Joel Julien
A voluptuous figure wearing a bright, multicoloured dress sashayed down Picaddilly Street in Port-of-Spain, on Friday morning.
The figure, with a fan in hand, and pink and purple hair, smiled and gyrated to the pleasure of the crowd gathered to observe the re-enactment of the Canboulay riot.
"You know that's a man, right?" a local woman asked a male companion who, with beer in hand, stood transfixed by the figure's movement.
"You're kidding!" the man, who spoke with a North American accent, responded in shock.
"Yeah, that's Eric," she said.
The Eric she was referring to is Eric Nicholson.
Nicholson, 58, has been playing the Dame Lorraine for almost 20 years.
He owns the character whenever he puts on his costume.
"You can't come out in costume and not be in character. I am as bold as brass and I do what I have to do," Nicholson told the Sunday Guardian.
"You cannot be a character and be afraid to play it, you have to be bold, you have to be brave and you have to not give a damn what people say, " he said.
Nicholson credits his time in theatre for his ability to portray the character with all her feminine movements.
"This is my culture, I love my culture and when I come out, theatre has taught me a lot, you have to be in character," he said.
The Dame Lorraine is supposed to be a parody of the 18th century French Aristocracy elite.
"She is a fashionable woman," Nicholson said.
At first the character was primarily played by men.
However, that is not the case now.
Nicholson is one of the only few males locally that currently plays the character.
In 2013 he won the Traditional King of Carnival competition portraying Nikki Minaj as a Dame Lorraine.
Nicholson said this caused some controversy as people questioned how a Dame Lorraine could win the king competition.
In 2016 he won the Traditional Carnival Monarch.
Nicholson is so convincing in his portrayal that sometimes he is mistaken for a female.
"I usually get a positive reaction but sometimes men get confused and tackle me not knowing that I am a man," Nicholson said.
"I get a lot of negatives but mostly positives. I just choose to rise above all the negatives," he said.
As we spoke, children and adults gathered to try and take photographs with the Dame Lorraine.
The overly exaggerated female features are a hit.
Nicholson's ample posterior is made with two pillows while his hefty bust is one pillow.
He does his own make-up, which includes a bright blush and lipstick.
He remains clean shaven to help the portrayal.
Nicholson designs his own outfit which a seamstress sews with sometimes as much as ten yards of cloth.
Nicholson said he would love to see more men choosing to portray the Dame Lorraine.
