A - Z of Carnival Speak
Ash Wednesday – The first day of lent
Band – A collective of people who come together and take to the streets for carnival.
Belaire of Bele – A drum dance invented by slaves and performed by white planters at carnival time.
Bhamboulas – A drum based dance.
Bhangra – An Indian farmer’s dance used in celebration of Harvest.
Calinda – A stick dance of West Africa traditionally performed by male dancers who would have originally been slaves.
Calypso – Is said to derive from the West African Hausa word, Kaiso, a word similar to ‘bravo’, which is shouted in Calypso tents.
Canbuolay – French for burning of the sugar canes, canes brulees, an act traditionally carried out at Carnival time.
Carnival – Coming from the Latin ‘ Carne Vale’ – farewell to meat before the fast of lent.
Dame Lorraine – A well-known character of Carnival. The Dame is parody of a large French planter woman with exaggerated breast and backside who would wander through the crowd eyeing up potential husbands.
Devil Bands – Appearing on J’ouvert morning these characters allowed the slaves an opportunity to become that which they had been deemed to be by their masters. Sometimes appearing with chains and padlocks round their legs these characters mocked polite society after years of oppression.
Dimanche Gras – The Sunday immediately preceding Carnival.
Float – A decorated vehicle that takes part in the procession.
Jab Jabs – Devils akin to court jesters who playfully crack their whips on the floor as part of their mas.
Jab Molassi – Devil workers who coated themselves in molasses and threatened to rub against anybody who did not give them money. Their costumes had pointed tails and in true devil-like fashion they carried three pronged spears.
Jonkonou – Scared and secular celebration held during Christmas in Jamaica, St Kitts – Nevis and Bahamas.
J’ouvert - This term comes from the French Jour ouvert – opening of the day – and is the first act when Carnival takes to the Streets.
Jump up – A Caribbean term ‘ jump up in a band’ meaning to dance.
Kaiso – The original term for Calypso.
The King of Carnival - There is always a prize given to the best costume and its wearer who then becomes the King of Carnival.
Mas - Coming from the French word ‘masquerade’ a word used for all traditions surrounding costume making and wearing. A dominant carnival art form.
Midnight Robber – A storyteller who wanders the streets in a caped costume delivering bombastic speeches and attempting to relive the audience of their spare change.
Negro Jardin - The garden boy who worked on the home of the plantation owners became a mas character.
Queen of Carnival – Traditionally there is always a prize given to the best costume and its wearer who then becomes the Queen of Carnival.
Samba – An Afro-Brazilian rhythm originating in Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of the 20th century.
Soca – An offspring of traditional calypso. It is a fusion of calypso and Indian music rhythms. It means “soul of calypso”.
Sound System – A big stack of speakers that you take on the road.
Wild Indians – Based on the dress of the Native American Indians and original people of the Caribbean.
Z - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz for a very big sleep when it is all over.
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