Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of a two part series on "Mamaya" traditions in Malinke cultures.
This post presents a few excerpts from online articles about "Mamaya".
Part II also showcases eight videos of more contemporary Mamaya social events (in comparison to the description of Mamaya & the Mamaya videos that are found in Part I of this series and in comparison to the description of Mamaya that is given as Excerpt #1 below.)
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/seven-mamaya-videos-book-excerpt_30.html for Part I of this post. Paert I also provides information about Malinke cultures, provides an excerpt from Ingrid Monson's book about "Mamaya" song, dance, and events.
Par I also showcases seven YouTube examples of "Mamaya" song and dance events, with particular focus on older forms of Mamaya social events.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the creators of Mamaya music, dance, and cultural events.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these YouTube examples and thanks to the publishers of these examples.
****
SELECTED ONLINE EXCERPTS ABOUT MAMAYA SONG, DANCE, AND SOCIAL EVENTS
These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
Excerpt #1:
From http://www.paulnas.eu/wap/mamaya.html
"The old Mandingo-dance Mamaya (Mamayah) was very populair in Guinea during the 1940 - 1960 period. Traditionally it was a very stately dance, that was performed in a club or a group where one was part of. Dressed in gouba's and embroded shirts, male and female dancers could express their beauty, while dancing in two circles (men in outer circle, women in inner circle). Dance-steps were made in a majestic way and a handkerchief or decorated stick was used as an attribute. The rhythm started with the singing of a Griot and/or music made with the Balafon, Bolon or Tama. Mamaya is traditionally without an echauffement. Mamady Keïta, Mamoudou 'Delmundo' Keïta and Famoudou Konaté have their own interpretations of Mamaya, but the melody compares.
Sources:
Lessons from Martin Bernhard, Mamoudou 'Delmundo' Keïta
Written material: Famoudou Konaté, Mamady Keïta, Åge Delbanco, Paul Janse, Rafaël Kronberger
WAP-pages / Paul Nas / Last updated on 1-1-2015"
****
Excerpt #2:
From https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1985/07/11/moving-with-mamaya/f4398354-60c7-432a-a098-5116f5778ea4/?utm_term=.f68b47237053 Moving With Mamaya By Mike Joyce, July 11, 1985
"Djimo Kouyate, who moved from his native Senegal to Washington four years ago, couldn't believe the audience reaction when his modern African music ensemble Mamaya performed at Dance Place recently.
"We intended to play for only 40 minutes but ended up playing for an hour and a half," he says. "Everybody, everybody began to dance. For them, it was a great disco. It was beautiful to see everyone moving to the music. I didn't know we were going to communicate that quickly with people who had never heard our music before."...
Steve Bloom, who along with his wife, Carla Perlo, founded D.C. Wheel Productions, which runs Dance Place, was even more impressed. "It was the finale of an evening of music I produced with my group, Steve Bloom and the Crux," he says. "People went wild. We had every intention of making it a dance event, but all of a sudden it became a giant breakdown. People were flying everywhere."...
For Kouyate, the nine-member ensemble Mamaya is the latest project in a life dedicated to the preservation and promotion of African culture. Kouyate is a griot -- "a traditional musician and historian to African society," as he puts it -- and a master of the ancient 21-string instrument known as the kora.
While the kora, congas and marimba (a modern substitute for the balaphon) link Mamaya's music to the African past, as do many of the group's songs, Kouyate is quick to point out that the addition of guitars and borrowed elements of jazz improvisation make it thoroughly modern as well, and surprisingly accessible to American ears....
"Mamaya is beautiful dance music," Kouyate says. "African jazz music. It's the modern high-life music of West Africa. In Africa when they play Mamaya, all the beautiful women come out to dance, and the griots, the musicians, spend all year making sure the event is something very special."...
****
Example #3:
From http://www.to-music.ca/newsletter_43.htm
[Press release about Toronto, Canada's Mamaya Festival and one of its featured performers Katenen "Cheka" Dioubata)
... "Mamaya Festival (Aug. 11) [2007]
Local Guinean griot, Katenen "Cheka" Dioubaté has been making quite an impression in the relatively short time she has been performing in Toronto. She performs with a backing band, "Snowgriots" made up of some excellent local African musicians, including Kobena Acqua-Harrison, Tamsir Seck and Kassoum Diamoutene.
She and the band opened for Toumani Diabaté last month at Harbourfront, (my photos of her set are posted here), and they have been making a number of performances around town. (I saw her perform two days in a row this week).
Next weekend, she brings the traditional Guinean "Mamaya" festival to Toronto. Sat. Aug. 11, 2-8pm at the Regent Park Community Centre, 203 Sackville St. Free. "Everyone and all ages welcome". Dress code: "Baby blue (or white)". For information, see her notes about Mamaya below. (Taken from her MySpace page)
WHAT IS MAMAYA?
Mamaya is an all-ages dance, a song and an event originating from the city of Kankan, the second largest in Guinée (W. Africa). It has spread to Mali Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire and now Canada. In Guinée, Mamaya is traditionally celebrated once a year at Ramadan, bringing everyone together to celebrate the beautiful nature of their culture, in happiness, peace and joy. Selected musicians will gather in a chosen outdoor area. The public participates altogether by becoming dancers, each one wearing a similar type of light blue coloured clothing called bakha (sky blue). In our Canadian version, some people may choose to wear sky blue dress or white. This shows that every person is the same, united and equal: women and men, rich and poor. It also looks beautiful and tells everyone that something great is going on!
With Mamaya there’s no racism or discrimination. We are one people, no matter where we are from and on this occasion, we unite different cultures and think in new ways. This Mamaya in Canada occurs during summer and is a non-denominational, family event. Mamaya will be free of charge. At one side will be a stage for the musicians with a central area for dancing. People may sit or stand at the sides surrounding the dance area. Instructors will show you how to dance Mamaya and doumdoumba. Those familiar with the event and the traditional role of a griot/musicians, will bring money to “spray” them in thanks and reciprocity for good mention and blessings."
-snip-
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNm66ipvOq0 for a 2008 video of in Guinea. The video summary includes this statement "West African Festival that originated in Kakan, Guinea West Africa. Cheka Katenen Dioubate has started these festivals in Toronto Canada, this is Mamaya 2008."
****
Example #4:
From https://www.facebook.com/events/666092116874784/
"Details
The Guinea Association is proud to present...,
"Mamaya in Seattle" it is a full afternoon of community, music dancing, celebration and cultural sharing to be held at the amphitheater in the center of beautiful Seward Park in South Seattle on September 17th, 2016.
