LATEST CARNIVAL 2015

Monday, December 30, 2013

unseen carnival photos st maarten carnival 2014 will be a blast










I'm doing end a year inventory. Lotsa videos and photos I'm just discovering have not been posted. When I get a better laptop and better internet I'll post everything, until then...I'll just tease.

Friday, December 27, 2013

DUTCH ST MAARTEN CARNIVAL GRAND PARADE AND 2ND DAY PARADE ARE TO SEPARATE THINGS!!! photos judith roumou











During the Grand Parade for Dutch St Maarten carnival, you'll see choreography, elaborate costumes, and the musicians stay decent. 2nd day parade now, is a completely different story. The winners have already been called so the girls, the troupes and the bands can relax. Second day parade means the competition is over, now they can have fun. In the photos above The Survivor dancers already won best troup 2012, the day before, so for second day, they are just celebrating. I use a lotta second day parade to cut my videos, and there's controversy because people believe it's the main parade, and its not.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

FRENCH ST MARTIN CARNIVAL VS. DUTCH ST MAARTEN CARNIVAL video nokturna9/judithroumou

The best thing about St Maarten, is that we have almost two of everything. The best part of that is two CARNIVALS, Jouverts, 2nd day etc. Well why attend both St Martin and St Maarten carnival? Because they are completely different and unique. The french government does not really support their carnival, so there is always a battle to get ready, but they always do fantastic. The Dutch government does fund some of carnival, but there is a lot of nepotism, cronyism, corruption and disorganization in Dutch Carnival.
In Dutch Carnival, as you can see by my videos...everything goes!!! They get wild, and bruck out in style. They now have choreography, but St Maarten is know for the bachanal on Jouvert and 2nd day parade. 5 million worldwide viewers cannot be wrong. Dutch St Maarten carnival is more than about being entertaining, its about being provocative. Most of the stuff is done tongue-in-cheek but not everyone gets it. St Martin carnival is all about culture, and ORGANIZATION. The head Police told the organizers during Carnival 2012, he said "I don't care what time you start, you're done by 6pm!" The organizers had to hit the streets. You cannot just show up when you want to for St Martin Carnival. And they dance orderly down the streets, nothing to outrageous. When they get to Main Street by the Merie, they break into CHOREOGRAPHY! And I love it. Above is a basic routine during 2011 St Martin Carnival. When you watch the 2012 videos, the choreography was bigger, longer, splashier. I didn't attend this year, because there was too much going on. I will in 2014. Enjoy the videos, and the behind the scenes commentary. 

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

ST MAARTEN CARNIVAL HEAD DANCES ETC all video judith roumou

one of the most outrageous dances during carnival is when the ladies start dancing on their heads. I believe that came from the Jamaican Dancehall scene. There are a lot of Jamaicans here, and in St Maarten, Jamaican music is very popular and their artist and dancers have a lot of influence not ust in St Maarten but around the Caribbean. Although the Jamaicans might be the originators, in St Maarten you will the the innovators. Girls lined up side by side doing their own versions of Heap Top dances. This video shows only a little, but I will post the videos where the girls are competing in the streets during carnival

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

CARNIVAL 2014 PHOTOS AND VIDEOS .......IN 3...2.....1

Usually the carnival videos etc are either run through the website, the wordpress.com blog, Youtube and other social sites. This year will be a bit different...why? Because I still have video from 2012 and 2013 that has to be processed. As you can see the camera quality has improved over the years, but improved quality means, higher resolution. And higher resolution means more upload time. Everyone knows that in Strange Maarten the internet and telephone service resides somewhere in the twilight (Sint Maarten doesn't REALLY exist on the internet. :) So I'm working on a more efficient system. Enjoy the Carnival 2014 photos and videos....we always make it interesting.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

WHEN YOU MAKE THAT RIGHT TURN AT GRAND MARCHE ROUNDABOUT photos judith roumou







St Maarten adventures is not just about scuba diving and snorkeling. Many who visit St Maarten, like to rent a scooter, all terrain drive or other mode of transportation to get around the island. When venturing in unknown territory, you might get lost :) . Many visitors take a right turn at the Grand Marche Roundabout believing that they're headed to the airport, Marigot or Maho...........They end up in St Peters/South Reward, the school district, surrounded by thousands of students in uniform waiting for the school buses to get home. The students might give you the correct directions to get to your true destination, but they're also known for their pranks, so they just might send you through Marigothill (dead end) as a joke. So always ask an adult directions, to get to your destination safely.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

SUNDAY MORNING IN ST MAARTEN, ST PETERS, EMILIO WILSON BUSHROAD, PHILIPSBURG



















The best time to get the best photos, is to get up early on a nice day, and most days are nice in St Maarten, then take a stroll with the camera. I began at around eight in the morning in St Peters. Got photos, everyone was on their way to church. I walked down LB Scott Road, and got the blooms along the roadside, and inside some yards. At Emilio Wilson there was a church setting up a Barbeque and picnic. Continued to the ballpark where the Cayhill Tigers were practicing, they've been together over 30 years. Went past the Roundabout at Grand Marche, got some more wild plants. The St Lucians were celebrating on Bushroad, by celebration palace, I'm part Lucian, so I hung around getting pictures. Walk to my cousin Bushman's Ital Shak on Bushroad. They're having a tribute to Haile Selassie event, so I get the data, and a homemade Ginger Beer. I was supposed to head to Great Bay, but I head down Backstreet, cross over to Main street. Then two pals on a mission pick me up. We headed to Honky Tonk on the Boardwalk. Chilled on the beach listening to music, talking yang. Got an unbelievable burger................headed back home.