Kirsten Shade

My name is Kirsten Shade, an actress, Cultural Explorer and Traditional Mas Performer, particularly the fire breathing Jab Molassie.
I believe, everything has a backstory and exploring our characters’ history and Cultural Forms allows us to live unbiasedly and fully understand and appreciate all cultures, religions around us for what it is and has to offer. Jab Molassie allows me to reach sentimental checkpoints in life as it backdates to our ancestors from the plantations to the Barrack Yards, to the fight for freedom and Canboulay. Knowing the foundation of my craft allows me to embody/portray it realistically and in truth.
The Jab Molassie Mas is relative even during these contemporary times. It symbolizes; rebellion, fear, concealment and impersonation, all without humanity. The person who is trying to find themselves, who is stressed or angered, who feels victorious or powerless, can find freedom behind the paint, despite the colour. For me, Jab Molassie represents everyone and behind the paint, and the rhythmic sound of the crix tin, we become everyone else, we become that slave in 1881 fighting for freedom. The other traditional characters also have a knocking backstory. I want to continue passing on our dying and depreciated culture.