Mamaya started many years ago in the city of Kankan, Guinea West Africa by the group of people of the same age called; Serere. In honor of the Serere group, Currently this dance is danced all over the world.
This is an An All African Community Celebration. We're inviting every African Association, Every Church, Student, Every Community Family, Every supporter of Arts and Culture and every Artist to come out and Join us!
You are invited to attend and we encourage you to bring friends and family.
The African Market Place will include; yummy food vendors, retail vendors, cultural displays and networking opportunities.
There will be large selections of African merchandise, such as African clothing for men, women and children. beautiful and unique Jelwrey, amazing African instruments and there will be ways to support local artist by purchasing their CD's , T-shirts and DVD's.
At 12noon DJ MOH and his crew will kick-off the event.
Live entertainment will be performed by:
* Message from Guinea
* The Djeliyah Band
* Dembaya with Manimou Camara
* Kouyate Arts
* and more Cultural presentations will honor the event sponsors and patrons who will be recognized for their outstanding support. These moments to honor will be done in a traditional way.
This event is Free!
Wear Your Light Blue!"
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Pancocojams Editor's note & question:
Most of the videos that are showcased below highlight social events that appear to be sponsored by and primarily (if not entirely attended by) Guineans or other Malinke people living in West Africa, or in Europe, the United States, or Canada.
Notice that Mamaya dancing has changed from the description given in Part I of men dancing sedately in a outer circle and women sedately in an inner circle to just women dancing sedately in a single file, and then to more energetic women dancing. Also, notice the tradition of "spraying" paper money to show appreciation and support.
I'm curious. Do Malinke men still dance Mamaya either the "old school" way or any way at all?
****
Example #1: Sofoli - Mamaya (Bransang, Guinea, November 2011)
Traditional Malinke Music from Guinea (and some other things), Published on Jul 18, 2012
The rhythm Mamaya being played by members of Mansa Camio's group Sofoli in Bransan, a small village close to Baro. It's interesting to see how the Mamaya fete is now very often mixed with a disco. The DJ will arrive and set up the sound system and the drummers play first. Then they close off the area and people have to pay 500GF to entre (0.06 euro) to dance to the DJ's mix of reggae and African pop.
On djembe we have have Kebre Conde and Moriciré Camara
Karamo on sangban
Namory Keita on dundunba
Lanfia on kesedeni
****
Example #2: Grande Soirée MAMAYA 1 de Montréal 2011 - 1 video1 by dj.ikk
Kalil Koulibaly. Published on Aug 5, 2012
Grande Soirée MAMAYA 1 de Montréal 2011 - 1 video1 by dj.ikk
****
Example #3: MAMAYA COLORADO # 2 = 21
kerfala d, Published on Apr 14, 2013
****
Example #4: Mamaya bayo mali
kerfala d Published on May 28, 2013
****
Example #5: Amadou Sodia live @ SunRise - Dance Mamaya 2013 Rotterdam –
Exilic Productions Published on Jul 16, 2013
...Djigui Promotion Presente -"Amadou Sodia & Hadja Kouyate Live Concert" (Dance Mamaya 2013 Rotterdam) MAINTENANT DISPONIBLE SUR LE DVD.
****
Example #6: Doussougbe Kante - La Meilleure mamaya Africaines en Amerique
kerfala d, Published on Aug 6, 2013
Mamaya African Way to Party Wedding
-snip-
[Google translate from French to English]
"La Meilleure mamaya Africaines en Amerique" = The Best African Mamas in America
****
Example #7: Mamaya-Maimouna Toure New HD
kerfala, Published on Dec 9, 2013
One Of the Best Mamaya To Watch..She Looked Beautiful
-snip-
I'm not sure who or what this social event was in honor of or where it was held.
****
Example #8: mamaya teaser
bachir keita Published on Sep 18, 2016
TEASER MAMAYA 2016 À PARIS
****
This concludes Part II of this two part series on Mamaya.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Seven Mamaya (Guinea, West Africa) Videos & Book Excerpt: "African Diaspora: A Musical Perspective" (Quotes From The Chapter On Malinke Cultures' Mamaya Music & Dance Tradition)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part I of a two part series on "Mamaya" traditions in Malinke cultures.
This post provides information about Malinke cultures, provides an excerpt from Ingrid Monson's book about "Mamaya" song, dance, and events.
This post also showcases seven YouTube examples of "Mamaya" song and dance events.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/eight-video-examples-of-contemporary.html for Part II of this series. Part II provides a few additional excerpts from online articles about "Mamaya". Part II also showcases eight videos of more contemporary Mamaya social events.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
Pancocojams visitors are encouraged to read this entire chapter and/or this entire book.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the creators of Mamaya music, dance, and cultural events.
Thanks Ingrid Monson for her research that is excerpted below, and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these YouTube examples and thanks to the publishers of these examples.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT MALINKE CULTURES
From https://www.britannica.com/topic/Malinke
"Malinke, also called Maninka, Mandinka, Mandingo, or Manding, a West African people occupying parts of Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. They speak a Mandekan language of the Mande branch of the Niger-Congo family.
The Malinke are divided into numerous independent groups dominated by a hereditary nobility, a feature that distinguishes them from most of their more egalitarian neighbours. One group, the Kangaba, has one of the world’s most ancient dynasties; its rule has been virtually uninterrupted for 13 centuries. Beginning in the 7th century ad as the centre of a small state, Kangaba became the capital of the great Malinke empire known as Mali. This was the most powerful and most renowned of all the empires of the western Sudan, now memorialized in the name of the Republic of Mali."...
****
BOOK EXCERPT:
From African Diaspora: A Musical Perspective
edited by Ingrid Monson (Routledge, Mar 1, 2004)
Pancocojams Editor's Note: Malinke words and French words are given in this pancocojams post without their accent marks.
[Google book] https://books.google.com/books?id=VS-UAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA192&lpg=PA192&dq=mamaya+guinean+word&source=bl&ots=dj26nDAJbs&sig=hncrNuhXJquuOydrqB8Q1ymQi6w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMnauPpsrTAhVI0iYKHflsBToQ6AEIPTAD#v=onepage&q=mamaya%20guinean%20word&f=false
[page] 188
..."Not only have the words, melodies, and harmonies of Mamaya become widely known and appreciated, but the time and place that it represents is fondly remembered as yet one more instance of a local flowering of a broadly influential Mande expressive culture.
