Many years ago, I sat enraptured in the small dusty town of Maltahöhe, gateway to the Namib Desert, as a group of school children gathered after classes at the Ôa Hera backpackers to perform. For an hour or two the teenagers forgot all the challenges of their daily lives as they tapped into their ancient Khoekhoe cultural roots. Lively song and dance erupted, transforming an ordinary afternoon into a celebration and a slab of concrete into a glittering arena.
It was the first time that I had witnessed this Nama style of dancing that showcases this ethnic group’s inherent love for stories, song and dance. Skirts whirled, feet stamped and colourful patchwork outfits were accentuated against the clear blue Namibian sky. Some of the dances were enactments of traditional Nama life expressing the appropriate etiquette for courtship and a girl’s transition into adulthood. A male wanting to win her hand in marriage had to vie for her attention and dance her away from her chaperones. Other dances contained instruction about socially-acceptable behaviour, like the casting out of a troublemaker from the community, serving to strengthen cultural values and ethics. The dances involved interaction between the girls and boys - sometimes in lines with the pairs circling and taking turns on centre stage, fancy footwork from the males and a fair bit of acting.
The Nama people, once pastoral nomads that originated from the Khoekhoen (Nama and San/Bushmen) group, historically lived on both sides of the Orange River that separates the neighbouring countries of Namibia and South Africa. They still share their linguistic Khoekhoegowab heritage with the San, speaking with the four clicks that befuddle the Western person’s tongue.
I didn’t forget that exuberant burst of culture and later in southern Namibia, in the Hardap and //Karas regions, I came across the more sedate adults dancing this traditional dignified dance which I discovered was called ‘Nama stap’ (translated as ‘Nama step’ or the ‘Nama’s dancing steps’). The group was dressed traditionally, the men in long trousers - some wearing hats, some bearing sticks - and the women in colourful cotton dresses with aprons, shawls draped over their shoulders and doeke (head scarves). Many of the dancers wore veldskoene (shoes made from rawhide). Recorded guitar and accordion music, reminiscent of boeremusiek (traditional Afrikaans folk music), emanated from a speaker. Once again, the women’s skirts billowed as they twirled and men stamped their feet on the ground as the dancers expressed their natural ability to act, dance and tell stories in this distinctive dance that incorporates all three. It’s hardly surprising that Nama stap is performed at festivals and ceremonies, celebrating the Nama culture.
Towards the tail end of 2020 UNESCO inscribed the ‘Nama ancestral musical sound knowledge and skills’, Aixan /Gâna /Õb ǂans tsî //Khasigu, to their ‘List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding’, acknowledging their cultural importance. This includes both the traditional musical instruments – the khab (musical bow), the !khuntsib (traditional guitar – the body sometimes made from an old Castrol oil can) and the vlies (mouth harmonica) accompanied by singing, ululating and humming - and the Nama stap dances. Although the dances have survived the centuries, especially among the older generation, the traditional instruments are now usually replaced by electronic keyboards, guitars and accordions or recorded music, and it is only the elderly who have retained the knowledge and desire to play the traditional musical instruments. In a world where the elements of traditional culture are fast disappearing as the youth opts for more modern pastimes and music, the UNESCO inscription is an attempt to preserve this age-old heritage.
Riel dancing – Dancing until the dust flies . . .
Moving southwards into the north-western reaches of South Africa I came across another variation of the dance, said to stem from Khoekhoe dances performed after a hunt or harvest, and later by trekboer (migrant farmers) and by sheepshearers or karretjie (cart) people. This exciting dance, called riel dancing or rieldans (reel dance) is similar to Nama stap, enacting the courtship ritual and mimicking animal behaviour, but faster and more energetic with more fancy and frenetic footwork, bravado and showmanship. Often danced on the sand, the Afrikaans expression ‘dans dat die stof so staan’ (loosely translated as ‘dance until the dust flies’) is commonly used to describe the footwork of both male and female dancers as they raise clouds of dust into the air. In the last decade-and-a-half the annual ATKV (Association for Afrikaans Language and Culture) Rieldans Competition has revived the dance among the younger generation, who compete for the title with gusto.
In 2015, I watched one of the riel dancing groups, hailing from the village of Wupperthal in the Cedarberg, performing at the Clanwilliam showgrounds. Having won the South African championships, Die Nuwe Graskoue Trappers were raising funds to compete in the World Championship of the Performing Arts held in Long Beach, California. I once again sat enraptured as the group of teenagers took to the stage and entertained the audience with their playful antics, excellent dance and whirring feet. They made it to California where, among international performers from highly-regarded dance and music schools, they wowed the spectators with their down-to-earth traditional outfits, charisma, Nama-style dance and riel-Africa charm, winning the gold medal in the Ethnic Folk Dance category, and procuring several other silver and gold medals.
In Clanwilliam, when I had a chance to talk to some of the dancers before their performance, I asked “Where did you learn riel dancing?” and they answered without having to think about it: ‘It’s in our blood.” And that perhaps is the crux of it all.
Today, a new rieldans group has emerged in the Western Cape taking over from their predecessors, and Die Betjies van Betjiesfontein is now bringing home the awards.
The hope remains that traditional dance and culture will continue to be passed from generation to generation. It will not only sustain the cultural heritage, but will continue to enthral the rest of us fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to experience the heartbeat of the Nama.