Diasporic Revelry: Baby Dolls & Carnival Arts from New Orleans to Trinidad

The Carnival tradition of masking as Baby Dolls is practiced in both New Orleans and Trinidad. Join New Orleans scholar Kim Vaz-Deville, Trinidadian scholar Amanda T. McIntyre, New Orleans culture bearer Micah Theodore, and Trinidadian culture bearer Paula Hamilton for a dialogue on masking across the diaspora.

Free and open to the public; donations gratefully accepted. Donations support One Book One New Orleans' year-round community literacy outreach.

The Andre Callioux Center for Performing Arts and Cultural Justice is accessible to community members who require mobility-related ADA accommodations. Parking near the venue is free, though somewhat limited. The nearest RTA stop is at N. Broad and Columbus.

Funding for this project has been provided by the State of Louisiana and administered by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH). The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this (publication, program, exhibition, website) do not necessarily represent those of either the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities or the State of Louisiana.

MEET THE PANELISTS

Amanda T. McIntyre is a Trinidadian writer, artist, and scholar. She is the 2025 Tilting Axis Fellow for her project Present Continuous that applies digital intervention towards archiving the materiality and intellectual properties of contemporary Caribbean masquerade cultures. McIntyre is also Creative Director and Lead Designer at Dolly Mas Visual and Performing Arts Company. She is internationally recognised for her award-winning work. She was previously Art Administrator at New Local Space (NLS), an art studio and gallery based in Kingston, Jamaica. In 2020 McIntyre was part of the faculty for La Pràctica Artists Residency, and an advisor for the NLS, Curatorial, and Art Writing Fellowship. In 2021, she was awarded a Futuress Coding Resistance Fellowship for her project Mapping Queer Carnival. In 2023 she was longlisted for the prestigious Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize.

Micah Theodore is a New Orleans Cultural Historian and Freelance Digital Media Strategist, specializing in helping professionals grow their brands and engage audiences across social media platforms. A native and proud culture bearer of New Orleans, Micah embodies her heritage as an Original Golddigger and Tremé Babydoll. Her commitment to community engagement is evident in her volunteer work with organizations like Ujamaa Economic Development Corp, the New Orleans Jazz Museum, and the Greater Tremé Consortium. Micah's passion for cultural arts spans Jazz, Afrobeat, Dancehall, and Traditional African dance, and she has danced with Watotos of Kumbuka. Her favorite endeavor, is working alongside her mother on their youth organization, Tremé Kids, which focuses on teaching youth about cultural preservation and community development. Micah holds a bachelor’s degree in Historical Studies with a concentration in Africana Studies from Bard College.

Kim Vaz-Deville specializes in New Orleans culture, African American studies, and Carnival traditions. For a decade, she was a professor of education at Xavier University of Louisiana and is currently a scholar-in-residence at Dillard University. She is an expert on the Mardi Gras Baby Dolls, highlighted in The "'Baby Dolls': Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition" and "Walking Raddy: The Baby Dolls of New Orleans." Vaz-Deville's work focuses on the intersection of gender, race, and performance, and preserving. interpreting, and celebrating Black cultural practices. She actively participates in cultural preservation projects, fostering community and scholarly engagement through workshops, exhibitions, and interdisciplinary scholarship on Louisiana's heritage.

Host or Publisher One Book One New Orleans