Jaiva Pantsula, Dance
Venue: PJs
Next Performance: 2 July 2025, 12:00
Review
By Karabo Matalajoe
Jaiva Pantsula is a high-energy production which pays tribute to South Africa’s iconic street dancing culture. Through quick footwork, nostalgic music and fashionable outfits, the production affirms pantsula’s long-term influence and still-living contribution to joy in our culture.
The sharpness and fast pace of the choreography of pantsula is connected to the language of the township, with its own dialect, humour, hustle and rhythm. This echoes the history of pantsula’s birth in the Apartheid era, where dance was both a refuge and an act of rebellion for the black community.
The shuffles, stomps, whistling and exaggerated jumps and stunts infused the crowd with excitement, as we danced and sang along with the dancers. Jaiva Pantsula is a show that invites chaos and creativity and unapologetically tests the boundaries between old school and ‘new school’ pantsula.
“This is not just dancing, it is a way of life. S’pantsula is what kept us going back as children, and to see small children being a part of it is good, because this requires discipline,” said an overjoyed audience member.
One of the stand-out elements of this performance was seeing the youngsters include dance moves usually reserved for TikTok within their choreography – a small dance battle with old school pantsula.
Jaiva Pantsula is a powerful reclamation of physical, cultural, and historical space. It celebrates the bodies that have always danced despite being surveilled, controlled, or confined. It reminds us that even in the harshest conditions, joy is an act of defiance.
Whether you’re a long-time lover of Pantsula or encountering it for the first time, this production will leave you excited, inspired, and deeply moved.
