s ever-innovating energy, might hold the key to safe passage.