Notting Hill Soiree

           It was a Sunday like no other. Why do I say like no other? Well, for the simple fact that it was my first Sunday in the city of London. It was a sunny day, emotions were flourishing, and time was passing by before my eyes. Where was I heading off too? I was on my way to the infamous, one-time a year, Notting Hill Carnival. I was not really expecting much from such an affair, however, what I soon came to experience was an explosion of cultural intensities, and massive performance.

            My friends and I arrive in the Notting Hill area. We begin to descend into the carnival opening, and are basically greeted by beer, beer, and more beer. From this point on, I realized that things were going to be relatively great! As I walked with my Stella beer can, I began to hear the formation of soca music and other Caribbean tunes. I thought to myself, “home”, as I come from an Afro-Caribbean background, and hearing such tunes brought me back to cultural familiarities. At this point, the groove is coming into effect. The hips are swaying, and the shoulders are shimmering. The truck with the disc-jockey playing the music is passing by, and proceeding behind is a group of individuals parading and dancing. All of them were wearing the same garments, and they were covered in paint, glitter, the whole nine yards. What I was watching reminded me completely of carnival in the islands, people dancing, drinking, just acting like plain fools, but all under the realm of pure enjoyment. It was pure bliss. As I continued my walk, I noticed more parades. This specific parade had a different Caribbean tune going, but a distinct group of individuals following behind the musical truck. The groups of carnival inspired individuals were now covered in brown paint, and were now dancing to a different soca tune. I could not help but come into reason with the fact that what was at play was not only a census of pure enjoyment, but also a situation that can be identified with a performance. Individuals were dancing, singing, jumping, and “gi-rating”. Costumes were essential to this particular performance, and the musical line-ups were evident. The festivities taking place at Notting Hill Carnival definitely depicted a performance.

            Furthering my steps into the carnival, my friends and I come across the DJ sections. Reggae and Hip-Hop tunes were coming into play. Crowds of young kids were getting their jig on. What happened next will forever be embedded in my brain. The reggae hits began to fade off while the hip-hop tunes soon generated. A song that was at the time popular in Los Angeles began to play. I will never forget the intensity that followed once Ace Hood’s “Hustle Hard” came on. The crowd went absolutely wild! Shirts were coming off, beer was sprayed, and mosh-pitting was in effect. I had never seen a mosh-pit with hip-hip, however it was occurring, and the moment was monumental. This portion of the carnival was a performance, as a performance is something that I feel is an element that dissolves you from your natural state of mind, and descends you into a state not of a natural nature.

            Notting Hills Carnival was in my opinion, a performance.  


Yaheema Alfonso