Corps de Napoleon
Location: Metairie, Jefferson Parish
Date: February 11, 2018
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Year Founded: 1980
Website: www.corpsdenapoleon.com
Corps de Napoleon
The Corps de Napoleon was established in 1980 to give Jefferson Parish an excitingly different approach to Mardi Gras. From its inception, the Corps de Napoleon's goal has been to honor the French heritage of New Orleans and the surrounding parishes. Unlike other organizations who chose Greek or Roman mythological figures as their namesakes, the Corps de Napoleon instead looked to France for its roots and selected Napoleon, France's greatest hero.
The Corps de Napoleon parade is organized similar to the manner by which Napoleon organized his armies during his reign. After Napoleon conquered a country, a new army would be formed and be referred to as a "Corps", combining with other units from different countries to form Napoleon's Grand Army. Similar to the French army, this Carnival organization is made up of Corps, or float groups, each headed by a Lieutenant.
As this "army" of bead, cup and doubloon-throwing revelers roll through Metairie on the Sunday evening before Mardi Gras Day, the Corps are led by its Captains and Officers (representing military figures). The Captains and Officers float feature a sculpture which depicts David's (Dah-veed's) painting of Napoleon crossing the Alps during the Italian campaign. The Emperor Napoleon and Empress Josephine are also depicted by the royal monarchs as they reign over the parade, Coronation Celebration, and After-Parade festivities. The Emperor's float depicts the "Arc de Triomphe" in Paris and is pulled by a team of four white horses.
The Corps de Napoleon designed and built the following floats:
- Captain & Officers
- Emperor Napoleon
- Empress Josephine
- Title Float - and Tandem (Waterloo)
- 4 Maid Carriages
All of the other floats featured in the parade were designed for the use by the Corps de Napoleon by McKinley Cantrell. All member and Court costumes, as well as the maids plumed collars are designed and fabricated by D&D Creations, owned by Diane and Ray Barrilleux.
About the DVD The first Mardi Gras in America was celebrated in Mobile, Alabama in 1703. In 2007, it is still racially segregated. Filmmaker Margaret Brown (Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt), herself a daughter of Mobile, escorts us into the parallel hearts of the city s two carnivals. With unprecedented access, she traces the exotic world of secret mystic societies and centuries-old traditions and pageantry; diamond-encrusted crowns, voluminous, hand-sewn gowns, surreal masks and enormous paper mache floats. Against this opulent backdrop, she uncovers a tangled web of historical violence and power dynamics, elusive forces that keep this hallowed tradition organized along enduring color lines.
