Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Precise timing and posture is a must. It is danced by men of any age wearing skin called amabeshu, headrings, ceremonial belts, ankle rattles, sheilds and weapons like knobkeries and spears. It is very calculated showing muscular strength and control of the weapons with mock stabs at imaginary enemies. Dancers are more likely to make eye contact with the audience the dance is often accompanied by various drums and whistles.
Painting of the battle of Isandlwana by Charles Edwin Fripp
Zulu men doing Isacathamiya dance
Another traditional Zulu dance is called Imvunulo it is often performed by one person as a parade to show off the traditional attire of Zulu men and women. Imvunulo is the traditional attire in this dance that represents one's role in Zulu society.
Once upon a time there was a great African tribe called the Bantu who were spread all through out Africa broken into many different one tribe in particular are called the Zulu. The Zulu reside mainly in South Africa with an estimated ten to eleven million people living in the providence of KwaZulu- Natal. The Zulu people are strong and have been through many battles and overcame many struggles for example in December of 1878 during the battle of Isandlwana where the Zulus were forced to fight against the British army because they refused to submit to British authority a battle which they won in January of that year.
Dress is determined by ones timing age rank and gender, adults cover their thighs but adults do not. Men wear amabeshu which are basically calf skin flaps and women wear leather skirts and beaded aprons . A women wearing a leather skirt is connected with being pregnant or the desire to be pregnant. Over that she wears a beautiful beaded apron presented to her on her wedding day by her father. The colors in the apron signify where she comes from. The bead work girdle of young girls are called "isigege" which contain many colors except for red bead because those are reserved for married women.
The Zulu are a strong and proud people with strong values and beliefs one of their beliefs is in the power of dance. The Zulu people use dance for weddings, for funerals and coming of age ceremonies. Robert Ferris Thomson was quoted saying that "Never is the stronger power that comes from youth more evident than in the canon of vital aliveness . Commentators on the dance in traditional areas are concerned with the quality, which might also be described as full power in response to percussion"( Thomson9). The Zulu are full of power and it is shown in their dance style.
One of the most traditional and untouched Zulu dances is called the Indlamu or the Zulu war dance. It is performed with drums and full traditional attire and is derived from Zulu war dances of the past. This dance has been considered untouched by western influence this is most likely because this dance is regarded as a touch stone of the Zulu identity. It is performed in full zulu attire
The third dance I am going to talk about is called the Isciathamiya. This is my personal favorite. This dance is performed by men or boys standing in a straight line or arc. The music is ballad and the lyrics pertain to modern issues but use class melodies. The dance portrays issues like aids, crime and migrant labour. The main singer provides the counterpoint or rythm. The music form symbolizes life in rural Zululand and its other townships. It is a dance that has gained world wide attention because of its connection to the human state.