In the aftermath of the late-nineteenth century wars of the almami Samory Toure, followed by the French colonial rule in 1898, Kankan, the former capital of the kingdom of Bateh, emerged as the major cultural and political center in Upper Guinea (Kaba, 1973). The city became known for its entrepreneurial and erudite Muslim culture with a rich musical life to match ...When the generations born in the late 1910s and 1920s reached adulthood in the 1930s, they celebrated their artistic tastes and lifestyles in Mamaya, one of the most innovative and influential musical movements in the Maninnka world.
Played on xylophones (bala; balafo means "to play the bala) with a female chorus, and occasionally a bass drum (dundun), or Western drum set, Mamaya was an exquisite and joyful music and dance event- or ambiance as it is called in West African French - in which both young men and women participated in their finest clothes. Mamaya was created by a renowned Kankan composer and bala player, Sidi Djeli Djoubate, for his children's enjoyment. Although it primarily centered around Sidi Djeli's family, and more specifically associated with his sons Sidi Karammo, Sidi Mamadi, and Sidi Moussa, (and later Djanka Amo), whose bala trio was recorded in 1949 and 1952, Mamaya involved musicians from other Kankan musical lineages, including the Kouyate, Diawara, and Kante families.
The actual piece of music called Mamaya as distinguished from the whole event of the same name holds special place in the repertory of Maninnka musicians due to its unique character. An extended bala and vocal composition, the core of Mamaya is a long section of lyrics sung to a melody with few repetitions and many twists and turns. It is one of the most through-composed melodies in the repertory of jelis (called griots by the French), the Maninnka musical culture. Several bala based musical accompaniments can be played before and after this extended song.
Mamaya performances usually involved verse after verse of choral singing, set to other melodies and punctuated by bala solos, praising the Kankan notables of the day. The sum total of a Mamaya
[page] 189 includes portion of Mamaya lyrics]
[pages 190 -191 not given in this Google Book edition]
[page] 192
The word Mamaya has no clear meaning in the Maninnka language. It implies, however, a sense of collective excitement, joy, and refined pageantry cultivated in a prosperous urban environment . It also conjures up images of serious artistry in music and dance of a colonial era in which local African culture was celebrated with finesse and pride. A popular youth music grounded in Kankan’s traditions, Mamaya expresses the musical preferences of the younger generations as well as the cosmopolitan culture for which that city was first known in the first half of the twentieth century.... An inquiry into the cultural and historical background of Mamaya can provide insight into how Africans, specifically Maninnka of Upper Guinea have confronted and integrated diverse influences into their own unique cultural expressions in the mid-twentieth century, with continued strong reverberations through several generations into the next century.
[...]
[page] 196
....A key to understanding the importance of Mamaya during its time, as well as its ongoing status is appreciating the significance of age groups.
[...]
[page] 197
...age groups definitely define and bind generations together. In Kankan there are five sede and each has a name: dan diya ("End's happiness"), perhaps an allusion to the dictum that there is an end to everything; san diya ("Year's happiness"), hara makonon ("Expecting good tidings"), du diya (Town's happiness), and jamana diya ("Country's happiness"). Sede are initially based on the grouping of children born during the same epoch and membership lasts a lifetime. Males and females are grouped together under the same sede name, but they have their own group leaders. Every three or four years, new initiates enter into the next rotation of sede so that every fifteen or twenty years the sede names cycle around. The sede known as san diya groups together those born in the early 1920s. They were the first performers of Mamaya.
The time of the san diya generation born in the early 1920s was crucial in colonial Kankan. By that time European culture and values had filtered into the urban environment through travels, schooling, and contact with some members of the white community. Africans, however, did not adopt all the European cultural symbols they had observed. Rather, they reshaped those elements of European culture that they found attractive to fit their own lifestyles. The young men of san diya and other age groups admired such European musical instruments as the guitar and drum set, and such dances of the day as the tango, waltz, rumba, and bolero. They were eager to live their own lives, as every generation desires. But, rigid cultural mores and constraints prevented Kankan youth from introducing European-dance styles based on physical contact between male and female dancers into their beloved hometown. For Kankan, although a modern metropolis, was home to Cheikh Muhammad Cherif and other religious leaders who made it an abode of Maninnka rigorism and a city of strict adherence to Islamic codes of behavior. Early testimony is provided by the French traveler Rene Caillile (1968: 1: 269), who sojourned in Kankan in 1823: "Music and dancing are forbidden among Musulmans [Muslims], and consequently their amusements are far from equalling in frolic and gaiety those which prevail among the pagans"...
[page] 198
...Although dancing was permitted in Kankan with certain restrictions, it was genteel in style and did not take on the sometimes frenetic and violent nature of jembe based rhythms such as Dundunba...
The generational problems of the san diya and the dan diya youth of the 1930s and 1940s generations found a creative solution in Mamaya. They had to initiate an open theatrical forums to conform with their generational attitudes and preferences that would also be compatible with the culture of Kankan. A new artistic form had to be invented, composed, rehearsed, and performed in public. Mamaya expressed this harmony between the imperatives of renewal and respect for traditions.
[...]
page 199
[...]
A typical Mamaya performance involved three bala, a chorus of female singers standing behind them, and sometimes a dun dun (bass drum) or jass drum set player. Youth organized the performance to begin in the mid-afternoon. Grooups of the same age set (sede) would compete for the most elaborate and successful performance, and two Mamaya were often held the same day in Kabada and Timbo, the two largest sections in Kankan. The male members of the sede would wear white or azure damask caftans or boubous (robes), white socks, and open-backed shoes (babouches). They danced in front of the musicians a la ronde holding a staff or handkerchief in their hands. As the dancers would turn to face the musicians, their names would be sung. The length of the Mamaya core and extended lyrics, unusual in African musical tradition, derived from the need to recognize each dancer, his or her family, and specific quality. This implies that Mamaya belonged to the Maninnka tradition of praise song, but performed in a new style and a new context.
[...]
[page] 200
The closest historical model for Mamaya is probably the piece Lamban, which like Mamaya, is distinguished for the rest of the jeli's repertory in two ways. First, both Lamban and Mamaya have a specific dance associated with them. This occurs with very few jeli musical compositions, notably Janjon, which originated in the hunter's repertory. With some exceptions, traditional jeliya is for listening, not dancing. Secondary, neither Lamban nor Mamaya are dedicated to a particular patron or event of political significance, another rare
[page 201-202 aren't included in this Google book excerpt].
page 203
[...]
