Posts tagged Mardi Gras in New Orleans
Hail MUSES, Mardi Gras Throw Innovator
0Throw innovation is only one of the games of Muses, the largest and baddest of all the woman’s krewes. In their prime in the mid 1980s, Shangri La in Chalmette was a mighty all-female krewe, with over 1,000 members. However, their membership declined since Katrina, and chose not to parade in 2009.
Muses began parading as an all-female krewe in 2001. Staci Rosenberg is founder and captain of Muses. In just eight short years, Muses is at the absolute top of the New Orleans krewes in terms of creativity and numbers of throws. No other krewe comes close to matching the depth and breadth of their throws. They also are one of the largest krewes in terms of membership, with 1,500 members.
Muse’s personalized throws from last year, 2008 (incomplete list): oversized logo powder puff, working lava lamp key chain, Muse comic book ( “SuperMuse”), full size decorated woman’s shoes, shoe medallion bracelets, roller skate medallions, Muses LED-Fan, Muses glitter stick-on fashion accessory, lighted shoe medallions, Muses Night Fever (parade theme), lighted medallion, plastic crystal lighted heart medallion, soft spear, headband, disco ball medallion, song spoofs and lyrics booklet, regular logo beads, and more. Here’s a link to a really cool U-Tube video we shot of a 2009 Muses LED-FAN throw Muses LED-Fan
No other krewe comes close to the number and variety of personalized throws that Muses throws. I’ve seen the short published list of new throws for 2009, and I’m sure it is very incomplete. Muses do not publish their full list before the parade.
2009 Krewe du Vieux rolls
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My Float: #15, 2009 KdV sub Krewe of Underwear float
February 7, 2009- Krewe du Vieux, the only French Quarter-Marigny mule driven Mardi Gras parade, rolled around 7:00 pm. This was my first year associated with KdV. It’s the most ribald parade also, heavy on the political satire. 17 floats with 19 New Orleans Brass Bands.
I do have a history with KdV’s predecessor, the Krewe of Clones. The Contemporary Arts Center started Clones in late 70s. We learned that the person managing the parade took his partying seriously and by the time the last floats joined in the parade, he wasn’t in the best shape to conduct his duties. We would paint our old VW bus into a giraffe or elephant, and drive right into the parade. We did this for several years.
I also had my own float in Tucks for three years during the time that Tucks allowed independent floats for a price. I would rent a stakebed truck and we’d decorate this. Here’s a picture of one of my three floats. I think this is the first one. The fee was around $500.00 each year. 25 of my friends from around the country would come down and ride with my family and neighborhood kids.
My friend Jack got me involved with KdV a couple of weeks ago, when he mentioned that the sub-krewe he marched with, Krewe of Underwear, needed a couple of additional escorts. Escorts are the Krewe’s security force, maintaining order on the parade route. I signed up through the Krewe’s Escort Manager, Jen. It’s a volunteer position with heavy perks. In my estimation, well worth the effort.