Changolo dances:

After trying to contact a few different communities, it seemed like we weren't going to find the traditional dances that we were looking for. Changolo dances are communal gatherings that are common here in South Africa. However on our drive to Kruger, we passed a large group of people. They were beginning the dances for the day.

When we arrived, we were instantly the center of attention. One man stepped forward and acted as our guide. Leading us through the crowd and finding us chairs. Timid at first, the locals were welcoming and warm.

I bought a big bucket of the traditional beer. It's a milky and unfiltered liquid with a pungent aroma. It kind of tastes like sour dough bread mixed with water, and left to sit in the shade of a big tree. At about 2% ABV, the beer is a social tool, passed seemingly aimlessly through the crowd. Buy a bucket, take a drink, pass. However another would come back around and be handed to you soon after. It's filling, nourishing, and delicious.

The dances are a Shangaan tradition used to keep their traditional culture alive. Many young men are forced to leave their homes to find work. Some leave and never return. With the loss of individuals, culture too was being lost. The dances continue though to remind and teach the next generation what it is to be Shangaan.

Lasting all day, villages from the surrounding area come to compete against each other and have fun. Each village performs the same six dances over the course of the day and at the end the judges choose a winning group. Women make the music for their tribe with drums, whistles, and anything that makes noise. The dancers are the men (of all ages). Their costumes are mixed between traditional and western clothing, but all that matters is how they dance.

I made a friend Lawrence who has been studying tourism here. He's 26 years old and doesn't look a day over 19. His English is not perfect, but he tries with passion. He could not stop telling us how happy he was that we were there to share in his village's festivities. Lawrence told us that we were very different than he expected-- we wanted dialogue not just photos.

He spent time in Zimbabwe and Zambia studying and traveling. He says that he wants to see the world so that when people come to South Africa he can explain it to them in a way that they will understand. In a way I guess that's why I'm here too-- not just to study and learn about South Africa, but to think reflexively about my own culture.

Although we only stayed for a couple of hours, this was the most memorable experience that I have had here so far.


 

 

 

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