Transformation of the tradition has also included the use of instruments other than balas for Mamaya recordings. (See El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyate (1992) for bala recordings and Djeli Moussa Djawara [1988) for a recording using bala, guitar, and kora... Modern renditions of Mamaya often add other instruments, such as guitars, electric bass, keyboards, and brass, while reducing the role of the bala. Once again, whether this is a renewal or a corruption depends on one's vantage point and the creativity of the artist.
[...]
It [Mamaya] remains a symbol of musical innovation within the jeli's tradition, and of a Maninnka group's genius for creative renewal in musical expression."
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
[With the exception of the first video, these examples are given in chronological order based on their publishing date, with the oldest dated example given first.]
Excerpt #1: Ami Koïta – Mamaya
Ousmane Bakary Kaba Uploaded on Aug 27, 2010
un tube qui reste aussi célèbre qu'à la date de sa sortie. ici la diva Ami koïta rend hommage au Mali son pays. le clip a été tournée en Guinée avec une réalisation de JMJ
-snip-
(Google translate from French to English)
A tube that remains as famous as when it was released. Here the diva Ami koïta pays tribute to Mali his country. The clip was shot in Guinea with a realization of WYD.
****
Excerpt #2: RTG conakry presente la Mamaya de Kankan 2005
Aladji Toure, Uploaded on Dec 16, 2006
La Mamaya 2005 a kankan presenté par la radio television guinéeenne organisé par Sede sandiaya 3 de kankan a suivre
[Google translate from French to English]
La Mamaya 2005 a kankan presented by the radio television guineaeenne organized by Sede sandiaya 3 of kankan to follow
****
Example #3: MAMAYA DE KANKAN 2008
Aladji Toure Uploaded on Jan 26, 2008
{Gooble translate from French to English]
The radio-kankan.com presents the biggest griots most popular has kankan for the cause of the mamaya follow well this film unique in the world
**
Except #4: Mamaya 2008 a kankan
Aladji Toure Uploaded on Mar 27, 2008
****
Example #5: Le MAMAYA de 30 MAI 2009 en Hollande
Djiguipromotions Uploaded on Dec 21, 2009
Djigui promotion presente
Le MAMAYA de 30 MAI 2009 en Hollande
****
Excerpt #6: Kankan Mamaya 2006
Aladji Toure, Uploaded on May 4, 2011
radio-kankan.com presente Mamaya 2006 avec Sede sandiya 3 a kankan
Voila la derniere version de la mamaya a kankan un orchestre de sididou anime la soirée
{Google translate from French to English)
Here is the last version of the mamaya a kankan an orchestra of sididou animates the evening
****
Excerpt #7: MAMAYA DE KANKAN- TOUJOUR LIVE.
Seretoure Sekoukaba, Published on Mar 9, 2015
-snip-
This is showcased in this post in part because of its historical photographs
.****
This concludes Part I of this two part series about Mamaya.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This is Part I of a two part series on "Mamaya" traditions in Malinke cultures.
This post provides information about Malinke cultures, provides an excerpt from Ingrid Monson's book about "Mamaya" song, dance, and events.
This post also showcases seven YouTube examples of "Mamaya" song and dance events.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/eight-video-examples-of-contemporary.html for Part II of this series. Part II provides a few additional excerpts from online articles about "Mamaya". Part II also showcases eight videos of more contemporary Mamaya social events.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
Pancocojams visitors are encouraged to read this entire chapter and/or this entire book.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the creators of Mamaya music, dance, and cultural events.
Thanks Ingrid Monson for her research that is excerpted below, and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these YouTube examples and thanks to the publishers of these examples.
****
INFORMATION ABOUT MALINKE CULTURES
From https://www.britannica.com/topic/Malinke
"Malinke, also called Maninka, Mandinka, Mandingo, or Manding, a West African people occupying parts of Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. They speak a Mandekan language of the Mande branch of the Niger-Congo family.
The Malinke are divided into numerous independent groups dominated by a hereditary nobility, a feature that distinguishes them from most of their more egalitarian neighbours. One group, the Kangaba, has one of the world’s most ancient dynasties; its rule has been virtually uninterrupted for 13 centuries. Beginning in the 7th century ad as the centre of a small state, Kangaba became the capital of the great Malinke empire known as Mali. This was the most powerful and most renowned of all the empires of the western Sudan, now memorialized in the name of the Republic of Mali."...
****
BOOK EXCERPT:
From African Diaspora: A Musical Perspective
edited by Ingrid Monson (Routledge, Mar 1, 2004)
Pancocojams Editor's Note: Malinke words and French words are given in this pancocojams post without their accent marks.
[Google book] https://books.google.com/books?id=VS-UAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA192&lpg=PA192&dq=mamaya+guinean+word&source=bl&ots=dj26nDAJbs&sig=hncrNuhXJquuOydrqB8Q1ymQi6w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiMnauPpsrTAhVI0iYKHflsBToQ6AEIPTAD#v=onepage&q=mamaya%20guinean%20word&f=false
[page] 188
..."Not only have the words, melodies, and harmonies of Mamaya become widely known and appreciated, but the time and place that it represents is fondly remembered as yet one more instance of a local flowering of a broadly influential Mande expressive culture.
In the aftermath of the late-nineteenth century wars of the almami Samory Toure, followed by the French colonial rule in 1898, Kankan, the former capital of the kingdom of Bateh, emerged as the major cultural and political center in Upper Guinea (Kaba, 1973). The city became known for its entrepreneurial and erudite Muslim culture with a rich musical life to match ...When the generations born in the late 1910s and 1920s reached adulthood in the 1930s, they celebrated their artistic tastes and lifestyles in Mamaya, one of the most innovative and influential musical movements in the Maninnka world.
Played on xylophones (bala; balafo means "to play the bala) with a female chorus, and occasionally a bass drum (dundun), or Western drum set, Mamaya was an exquisite and joyful music and dance event- or ambiance as it is called in West African French - in which both young men and women participated in their finest clothes. Mamaya was created by a renowned Kankan composer and bala player, Sidi Djeli Djoubate, for his children's enjoyment. Although it primarily centered around Sidi Djeli's family, and more specifically associated with his sons Sidi Karammo, Sidi Mamadi, and Sidi Moussa, (and later Djanka Amo), whose bala trio was recorded in 1949 and 1952, Mamaya involved musicians from other Kankan musical lineages, including the Kouyate, Diawara, and Kante families.
The actual piece of music called Mamaya as distinguished from the whole event of the same name holds special place in the repertory of Maninnka musicians due to its unique character. An extended bala and vocal composition, the core of Mamaya is a long section of lyrics sung to a melody with few repetitions and many twists and turns. It is one of the most through-composed melodies in the repertory of jelis (called griots by the French), the Maninnka musical culture. Several bala based musical accompaniments can be played before and after this extended song.
