Last year, award-winning designer Kevin Small intended to bow out of the mas business.
However, his family convinced him to stick around and take Fifth Element Mas back on the road for Junior Kadooment and Grand Kadooment this Crop Over.
Although the band is back for another year, it’s now being managed by his sister and bandleader Jalisa Broome, while Small handles the creative and design elements.
The Weekend Buzz visited the band house at Grazettes, St Michael, where they were at work on the production process.
“The joy that [Fifth Element Mas] brings to my family inspired me. My brother created his own legacy and we don’t want to see it just die and go away. So we decided to bring the band this year,” Broome said.
Small announced that he was walking away from producing the band in July 2024 during Junior Kadooment.
At that time, he did not go into details about why he would be exiting.
“I am satisfied with the presentation and I wanted to go out with a bang, and I think I’ve given it my best, and it’s time to move on to the next chapter of my life,” Small said at the National Botanical Gardens last year.
A few months after making those comments he recalled that his family made attempts to change his mind.
“I had a number of conversations with my family and they were speaking about the legacy and being able to carry that on . . . I gave in and said let’s try a different management structure and give it another shot.
“The conversation happened late last year. . . but when the registration process for the bands and the seriousness began, I gave in.
“I took my sister to a couple of the meetings so she could see that side for herself. That was a side she did not normally see, but she made that final decision,” he said.
He added: “It is a legacy, as Jalisa said. It’s something that I love. My decision last year was not any way of me saying I was not involved or interested because it’s been an 18-year love that I don’t think will die anytime soon,” he said.
The loyal Fifth Element masqueraders also contributed to his change of heart.
“We have quite a number of revellers, both juniors and adults, who sent voice notes or saw me on the road and asked, ‘What’s going to happen? What is my child going to do?’
“That too was encouragement for my sister and I to decide we can’t just leave them hanging,” he said.
Small has captured the coveted Festival Designer title three times.
Last year, Fifth Element Mas also copped the Small Band Of The Year (Heritage) during Grand Kadooment.
Fifth Element’s theme for Junior Kadooment is Culture Connection, which explores the similarities and connections found between several nations in the Caribbean.
The sections are Barbados, St Lucia, Dominica, Cuba, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Broome said their Junior Kadooment offerings had been well received.
“Within ten days of launching, our Barbados section was sold out. That forced us to add a little more space to that section, but those went quickly as well.
“Five days later, our Cuba section was totally gone, and we had very limited spots in our other three sections,” she said.
They are catering to 200 to 220 junior masqueraders.
While they are about to launch their Grand Kadooment costumes under the theme, Ancestors Cry, they are confident they will reach the 200 target.
“We are a little behind, but the production is going. We are still encouraging our Grand Kadooment revellers to join us this year, and I believe that we will get to where we need to be,” she said.
Small explained the idea behind Ancestors Cry.
“We’re looking at where we’ve come from, looking at the lessons that we learned and the lessons to be learned. We’ll be speaking about the likes of Shango, Oshun, just to name a few,” he said.
He maintained that while modern elements were utilised, he promised their goal was to ensure cultural heritage and creative integrity were upheld.
“There are times when we will try to incorporate newer concepts but heritage mas is something that we hold close and dear to our hearts.
“Being able to carry on a legacy of late mas makers like Gwyneth Squires, Renee Ratcliff, I see that as a heavy burden to carry and I’m definitely up for the challenge,” Small said.
The post Fifth Element Mas has a change of heart appeared first on nationnews.com.
