Absolutely love the page opener with the montage of moving photos and the jazz playing! Veeerrry classy! I am the partner who accompanied Mr. Bobkoff to the Wild Magnolias blowout at Harro Ballroom. Being Native American myself, I felt it was an excellent opportunity for me to finally see the "Mardi Gras" Indians. I knew it would be a mix of influences, but it proved to be pure theater, as the author so expertly describes.This phantasmagoria is an excellent example of a kind of intercontinental cultural diaspora: when displaced peoples loose the homeland moorings, adaptability attaches itself to survival. On the way out, the lead "Spy Boy" autographed the CD I bought while I commented admiringly on the beadwork on his "outfit". Glancing behind him, however, I saw his feathered headdress lying unceremoniously on the floor. A Native American dancer would never let those feathers touch the floor. So much for authenticity. In terms of survival, however, perhaps he was the one who was admiring us, by way of imitation, after all. The "good time" became a sobering insight.
Rosalie Jones
read Ned Bobkoff's article