Mamaya performances usually involved verse after verse of choral singing, set to other melodies and punctuated by bala solos, praising the Kankan notables of the day. The sum total of a Mamaya
[page] 189 includes portion of Mamaya lyrics]
[pages 190 -191 not given in this Google Book edition]
[page] 192
The word Mamaya has no clear meaning in the Maninnka language. It implies, however, a sense of collective excitement, joy, and refined pageantry cultivated in a prosperous urban environment . It also conjures up images of serious artistry in music and dance of a colonial era in which local African culture was celebrated with finesse and pride. A popular youth music grounded in Kankan’s traditions, Mamaya expresses the musical preferences of the younger generations as well as the cosmopolitan culture for which that city was first known in the first half of the twentieth century.... An inquiry into the cultural and historical background of Mamaya can provide insight into how Africans, specifically Maninnka of Upper Guinea have confronted and integrated diverse influences into their own unique cultural expressions in the mid-twentieth century, with continued strong reverberations through several generations into the next century.
[...]
[page] 196
....A key to understanding the importance of Mamaya during its time, as well as its ongoing status is appreciating the significance of age groups.
[...]
[page] 197
...age groups definitely define and bind generations together. In Kankan there are five sede and each has a name: dan diya ("End's happiness"), perhaps an allusion to the dictum that there is an end to everything; san diya ("Year's happiness"), hara makonon ("Expecting good tidings"), du diya (Town's happiness), and jamana diya ("Country's happiness"). Sede are initially based on the grouping of children born during the same epoch and membership lasts a lifetime. Males and females are grouped together under the same sede name, but they have their own group leaders. Every three or four years, new initiates enter into the next rotation of sede so that every fifteen or twenty years the sede names cycle around. The sede known as san diya groups together those born in the early 1920s. They were the first performers of Mamaya.
The time of the san diya generation born in the early 1920s was crucial in colonial Kankan. By that time European culture and values had filtered into the urban environment through travels, schooling, and contact with some members of the white community. Africans, however, did not adopt all the European cultural symbols they had observed. Rather, they reshaped those elements of European culture that they found attractive to fit their own lifestyles. The young men of san diya and other age groups admired such European musical instruments as the guitar and drum set, and such dances of the day as the tango, waltz, rumba, and bolero. They were eager to live their own lives, as every generation desires. But, rigid cultural mores and constraints prevented Kankan youth from introducing European-dance styles based on physical contact between male and female dancers into their beloved hometown. For Kankan, although a modern metropolis, was home to Cheikh Muhammad Cherif and other religious leaders who made it an abode of Maninnka rigorism and a city of strict adherence to Islamic codes of behavior. Early testimony is provided by the French traveler Rene Caillile (1968: 1: 269), who sojourned in Kankan in 1823: "Music and dancing are forbidden among Musulmans [Muslims], and consequently their amusements are far from equalling in frolic and gaiety those which prevail among the pagans"...
[page] 198
...Although dancing was permitted in Kankan with certain restrictions, it was genteel in style and did not take on the sometimes frenetic and violent nature of jembe based rhythms such as Dundunba...
The generational problems of the san diya and the dan diya youth of the 1930s and 1940s generations found a creative solution in Mamaya. They had to initiate an open theatrical forums to conform with their generational attitudes and preferences that would also be compatible with the culture of Kankan. A new artistic form had to be invented, composed, rehearsed, and performed in public. Mamaya expressed this harmony between the imperatives of renewal and respect for traditions.
[...]
page 199
[...]
A typical Mamaya performance involved three bala, a chorus of female singers standing behind them, and sometimes a dun dun (bass drum) or jass drum set player. Youth organized the performance to begin in the mid-afternoon. Grooups of the same age set (sede) would compete for the most elaborate and successful performance, and two Mamaya were often held the same day in Kabada and Timbo, the two largest sections in Kankan. The male members of the sede would wear white or azure damask caftans or boubous (robes), white socks, and open-backed shoes (babouches). They danced in front of the musicians a la ronde holding a staff or handkerchief in their hands. As the dancers would turn to face the musicians, their names would be sung. The length of the Mamaya core and extended lyrics, unusual in African musical tradition, derived from the need to recognize each dancer, his or her family, and specific quality. This implies that Mamaya belonged to the Maninnka tradition of praise song, but performed in a new style and a new context.
[...]
[page] 200
The closest historical model for Mamaya is probably the piece Lamban, which like Mamaya, is distinguished for the rest of the jeli's repertory in two ways. First, both Lamban and Mamaya have a specific dance associated with them. This occurs with very few jeli musical compositions, notably Janjon, which originated in the hunter's repertory. With some exceptions, traditional jeliya is for listening, not dancing. Secondary, neither Lamban nor Mamaya are dedicated to a particular patron or event of political significance, another rare
[page 201-202 aren't included in this Google book excerpt].
page 203
[...]
Transformation of the tradition has also included the use of instruments other than balas for Mamaya recordings. (See El Hadj Djeli Sory Kouyate (1992) for bala recordings and Djeli Moussa Djawara [1988) for a recording using bala, guitar, and kora... Modern renditions of Mamaya often add other instruments, such as guitars, electric bass, keyboards, and brass, while reducing the role of the bala. Once again, whether this is a renewal or a corruption depends on one's vantage point and the creativity of the artist.
[...]
It [Mamaya] remains a symbol of musical innovation within the jeli's tradition, and of a Maninnka group's genius for creative renewal in musical expression."
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
[With the exception of the first video, these examples are given in chronological order based on their publishing date, with the oldest dated example given first.]
Excerpt #1: Ami Koïta – Mamaya
Ousmane Bakary Kaba Uploaded on Aug 27, 2010
un tube qui reste aussi célèbre qu'à la date de sa sortie. ici la diva Ami koïta rend hommage au Mali son pays. le clip a été tournée en Guinée avec une réalisation de JMJ
-snip-
(Google translate from French to English)
A tube that remains as famous as when it was released. Here the diva Ami koïta pays tribute to Mali his country. The clip was shot in Guinea with a realization of WYD.
