The Brooklyn-based Mas Productions Unlimited will be causing “Fusion” this Labor Day, according to producer and designer Wesley Millington.
“Fusion is based on the blending and use of colors to create costumes,” Vincentian-born Millington told Caribbean Life, stating that the production comprises four sections with 20 masqueraders in each. “We’re hoping to fill up all sections.”
The sections are: “Azure Fusion,” “Verdent Fusion,” “Fuschia Fusion” and “Heat Fusion.”
Millington said the production is “a melting pot of masqueraders” from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and “various parts of the US.”
“We are not locked in to one nationality,” he said.
Bedford-Stuyvesant resident Gail Mathis, who hails from Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago, said her three grand-children will be playing mas again this year with Mas Productions, as well as her niece, Aalayah Richardson, 12.
Mathis’s grand-children are: John Mathis, 8; Ethan Mathis, 11; and Aubrie Pinder, 9.
Aalayah will portray “Heat Fusion;” John will play “Azure Fusion;” Ethan will display “Verdent Fusion;” and Aubrie will exhibit “Fuschia Fusion.”
Ms. Mathis, who was introduced to Mas Productions, a few years ago, by the band’s Vincentian-born seamstress Pamela Browne, said: “It’s a cultural thing.
“I’m trying to teach them [her grand-children and niece] what I grew up with,” she said. “If we don’t teach our kids/grand-kids, we’re going to lose what our forefathers taught us, and give up something for future generations to look forward to.”
Ethan said he’s looking forward to repeat last year’s performance: “To enjoy myself again and dance to soca music.”
The others shared similar views.
Aalayah said she “will try to dance to soca music”; and Aubrie said, while having fun, she will ensure that “everything [costumes] does not fall off.”
Millington said all members of the group are involved in the preparation of costumes and that one member, who is a DJ, will play soca vibes to swaying masqueraders.
“A loyal membership, committed to ensuring the survival of the organization, has kept us going,” he said, stating that Mas Productions Unlimited was formed in 1992, with the first production the following year.
He said the band was formed “out of a need to restore a Vincentian presence in the carnival in NYC.”
“Much more support of all kinds is necessary to ensure the survival of this carnival,” Millington, however, said. “We have had varying degrees of success over the years. However, dwindling support, both financially and participants, has resulted in us being limited to just kiddies carnival.”
Nonetheless, by annual productions, he hopes to continually expose the next generation to Caribbean culture.
On Labor Day, Millington assured that both masqueraders and parents will enjoy the carnival.
The mas camp is located at 1504 Remsen Ave., Brooklyn, NY, 11236. Millington can be reached at (718) 759-7766.
