Ready to fly

For Crop-Over this year, revellers playing mas’ with the DragonFly Mass Band will be telling stories.

The band, a product of Unique Productions Worldwide Ltd., was launched on Sunday at the Cockspur Visitors’ Centre in Brighton and patrons got a chance to see the costumes (male and female) in the three sections of Mythology — We telling stories which were inspired by characters from Greek, Egyptian and Chinese mythology.

“Myths of one kind or another have touched virtually every culture in existence, including our own right here in Barbados. Myths have been, and in many cultures continue to be, used to explain how the world came to be.

“As sacred narratives they have passed from generation to generation and although separate cultures imbue them with different themes and characteristics, there are enough similarities to suggest that human beings are much more alike than we may seem on the surface. DragonFly Mass band embraces the power of Crop-Over to unite people and regard this ‘togetherness’ as a major tenet in the DFM philosophy,” the band’s leaders said.

The costumes were interpreted from drawings and other depictions of the clothing worn by the gods and goddesses in ancient Greece, Egypt and China and the samples were designed and made by the DragonFly Mass creative design team led by Rodney Powers and including Barbadian designers Kesia Estwick and Brandi Estwick, as well as Chandy Lewis of Antigua.

The Greek Mythology section features the male costume which was inspired by Ares, the Olympian god of war and defence and the figure behind all kinds of violence and Medusa, known for her “hair” of living, venomous snakes and a look that turned mortal men into stone. The name which translates as guardian or protectress was the inspiration behind the female costume.

Horus and Hathor, the Goddess of beauty, love, women, the sky, fertility, music and dance are the names of the Egyptian costumes and in the Chinese Mythology section the male costumes were inspired by Sun Wu-Kong (also known as the Monkey King) and the female costume is based on Hsi Wang Mu, the “Queen Mother of the West”, who was the highest female goddess in the pantheon of the Taoist religion.

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