****
Excerpt #2: RTG conakry presente la Mamaya de Kankan 2005
Aladji Toure, Uploaded on Dec 16, 2006
La Mamaya 2005 a kankan presenté par la radio television guinéeenne organisé par Sede sandiaya 3 de kankan a suivre
[Google translate from French to English]
La Mamaya 2005 a kankan presented by the radio television guineaeenne organized by Sede sandiaya 3 of kankan to follow
****
Example #3: MAMAYA DE KANKAN 2008
Aladji Toure Uploaded on Jan 26, 2008
{Gooble translate from French to English]
The radio-kankan.com presents the biggest griots most popular has kankan for the cause of the mamaya follow well this film unique in the world
**
Except #4: Mamaya 2008 a kankan
Aladji Toure Uploaded on Mar 27, 2008
****
Example #5: Le MAMAYA de 30 MAI 2009 en Hollande
Djiguipromotions Uploaded on Dec 21, 2009
Djigui promotion presente
Le MAMAYA de 30 MAI 2009 en Hollande
****
Excerpt #6: Kankan Mamaya 2006
Aladji Toure, Uploaded on May 4, 2011
radio-kankan.com presente Mamaya 2006 avec Sede sandiya 3 a kankan
Voila la derniere version de la mamaya a kankan un orchestre de sididou anime la soirée
{Google translate from French to English)
Here is the last version of the mamaya a kankan an orchestra of sididou animates the evening
****
Excerpt #7: MAMAYA DE KANKAN- TOUJOUR LIVE.
Seretoure Sekoukaba, Published on Mar 9, 2015
-snip-
This is showcased in this post in part because of its historical photographs
.****
This concludes Part I of this two part series about Mamaya.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Friday, April 28, 2017
Three Videos Of Little Girls Dancing To American Hip Hop Songs With Their Big Sister/s
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases three videos of little girls dancing to American Hip Hop songs with their big sister/s.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
Click the tags given below for other pancocojams posts about the featured Hip Hop songs/dances.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Cutest #HitTheQuan Ever
shervon king, Published on Aug 12, 2015
Little girl is the cutest dancing to Hit The Quan
****
Example #2: Petty song
Siandre Bunkley Published on Jun 17, 2016
****
Example #3: Best "Juju On That Beat" Dance by 8 year old
YoRodney Published on Oct 23, 2016
these little girls was doing the dance to the Juju song . . peep the little one in the back she didn't want to get counted out , like the video if it's the best one by a kid
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This pancocojams post showcases three videos of little girls dancing to American Hip Hop songs with their big sister/s.
The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
Click the tags given below for other pancocojams posts about the featured Hip Hop songs/dances.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Cutest #HitTheQuan Ever
shervon king, Published on Aug 12, 2015
Little girl is the cutest dancing to Hit The Quan
****
Example #2: Petty song
Siandre Bunkley Published on Jun 17, 2016
****
Example #3: Best "Juju On That Beat" Dance by 8 year old
YoRodney Published on Oct 23, 2016
these little girls was doing the dance to the Juju song . . peep the little one in the back she didn't want to get counted out , like the video if it's the best one by a kid
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Names For Days Of The Week In Soninke & Wolof
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides information about names for days of the week in Soninke and Wolof. Soninke and Wolof are two traditional West African languages.
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series that provides information about and lists for day names in various African languages. Click the "African languages days of the week" tag to find other posts in this ongoing series.
The content of this post is presented for linguistic, cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/excerpts-from-two-articles-by-fallou.html for a related pancocojams post entitled "Excerpts From Two Articles By Fallou Ngom About The Use Of French, Arabic, English, & Pulaar Loanwords In Senegal's Wolof Language"
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT SONINKE (LANGUAGE)
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soninke_language
"The Soninke language (Soninke: Sooninkanxanne[3]) is a Mande language spoken by the Soninke people of West Africa. The language has an estimated 1,096,795 speakers, primarily located in Mali, and also (in order of numerical importance of the communities) in Senegal, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Ghana. It enjoys the status of a national language in Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania.
The language is relatively homogeneous, with only slight phonological, lexical, and grammatical variations."...
****
Excerpt #2:
From https://www.alsintl.com/resources/languages/Soninke/
"Soninke Language
Soninke (also called Marka, Maraka, Sarakole, Sarakule, Sarawule, Serahuli, Silabe, Toubakai, Wakore, Gadyaga, Aswanik, Diawara) is a Mande language of the Niger-Congo language family. It is the national language of Mali. Soninke is also spoken in Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal.
There are more than one million Soninke speakers worldwide.
Soninke dialects include Azer (Adjer, Aser), Kinbakka, and Xenqenna."...
****
Excerpt #3
From http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/audio/languagelessons/mauritania/MR_Soninke_Language_Lessons.pdf
Days Of The Week [in Soninke]
Tineeni Monday
Talaata Tuesday
Araba Wednesday
Alaxamisa Thursday
Al juma Friday
Sibiti Saturday
Alahadi Sunday
Koota su Every day
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT WOLOF
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolof_language
Wolof ... is a language of Senegal, the Gambia, and Mauritania, and the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Senegambian branch of the Niger–Congo language family. Unlike most other languages of Sub-Saharan Africa, Wolof is not a tonal language.
Wolof originated as the language of the Lebu people.[3][4] It is the most widely spoken language in Senegal, spoken natively by the Wolof people (40% of the population) but also by most other Senegalese as a second language.
Wolof dialects vary geographically and between rural and urban areas. "Dakar-Wolof", for instance, is an urban mixture of Wolof, French, and Arabic.
"Wolof" is the standard spelling and may refer to the Wolof people or to Wolof culture. Variants include the older French Ouolof and the principally Gambian "Wollof". "Jolof", "jollof", etc., now typically refers either to the Jolof Empire or to jollof rice, a common West African rice dish. Now-archaic forms include "Volof" and "Olof".
The English language is believed to have adopted some Wolof words, such as banana, via Spanish or Portuguese,[5] and yum/yummy, from Wolof nyam "to taste";[6] nyam in Barbadian English[7] meaning "to eat" (also compare Seychellois Creole nyanmnyanm, also meaning "to eat").[8]
****
Excerpt #2
From http://www.omniglot.com/writing/wolof.htm
"Wolof (Wollof)
Wolof is a member of the Senegambian branch of the Niger-Congo language family with about 7 million speakers in Senegal, France, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Mauritania. Wolof is one of the six national languages of Senegal (Senegaal / سِنِڭَالْ), along with Serer, Mandinka, Pulaar, Diola and Soninke.
Wolof was first written with a version of the Arabic script known as Wolofal, which is still used by many older men in Senegal. The Wolof orthography using the Latin alphabet was standardised in 1974 and is the official script for Wolof in Senegal.
Wolof is also sometimes written with the Garay alphabet which was devised by Assane Faye, a Senegalese artist, in 1961. This alphabet is written from right to left and is modelled loosely on the Arabic script."...
