African Dance History

African History Essay

Article: “Song-Gesture-Dance: Redefined aesthetics in performance continuum as South African women’s indigenous groups explore new frontiers” – Patricia Achieng Opondo

Alice Maybin

MYBALI001

Due Date: 06/05/2016

In this article, Patricia Achieng Opondo takes a deeper look into what it is like to be a South African Indigenous women. What it is like in the aspects of their ethnic identities as they become involved in theatre and performance to convey their cultural heritage. Questions such as what effects have on these performances and how do the members involved in the performance stay connected with their South African traditions and heritage? are a few issues Opondo tackles in her article. She touches on indigenous South African ensembles using song, gesture and dance to show themselves as Zulu, Pondo and Venda Women. She also discusses African Identity itself.

To talk about Patricia Achieng Opondo, before I go into analysing this article. Opondo is an ethnomusicologist, which is someone who studies into music from all different cultures. Opondo is a senior lecturer in African music and dance. She is also involved at the University of KwaZulu-Natal as the director of the African Music Project. She has printed on cultural policies in Kenya (where she originated) and Luo women’s recreational songs and dances. She has also completed an educational DVD particularly on Zulu music and dance.

South African Indigenous women’s groups – genered space for performance

The African Music Project at The University of KwaZulu-Natal hosts the African Music and Dance Showcase yearly at The Howard College Theatre with Opondo being the director of the project and leader of the showcase.

Location and talk about place is an important aspect in discussing identity. One of the pieces performed in the Showcase in 2001 was a women’s group involving Venda women who lived in Meadowlands, Gauteng and traditionally met at a club for the goodness of their ethnicity. This group of women recreated the activities and repertoire based on their morals, values and traditions and performed it in the form of dance and drama. Many Venda women were not concrete in where they resided depending on their circumstances. One’s neighbourhood was a mixture of different ethnic groups, thus many times particularly during celebratory events there is a whole mixture of different ethnic groups coming together. This was the case of the Mutangati Venda women in 1997.

 The Venda women took inspiration for these performances from, I quote Opondo ‘a past that was imagined and creatively recreated with the strong underlying objective to present entertainment and eye-catching performances.’ (Opondo, 2006). This was reached through code switching in the song lyrics, dramatic introductions and interludes so humour was presented in the right way. To concentrate on the costumes and clothes that the performers wore, the ensemble decided to combine bright, happy colours for a pleasing aesthetic outcome.

The name of this piece became ‘Amaqhikiza’, this is the word for a time in young ladies lives where they are preoccupied by boys. This generally happens a few years before marriage. The girl lives in fear of her future mother-in-law and worries she will not have a good stable relationship with her. The performers sing songs about this in isiZulu and English. These songs go into showing the deeper feelings about how the young girl feels about getting married and what could happen that one is afraid of. Especially the challenges and presumptions from their in-laws.

 Another group that performed in the showcase was a group of Pondo women from Lusikisiki, in the Eastern Cape, who had a club going of many activities. The group had a performance going that was frequently performed in their hometown and now were beginning to present their work around the country and internationally. The name of this ensembles work was ‘Ikwezi Lase Nguza’ which is a name of a place from Ngquza Hill Location in Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape.

It is important that the plays are done the Pondo, Venda and Zulu way. It is a celebration of ethnic pride. The genuineness of the play is derived from the essential views of ethnic identicalness which at times branches out from location for example. It all draws from a broader aspect of the identity of these people (epistemologies).

Traditionally, women use song to give out a message to the government and to the men in their lives. Usually being about peace respect and social events such as the Pondo riots in the 1960s (Apartheid era).

The movements involved in their performance involve use of gesture and facial expressions – it is very truthful and real. This helps towards communicating the social and political messages they are wanting to get across to the audience.

Drumming was used as musical accompaniment and group choir singing which communicated aesthetics with all the different support from each feature coming together. Their aim being to entertain and educate.

Production of Indigenous knowledge – community cultural heritage

Community cultural heritage involves everything apart of you that is cultural and a part of your culture. Things such as song, dance and gesture and the way you portray those aspects towards the community is how they will perceive you. Indigenous knowledge is local including social, philosophical, historical and cultural aspects of life.

‘This indigenous knowledge embraces indigenous epistemologies and as the groups’ performances stretched beyond their immediate neighbourhoods, this physical movement was accompanied by expansion, exploration and testing of their indigenous expressions in new frontiers’ (Opondo,2006).

For the Venda and Pondo women this knowledge came mostly from their location which was based on socio-cultural-historical landscape.

Opondo makes it very clear that it is important to know your indigenous knowledge and community cultural heritage. If you do not know it and you are trying to portray something with incorrect aspects to it, many people will be offended. In the process of the cast members preparing to perform Amaqhaikiza in the showcase, many field trips to the rural areas, clubs and performances were organised. This was so the performers could understand and see how and why things were done. It was to give them more of an understanding so they knew how to portray this correctly in their piece. The girls were scolded when sorting out the costuming as they were not sticking to what it traditionally is but what they felt good in and thought looked nice together.