Traditional dancing group Mnombo we Afrika use traditional dancing to educate people about traditional culture and rituals.
Traditional dancing group Mnombo we Afrika use traditional dancing to educate people about traditional culture and rituals.
Mnombo we Afrika, which means “Root of Africa”, is a traditional dance group based in the township of Zwide, just outside Port Elizabeth.
Then known as the Mazizi Traditional Dance Group, it was founded by Andile Booysen while he was in high school in Port Elizabeth.
On leaving high school, he recruited school children from the Zwide area to join. Many school children participated in the early workshops, but as time went on, the numbers dwindled.
The group currently has 11 members, seven of whom are still at school. The group is contracted to Calabash Tours and they have exclusively performed at the National Arts Festival since 2006.
At the 2008 Festival, they had a show called Life’s Little Lessons which was about a man who had renounced his cultural beliefs and rituals, only to fall sick and have to return to his roots to recover.
The group itself had splintered from the original Mazizi group in 2008 for financial reasons, although Booysen says the split was amicable. This is the reason for their renaming to Mnombo we Afrika.
“At our workshops we teach people about stories and the stories behind the dances,” says Booysen, adding that he and his group benefit from the dance group as it makes them see things from a different perspective.
The group specialises in Xhosa, Zulu, isiBaca and isiMpondo dances. When they are performing, especially when they performing Zulu dance routine, they look lively and full of action.
It is clear that their dance routines are well rehearsed and when in full flight, they look like real Zulu dancers.
They will perform in front of the City Hall three or four times a day with their first show at 10am and the last show at 3pm until 2 July.
