It?s easy to pass the PowerPuff girls on the street with nary a second glance. Short (under five foot three), slim and dressed in the hip hop fashions of today?s youth, Buttercup and Bubbles on Tuesday were a more demure version of their onstage personas...
News Source: Trinidad Guardian
Blossom and Mojo Jojo, the other half of the quartet, were not present.
With the ability to wine while in a headstand, jiggle their butt cheeks, make them clap, do splits and sundry other body movements that the average Jane and Joe can only gawk at, the girls have become a main attraction at any fete Xtatik plays at. Their presence onstage comprises less than ten minutes of Xtatik?s act.
Named after the original PowerPuff Girls, the cartoon crime-fighting trio, and the show?s monkey villain, they were introduced to the public last year by Machel Montano at National Flour Mills? Soca by the Silos.
The girls spent the last year as an Xtatik staple, touring the Caribbean, England and the United States with the band.
These days the girls? future with the band is unclear. Bubbles has not performed since Xtatik launched its marching band at this year?s Soca by the Silos, and Buttercup?s last outing was at Island People?s Amnesia fete. They are not sure when they will perform with the band again.
At the media launch of Alternative Concept 2 two weeks ago, Montano said the concert, which takes place tonight at Pier 4, Chaguaramas, will feature an upgrade to the girls in the form of Japanese dancehall queen Junko Kudo.
?She is not a winer, but she flexible, she have more muscle control,? said Buttercup, real name Anastacia Arneaud, about their foreign competition. She and Bubbles are hopeful they will be allowed to flex their skills tonight next to the import.
Though they are thankful to Xtatik for allowing them the experiences they?ve had for the last year, the girls said there is more to life than dancing with the band.
?You feel Stacey, the PowerPuff girl, want to dance forever and save the world by bedtime?? asked Buttercup, 22, quoting the cartoon characters? famous catchline.
Outspoken, yet very guarded about her personal life, Buttercup, who also works as a bartender and a masseuse, said she has plans for the future which include learning how to fix and repair computers. She also thinks the time has come for the PowerPuff girls to start singing, acting and appearing in videos.
Always one to try her hand at everything, Buttercup describes herself as a jack of all trades. She said she grew up a tomboy and learnt to do everything from sewing to planting garden.
Listening to the girls, it is obvious theirs was not a sheltered life of Barbie dolls and tea sets.
The only daughters of their biological parents, they spent their turbulent teens visiting clubs where they were exposed to the world of exotic dancing. This was how they learnt and honed some of the skills they present on stage.
Bubbles, whose name is Malaika Ravello, is more open about her life. At 24, Bubbles, mother of a seven-year-old boy, has worked as a dancer in nightclubs in Barbados, St Lucia and St Vincent and even managed a club in Barbados, where she employed girls from Trinidad. Dancing up the islands is more lucrative than dancing in Trinidad, she said. On a good night, either a Saturday or Friday night, a dancer could make as much as US$1,500.
Bubbles too has her future mapped out. She plans to study electrical engineering in New York and undergo breast reduction surgery on her size 42 cups?the reason she was given the name Bubbles.
Of the two, Buttercup is the more popular, a fact that does not escape Bubbles.
?Trinidad photographers have something with dark women,? she said in reference to the media?s attention to the lighter-skinned Buttercup. The latter believes, however, that if Bubbles learnt to ?clap and thing, people would take notice of she.?
The girls appear to be very close and share the same views on a lot of issues, particularly criticisms that their act is vulgar and obscene.
?People think because you is a dancer you is a whore. We carry about ourselves with respect. To me, is entertainment. I think 100 per cent of the girls in Trinidad wish they were the PowerPuff girls,? said Bubbles, whose deceased brother taught her many of her moves.
?Who is another man to judge? Many people do certain things and say certain things in front their children. We are entertainers, we not showing people vice. Who don?t do vice when the night come?? said Buttercup, who said there is a line she will not cross, which is performing in thongs or a bikini top. The girls credit Xtatik for ensuring they dress appropriately.
Though young in age, the girls said they feel old mentally because of their life experiences, which involved dealing with family issues. They have no regrets about the things they have done, however.
?I try my best to live my life without regrets, regrets can break you down mentally and physically,? said Buttercup.
Bubbles advised: ?Life is about taking chances, you have to live for you. Do what you think is best for you.?
