Logged in: Logged in as: Log in

Empowers You !
Enjoy optimal shopping
w/ these top 2 powerful deal mining
Places to Stay sites
HotelsCombined:
Search Hotel Prices on Over 30 Sites at Once!search multiple sites, find hidden fees and support fresh, unedited reviews.

Save the most but shop carefully at Hostelbookers with hostels and cheap accommodatios for you in all the world's major cities.

Power Travel Portals

Find a wide range of products and travel tools including: trip insurance, multi-stop flights & last minute deals! through our TraveloCity powered Affiliate site

Pays to shop, especially when booking Air, Hotels & Cars.

Orbitz MultiSite Search:

TravelNowGuides
is part of the Expedia/ Hotel.com travel group

TIP: Booking early and developing options by checking for new discount airlines at you destination through wikipedia as well as getting candid fresh hotel reviews can be done efficiently using our Image Server

Free Pingo Calling Card
Best international phone rates

Match.com® Official Site
Find Love - 6 month guarantee

Shop at the iTunes Music Store.

Best Deals of the Week at TigerDirect.com

Pays to Shop

Page last modified 18:43, 8 Mar 2009 by Admin

CarnavalCity.com wiki > New Orleans > New Orleans Mardi Gras > Krewes > Muses

Redirected from New Orleans Mardi Gras/Krewes/Krewe of Muses

Muses

Krewe of Muses

The Thursday night before Mardi Gras

“Happy are they whom the Muses love.” - Hesiod

2009 Parade

Location: Uptown New Orleans
Date: Thursday Night February 19, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Theme: Secret until Parade (Satirical)
Membership: over 1,100
Year Founded: 2000
Krewe Website: www.kreweofmuses.org

The Krewe of Muses is an all-female krewe or New Orleans Mardi Gras social organization--one of the few clubs with that distinction. The Muses first paraded during Mardi Gras in 2001. Since then, their krewe has grown to include over1000 members and has a waiting list for who can be a rider on the 25+ floats. They are well known for their unique signature throws which can be highly prized by collectors.

Mardigras,muses,2008

The krewe's parade usually "rolls" on the Thursday evening before Mardi Gras making it the only club exclusively for women that parades at night.

Muses, is one of the newest krewes, and perhaps the most ambitious in raising the the level of the art known as New Orleans Mardi Gras. While it has no royalty it seeks to be the most talked about and anticipated parading just before the mass arrival of outsiders for the five days of Carnival beginning on Mardi Gras Friday, the Muses seek to restore story to its place as the animator of the soul.

The Muses are the Greek goddesses who presided over the arts and sciences. They were believed to inspire artists, especially poets, philosophers and musicians. Daughters of Zeus, king of the gods, and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory, they were born at the foot of Mount Olympus in Pieria. Their name denotes 'memory' or 'a reminder', since early poets had no books to read from and thus relied on memory alone.

"The tradition of storytelling was more important before the throws became so important," said Loyola University English professor Barbara Ewell, a founding member of the Krewe of Muses. "But the krewes are still plundering literature to get something fresh. We certainly are still being reminded of these stories in a very public way, and that's pretty unique."

Ewell recalls the moment when Muses was selected as the name of her krewe.

2007 Muses of Mardi Gras

"We thought about the Maenads or the Sirens," she told Susan Larson of the The Times-Picayune "And the minute someone said 'Muses,' everyone said, 'Of course!' It was straight out of Greek mythology and it resonated with the city streets. And the nine Muses celebrate the arts, and encouraging the arts fit our intentions nicely. "

The number of Muses varies through history. Initially there was only one, and later there is mention of three: Melete, Mneme, and Aoede. Ultimately there become nine muses: Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania. These nine are the muses that our Krewe celebrates. Each is associated with a particular domain. Each year They select a muse and an “honorary muse” from our community in that domain.

Besides being an all-female krewe, the Krewe of Muses is known for its unique, non-traditional mardi gras throws such as “mirrors, shoes, combs, purses and other fun 'girlie' goodies".

