Krewe of Xanadu: And the Winner Is...

We had the honor of going to the Krewe of Xanadu ball this past Friday night. I don't know even where to start to describe a Madri Gras ball to anyone who has not been to one themselves. In fact, trying to explain how big Mardi Gras is here is probably beyond my ability. A Mardi Gras ball and all of the build up to it is a great way to get an introduction. It is like being thrown into the ocean to learn how to swim.

This year's Xanadu ball was an Oscar themed evening so there were some amazing costumes out and about during the event. The ball is organized like a broadway show and opening all rolled into one. The royal court gets introduced and parades down a stage running the length of the Cajundome Convention Center. It's a massive fashion show with costumes, masks, beads and big screen TV's. There is a new king and queen each year, who are introduced with incredibale fan fare, confetti and of course, pyrotechnics. Here is a picture of the queen. Check out how ornate her costume is.
The royal court is introduced one at a time after the king and queen are introduced. This year each member of the court had a themed entrance based on a famous movie. Each member of the court is greeted by a screaming crowd of (mostly intoxicated) ball-goers throwing tubes of confetti on each court member and their hero. At the top of this post is our friend Raquel who invited us to the ball (Thanks for the invite!). Her costume was themed after the movie The Great Ziegfeld and it pretty much rocked the house. Here are two other members of the court.

After the parade of the court members, the Krewe busted out into a rendition of All That Jazz and numerous other numbers accompanied with bead throwing parades of women clad in ornate dresses handmade for the evening. At the bottom of this post is our friend Allyson (with Carlee) who made sure to throw us some good beads as she made her pass on the catwalk. Granted, one hit Carlee in the eye but it's all worth it. When you're dressed in a top hat you can get some good beads tossed your way.

After the staged part of the show everything get ripped down and the live music comes out. This year's performer was Louisiana Red who played a great mix of cajun and standard favorites. Here's the lead singer playing the washboard and our friends Lou and Carol doing the two-step as the band kicked it into gear.
The night ended late and we had an awesome time. You can check out my Flickr set and see a bunch of other photos I took during the ball. The photos on this page have been compressed but the Flickr set are all high resolution.