![]() ![]() ![]() It helped him stay out of trouble while growing up in Katlehong, where riots against the apartheid government were a regular feature of life. ![]() Now, Qofela’s dance troupe, Via Katlehong, wants to drive a revival of the style, and has taken the dance to the global stage with shows in France, the Netherlands and Portugal.įor Qofela, too, pantsula was more than just entertainment. It later enjoyed popularity among South Africans of different races, but waned somewhat as modern dance styles gained prominence. Pantsula’s choreography, including movements mimicking sweeping, playing dice and saluting, meditated on Black South African’s everyday experiences and provided a code that performers could use to communicate in a language state police could not understand. It became a vehicle for social and political expression and resistance. The quick-stepping, energetic and syncopated dance originated among Black youth living in townships like Qofela’s Katlehong under the apartheid government’s system of racial segregation, which ended in 1994. Now, he is helping to revive the dance style and take it on to the global stage. JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Thato Qofela first performed ‘pantsula’, a symbol of Black South African culture and resistance to the apartheid regime, in his childhood backyard. ![]()
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