The Krewe of Muses is an organization of New Orleans businesswomen with a passion for Mardi Gras. The Krewe of Muses is an inclusive organization that reflects the diversity of New Orleans. Membership is diverse racially and socio-economically.

The Themes

Special floats the Shoe float is a 17 1/2 foot high, 20 foot long pump, covered in fiberoptic lights that constantly changes colors. The "Bathing Muses" is a bubbling bathtub with about 20 bubbly beauties and special lighting.

Special marching groups include the

Ninth Ward Marching Band,
the Rolling Elvi,
the Pussyfooters and
the Bearded Oysters.

Signature Throws:

signature stuffed animals, bars of soap in the shape of the red Muses pump, beaded can-holder/purse necklaces,“light-up” beads,glitter shoes and fiber optic medallions
Each year, in addition to their year-long philanthropic works, the Muses host a design contest for students in the area. The winner rides as the guest of the krewe and his or her design is turned into a throw cup!

Other female Krewes of New Orleans

Krewe of Les Mysterieuse
Krewe of Isis,
Krewe of Venus

The theme of the Krewe of Muses, which is kept a secret outside of the membership, is always satirical. Satire is an important aspect of Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans dating back to the earliest organizations. Past themes have been

2008 is still a secret apparently
"SuperMuse (2007)" which featured satirical super heroes. The organization produced and threw a comic book, "The Adventures of Supermuse".
"Muses Got Game (2006)" ; In 2006, to honor the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Muses had at the tail end of their parade an empty float which evoked the riderless horse that follows the caisson carrying the casket in a funeral procession. the final riderless float represented the mother of the Muses and the goddess of memory. Painted on the somber float were the words "We celebrate life, we mourn the past, we shall never forget."
"The Weekly World Muse (2004)", which was a satirical look at tabloid journalism; "Muse TV (2005)";
"Museology -the Lesser Known Gods and Goddesses (2003)" which satired the other carnival organization of the New Orleans;
"Muses Reach the Terrible Twos " (2002)(featuring puns such as "Two Timers" and "Two Sides to Every Story");
"Muses First Time Poking Fun at Women" (2001);

Float #5 – Mighty Mouth 2007 Parade
A beloved mild mannered cable executive was transformed during a political accident into Mighty Mouth! “Here I come to speak my mind!” Able to blow funding in a single statement! That’s our Mighty Mouth – busting out of his giant Chocolate Bar!

Also featured on this float are the Wonder Twins – taking the form of invisible advisors.

Link Directory

www.kreweofmuses.org http://www.kreweofmuses.org/archives/2007_narrative.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krewe_of_Muses

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muses
a sisterhood of goddesses or spirits, their number set at nine by Classical times, who embody the arts and inspire the creation process with their graces through remembered and improvised song and stage, writing, traditional music, and dance. They were water nymphs, associated with the springs of Helicon and with Pieris, from which they are sometimes called the Pierides. The Olympian system set Apollo as their leader, Apollon Mousagetēs. Not only are the Muses explicitly used in modern English to refer to an inspiration, as when one cites his/her own artistic muse, but they are also implicit in words and phrases such as "amuse", "museum", "music", and "musing upon".

http://blog.nola.com/susanlarson/2008/01/carnival_knowledge.html Carnival Knowledge: Mardi Gras has literary traditions, too. Posted by The Times-Picayune January 30, 2008

musesneworleans.com/
Established 1989 and open year round, The Muses is a guest house located on historical Magazine Street in New Orleans' Lower Garden District, recently rated #1 in a Top 10 of the "hippest neighborhoods" in the US and Canada by Utne Reader. Minimum stay on special events: Mardi Gras - 5 nights Jazz Fest - 3 or 4 Nights New Year's Eve - 3 Nights

While there are 9 Muses in Greek mythology:
Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania no one seems to know what happened to Polyhymnia Street in New Orleans. The others are all accounted for.

http://www.musesmuse.com/ A Songwriting Resource for both Beginners & Pros The Muse's Muse Message Boards let you connect with songwriters around the world This Links Directory n has over 5,700 links to choose from! Looking for anything music or specifically, songwriting-related? You'll find it here.