The Xclamation Mas Troupe is a newly formed organization under the umbrella of the Catholic Church here in Antigua and an extended mas troupe from the Vitus Mas Troupe. Our main aim is to keep the traditional aspect of mas flying high and to exhibit moral and merry behaviour through creativity & culture in our annual summer festival and beyond.
Last year we portrayed our first presentation "Amethyst Glory" which was an effort to highlight the characteristics of the February birthstone. We registered to compete in two categories and managed to cop prizes for 2013 Carnival Princess and 2nd Runner up for Small Band of the Year 2013.
This year we portrayed "Seasons of the Year" which featured four lovely sections of Spring Blossom, Summer Spice, Autumn Inspiration and Winter Wonderland. These sections highlight the beauty, splendour and attributes of the four climatic features and nature on a whole. We registered to compete in two categories and managed to cop the winning prizes for 2014 Small Band of the Year and Topical Fantasy for Best Theme Portrayal and 1st Runner up in the 2014 Carnival Prince Competition.
Our style of attire is conservative with a touch of fanciness and symbolism in our costume accessories. We do believe that as a small band we can still open the eyes of people with our costumes and also being as effective as the bigger bands out there that have more players through impact and creativity. In addition, we also feature our most treasured and dynamic cultural characters in our troupe which are stilt-walkers better known as "Mockojumbies" or "Jumpa ben". These characters are the highlight of any occasion and bring life to the appearance of the festival.
Although we have been criticized by some individuals for the church's involvement in carnival, we truly believe it is important that the church should have a say in this matter from a cultural standpoint in terms of behavioural pattern and the purpose of celebrating carnival. Realistically, our annual summer festival is supposed to be a cultural based event which is a derivation of our emancipation from slavery and to express creativity and moral behaviour in our celebrations.
It is our duty to evangelize through culture and creativity and cater to individuals of all ages who would appreciate the love of what we are trying to achieve and we will continue to maintain that particular standard and strive for excellence in whatever we do.
After all, Carnival is there for everyone to enjoy, but it is how we make it which determines the outlook of it in the eyes of society.