****
Excerpt #3
From DAYS OF THE WEEK / BÉSI AYUBÉS BI
From https://jangawolof.wordpress.com/2007/12/27/days-of-the-week-besi-ayubes-bi/
December 27, 2007 by Amadou
"Wolof names for the days of the week are mostly adopted from Arabic.:
[...]
Monday – Alteneh / Altinay / Altine [al-ti-ney]
Tuesday – Talarta / Talata / Talaata [ta-laa-ta]
Wednesday – Arlahrba / Alarba / Àllarba [al-lar-ba]
Thursday – Alheames / Alxamess / Alxames [al-kha-mes]
Friday – Arjuma / Ajuma / Àjjuma [aj-ju-ma]
Saturday – Gaaw / Gaawo / Gaawu [gaa-woo]
Sunday – Dibéér / Dibeer / Dibéer [dee-beyr]
Saturday may also be known as Aséér. (found this trans. in a Gambian source)"
****
Help please! While I've found online information about Serer (Serer-Sine), I've not been able to find any internet list of the names for the days of the week in that language. Please add to online information about traditional African languages by sharing the names for the days of the week in Serer in the discussion thread of this post. Thanks!
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This pancocojams post provides information about names for days of the week in Soninke and Wolof. Soninke and Wolof are two traditional West African languages.
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series that provides information about and lists for day names in various African languages. Click the "African languages days of the week" tag to find other posts in this ongoing series.
The content of this post is presented for linguistic, cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/09/excerpts-from-two-articles-by-fallou.html for a related pancocojams post entitled "Excerpts From Two Articles By Fallou Ngom About The Use Of French, Arabic, English, & Pulaar Loanwords In Senegal's Wolof Language"
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT SONINKE (LANGUAGE)
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soninke_language
"The Soninke language (Soninke: Sooninkanxanne[3]) is a Mande language spoken by the Soninke people of West Africa. The language has an estimated 1,096,795 speakers, primarily located in Mali, and also (in order of numerical importance of the communities) in Senegal, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Ghana. It enjoys the status of a national language in Mali, Senegal, and Mauritania.
The language is relatively homogeneous, with only slight phonological, lexical, and grammatical variations."...
****
Excerpt #2:
From https://www.alsintl.com/resources/languages/Soninke/
"Soninke Language
Soninke (also called Marka, Maraka, Sarakole, Sarakule, Sarawule, Serahuli, Silabe, Toubakai, Wakore, Gadyaga, Aswanik, Diawara) is a Mande language of the Niger-Congo language family. It is the national language of Mali. Soninke is also spoken in Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal.
There are more than one million Soninke speakers worldwide.
Soninke dialects include Azer (Adjer, Aser), Kinbakka, and Xenqenna."...
****
Excerpt #3
From http://files.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/audio/languagelessons/mauritania/MR_Soninke_Language_Lessons.pdf
Days Of The Week [in Soninke]
Tineeni Monday
Talaata Tuesday
Araba Wednesday
Alaxamisa Thursday
Al juma Friday
Sibiti Saturday
Alahadi Sunday
Koota su Every day
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT WOLOF
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolof_language
Wolof ... is a language of Senegal, the Gambia, and Mauritania, and the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Senegambian branch of the Niger–Congo language family. Unlike most other languages of Sub-Saharan Africa, Wolof is not a tonal language.
Wolof originated as the language of the Lebu people.[3][4] It is the most widely spoken language in Senegal, spoken natively by the Wolof people (40% of the population) but also by most other Senegalese as a second language.
Wolof dialects vary geographically and between rural and urban areas. "Dakar-Wolof", for instance, is an urban mixture of Wolof, French, and Arabic.
"Wolof" is the standard spelling and may refer to the Wolof people or to Wolof culture. Variants include the older French Ouolof and the principally Gambian "Wollof". "Jolof", "jollof", etc., now typically refers either to the Jolof Empire or to jollof rice, a common West African rice dish. Now-archaic forms include "Volof" and "Olof".
The English language is believed to have adopted some Wolof words, such as banana, via Spanish or Portuguese,[5] and yum/yummy, from Wolof nyam "to taste";[6] nyam in Barbadian English[7] meaning "to eat" (also compare Seychellois Creole nyanmnyanm, also meaning "to eat").[8]
****
Excerpt #2
From http://www.omniglot.com/writing/wolof.htm
"Wolof (Wollof)
Wolof is a member of the Senegambian branch of the Niger-Congo language family with about 7 million speakers in Senegal, France, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Mauritania. Wolof is one of the six national languages of Senegal (Senegaal / سِنِڭَالْ), along with Serer, Mandinka, Pulaar, Diola and Soninke.
Wolof was first written with a version of the Arabic script known as Wolofal, which is still used by many older men in Senegal. The Wolof orthography using the Latin alphabet was standardised in 1974 and is the official script for Wolof in Senegal.
Wolof is also sometimes written with the Garay alphabet which was devised by Assane Faye, a Senegalese artist, in 1961. This alphabet is written from right to left and is modelled loosely on the Arabic script."...
****
Excerpt #3
From DAYS OF THE WEEK / BÉSI AYUBÉS BI
From https://jangawolof.wordpress.com/2007/12/27/days-of-the-week-besi-ayubes-bi/
December 27, 2007 by Amadou
"Wolof names for the days of the week are mostly adopted from Arabic.:
[...]
Monday – Alteneh / Altinay / Altine [al-ti-ney]
Tuesday – Talarta / Talata / Talaata [ta-laa-ta]
Wednesday – Arlahrba / Alarba / Àllarba [al-lar-ba]
Thursday – Alheames / Alxamess / Alxames [al-kha-mes]
Friday – Arjuma / Ajuma / Àjjuma [aj-ju-ma]
Saturday – Gaaw / Gaawo / Gaawu [gaa-woo]
Sunday – Dibéér / Dibeer / Dibéer [dee-beyr]
Saturday may also be known as Aséér. (found this trans. in a Gambian source)"
****
Help please! While I've found online information about Serer (Serer-Sine), I've not been able to find any internet list of the names for the days of the week in that language. Please add to online information about traditional African languages by sharing the names for the days of the week in Serer in the discussion thread of this post. Thanks!
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Names For Days Of The Week In Three Mande Languages: Bambara, Jula, and Mandinka
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides information about names for days of the week in three Mande languages: Bambara, Jula (Dioula), and Mandinka.
"Mande" is a category for some-but not all- traditional languages that are spoken in West Africa.
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series that provides information about and lists for day names in various African languages. Click the "African languages days of the week" tag to find other posts in this ongoing series.
