August 28, 2008 — vol. 44, no 3
Carnival never stops for costume designer Duncan
D’Midas International decorator Rodney Duncan makes last-minute adjustments to the feathers on a costume worn by Julanae St. Forte as she prepares to compete in the Kiddie Carnival at Franklin Park’s White Stadium. Duncan has worked full-time for D’Midas since he was 20, decorating costumes for scores of the group’s dancers. (Yawu Miller photo)
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| (From left): Carnival costume decorator Rodney Duncan and wire bender Pankey Abdul stand by after putting the finishing touches on a costume worn by Glen Foreman for D’Midas International’s entry into this year’s Boston Caribbean Carnival, entitled “Mama Dis is Mas.” (Yawu Miller photo) |
Grove Hall was awash in color last Saturday as more than 1,000 carnival dancers made their way to Franklin Park for Boston’s 35th annual Caribbean Carnival.
The dancers dominated the day, costumed in African, American Indian and Roman-themed creations of wire, fabric, paint, rhinestones, sequins and brightly colored feathers. Some of the creations required many months of labor.
But not those made by Rodney Duncan, designer for D’Midas International, the Trinidad-based powerhouse of Carnival “mases,” or bands.
“I could do five of these costumes in a day,” said Duncan, who arrived in Boston a week before the Boston carnival to make costumes for D’Midas. “There are people who take six or eight months to make a costume. We don’t. If you take that long, you might as well put it in a museum.”
Officially, Duncan lives in Sour, Trinidad. But he spends much of the year in the island’s principal city, Port of Spain, eating, sleeping and working in D’Midas’s Kitchener Street yard.
“We live in the mas camp — all of us,” said Duncan.
Trinidad is the world capital of carnival and D’Midas is a powerhouse among the costume bands, regularly winning competitions for best outfits. The man behind the winning designs is Duncan’s uncle and mentor, Stephen Barrett.
When he was 15, Duncan approached his uncle and asked to learn the craft of decorating costumes. Since that first day, Duncan has been an integral part of D’Midas.
“The first day I went out there, I learned it,” he said. “This is something that’s in your blood.”
Duncan has worked full-time for D’Midas since he was 20. He decorates costumes for the scores of dancers who compete in Port of Spain’s Carnival, the traditional pre-Lenten celebration in which all of Trinidad’s mas (short for masquerade) bands compete for best dancers and costumes.
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