September 23, 2003
By Tshepiso Mogotsi
YOU'LL probably recognise them by the way they dress - All Star takkies, Dickies trousers and spoties on their heads. If you're still not sure who they are, come to Sandton Square on Thursday where mapantsula will be strutting their stuff.
Dlala 'MaPantsula, as the show is called, is part of the month-long Arts Alive International Festival 2003 currently on in Johannesburg. The free show starts at 12.30pm at Sandton Square on Thursday 25 September.
About 100 pantsula dancers from as far afield as Orange Farm, Soweto, Tembisa, Katlehong and Vosloorus will feature in the dance extravaganza, which, according to Arts Alive publicist Bridget van Oerle, could rank as one of the most unique events on the Arts Alive calendar.
Pantsula is a dance that has its roots in the townships, where the dancers recreated the mood of the reckless days of gangsters. It became an increasingly popular dance style in the 1980s against the backdrop of the tightening of the apartheid grip over the townships.
Dancers try to out-perform one another, moving at lightening speed to carefully choreographed steps. Like jazz, dancers then improvise their own variations of the jive theme. The audience becomes part of the performance, egging on their favourite dancers.
"The Sandton Square event will offer the public an opportunity to witness this unique South African dance form at its most compelling," Van Oerle added.
Being part of a dance group and taking part in the exhaustive rehearsals needed to perform pantsula keep him very busy, said 12-year-old Mzwandile Ndlovu of the group Ghetto 7 from Katlehong. "I don't waste valuable time on the streets."
"I've realised I have a special talent for pantsula," Ndlovu said, adding he wanted to follow in the footsteps as young kwaito stars like Mzambiya and Msawawa.
The youngster invited anyone interested in South African dance traditions, pantsula fans and talent scouts to come along on Thursday, as "our performance will be rocking".
Dance crews involved in Dlala 'Mapantsula include Ghetto Movers, Ghetto 7, Tigers, Small Trouble, Real Action, Jam Boys, Via Vosloo, Via Katlehong, Via Afrika, Via Barrier, Via Africa, Kopano Pantsulas and the Tembisa Black Spinners.
For detailed Arts Alive programme visit www.artsalive.co.za.
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