A St James-based creative took to the streets last Sunday, walking behind carnival revellers as the Corporate Area erupted in colour, music and high-energy revelry, quietly collecting what others left behind.
As masqueraders who had invested thousands of dollars in elaborate costumes worn for just a few fleeting hours–moved through the road march, feathers, beads and sparkling costume fragments began to litter sections of the route. But instead of being swept away as waste, those discarded pieces quickly became raw material for something new.
The creative, Peter-Lee Hanson, was among those moving along the parade route, carefully gathering discarded accessories and fallen embellishments as the celebrations unfolded.
“We are out picking up pieces of costumes that have been thrown away so we can repurpose them and turn them into outfits for shows,” Hanson said.
For her and her team, the work was not about scavenging, but about reimagining value in what is often treated as disposable after the party ends.
“We perform at different types of shows, but the appreciation for soca has grown in Jamaica, so we want to be prepared,” she explained. “Carnival was the best opportunity for us to come out and collect costumes because we always need pieces for our productions.”
Hanson is part of Show Jam, a Montego Bay-based entertainment company that operates as a full production outfit rather than just a dance group. The collective includes singers, dancers, drummers, saxophonists and steel pan players, and has been steadily expanding its footprint in the entertainment and tourism space.
“We’re not just a dance group, we’re a production company. We have singers, dancers, drummers, saxophonists and steel pan players. We manage different aspects of entertainment, and we are branching out more into the hotel industry so we have to look the part,” she said.
That expansion, she added, has pushed the company to broaden its creative output and tailor performances for different audiences and markets.
“We have different showcases–a Jamaican showcase, a German dance showcase, a disco showcase and a soca showcase,” she said.
“This is really to enhance our soca production so that when tourists come, they can see us in these nice costumes and they can get a snippet of how the Jamaicans look during carnival season.”
She pointed out that the demand for soca entertainment is steadily increasing, especially within the tourism sector.
“People are starting to have an appreciation for it and I think that is because we also mix it with our dancehall culture. That’s why we are stepping up to the plate to dress and entertain in that genre,” Hanson said.
“Just like you see the ladies in their soca costumes, that’s what we try to depict in the soca showcase.”