The content of this post is presented for linguistic, cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT MANDE (LANGUAGES CATEGORY)
Excerpt #1:
From http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199772810/obo-9780199772810-0144.xml
"Mande Languages", Dmitry Idiatov, Last Modified 11 January 2017
"Introduction
Mande languages are spoken across much of inland West Africa up to the northwest of Nigeria as their eastern limit. The center of gravity of the Mande-speaking world is situated in the southwest of Mali and the neighboring regions. There are approximately seventy Mande languages. Mande languages have long been recognized as a coherent group. Thanks to both a sufficient number of clear lexical correspondences and the remarkable uniformity in basic morphosyntax, the attribution of a given language to Mande is usually straightforward. The major subdivision within Mande is between Western Mande, which comprises the majority of both languages and speakers, and Southeastern Mande (aka Southern Mande or Eastern Mande, which are also the names for the two subbranches of Southeastern Mande), a comparatively small but linguistically diverse and geographically dispersed group.
Traditionally, Mande languages have been classified as one of the earliest offshoots of Niger-Congo. However, their external affiliation still remains a working hypothesis rather than an established fact. One of the most well-known Mande languages is probably Bamana (aka Bambara), as well as some of its close relatives, which in nonlinguistic publications are sometimes indiscriminately referred to as Mandingo. Mande languages are written in a variety of scripts ranging from Latin-based or Arabic-based alphabets to indigenously developed scripts, both syllabic and alphabetic."
-snip-
This article has been reformatted for this post.
****
Excerpt #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mande_languages
"The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé people and include Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Dioula, Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are millions of speakers, chiefly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast. The Mande languages have traditionally been considered a divergent branch of the Niger–Congo family, but that has always been controversial.”...
****
INFORMATION ABOUT & NAMES OF DAYS OF THE WEEK IN BAMBARA, JULA, AND MANDINKA
Bambara
Excerpt #1:
From http://www.omniglot.com/writing/bambara.htm
"Bambara (Bamanankan)
Bambara is a Mande language with about 3 million speakers in Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ghana. It is spoken principally among the Bambara ethnic group in Mali, where it is the national language and the most widely understood one.
Writing was introduced to the Bambara during the French occupation (1880-1960) and Bambara is usually written with the Latin alphabet, though the N'Ko and Arabic alphabets are also used to some extent. In addition, there is a rich oral literature, consisting largely of tales of kings and heroes."...
****
Excerpt #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambara_language
"The Bambara (Bamana) language, Bamanankan, is a lingua franca and national language of Mali spoken by perhaps 15 million people, 5 million Bambara people and about 10 million second-language users. It is estimated that about 80 percent of the population of Mali speak Bambara as a first or second language. It has a subject–object–verb clause structure and two lexical tones.
Classification
Bambara is a variety of a group of closely related languages called Manding, whose native speakers trace their cultural history to the medieval Mali Empire.[3] Varieties of Manding are generally considered (among native speakers) to be mutually intelligible – dependent on exposure or familiarity with dialects between speakers – and spoken by 30 to 40 million people in the countries Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and the Gambia.[4] Manding is part of the larger Mandé family of languages."...
****
Excerpt #3
http://wikitravel.org/en/Bambara_phrasebook http://wikitravel.org/en/Bambara_phrasebook
Bambara phrasebook, Mali Banner.jpg
"Bambara, or Bamanankan is a language in West Africa, mostly in Mali, where it is mother tongue of the Bambara people (30% of the population), and where 80% of the population can communicate in the language. Bambara will also be useful in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, and Gambia. Together with Dioulé and Malinké it belongs to the Mandekan dialect family, which itself part of the Mande group, which is a Niger-Congo language subgroup.
The language is heavily influenced by French, and even the slightest knowledge of French will make it easier to remember words. If you don't remember a word you can try to use the French word.
[...]
Sunday - kari-don
Monday - nténé-don
Tuesday - tarata-don
Wednesday - araba-don
Thursday - alamisa-don
Friday - (gé)juma-don
Saturday - sibiri-don
****
Jula (Dioula)
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyula_language
"Jula (Dyula, Dioula) is a Mande language spoken in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Mali. It is one of the Manding languages, and is most closely related to Bambara, being mutually intelligible with Bambara as well as Malinke. It is a trade language in West Africa and is spoken by millions of people, either as a first or second language. It is written in the Arabic script and the Latin script, as well as in the indigenous N'Ko alphabet."...
****
From https://www.ethnologue.com/language/dyu
"Jula
A language of Côte d’Ivoire
Alternate Names Dioula, Diula, Djula, Dyoula, Dyula, Jula Kong, Kong Jula, Tagboussikan
Autonym - Julakan
Population
8,500,000 in Côte d’Ivoire; Total users in all countries: 12,486,000 (as L1: 2,208,000; as L2: 10,278,000).
-snip-
"L1" = first language
"L2"- second language"
****
Excerpt #3
From http://www.morethanfootprints.com/dioula-phrasebook.html
"days of the week
Monday - Tènè
Tuesday - Tarata
Wednesday - Araba
Thursday - Lamoussa
Friday - Djouma
Saturday - Sibiri
Sunday - Aty"
****
Mandinka
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandinka_language
"The Mandinka language (Mandi'nka kango), or Mandingo, is a Mandé language spoken by the Mandinka people of the Casamance region of Senegal, the Gambia, and northern Guinea-Bissau. It is the principal language of the Gambia.
Mandinka belongs to the Manding branch of Mandé, and is thus similar to Bambara and Maninka/Malinké. In a majority of areas, it is a tonal language with two tones: low and high, although the particular variety spoken in the Gambia and Senegal borders on a pitch accent due to its proximity with non-tonal neighboring languages like Wolof.
[...]
In Senegal and Gambia, Mandinka is approaching a system of pitch accent under the influence of local non-tonal languages such as Wolof. The tonal system is more robust in Guinea-Bisau."...
****
Excerpt #2
From http://mansata.wikifoundry.com/page/Learn+to+Speak+Mandinka Days of The Week / Months / Year
"Sunday - Alahadi or Dimasso
Monday - Teneng
Tuesday - Talato
Wednesday - Arabo
Thursday - Aramiso
Friday - Ajumo
Saturday - Sibiti"
****
Excerpt #3
From https://mandinkakango.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/days-of-the-week/ Mandinka Days of the week
Posted June 17, 2010 by mandinka Kaŋo
"Teneŋo - Monday
Telato - Tuesday
Arabo - Wednesday
Aramiso - Thursday
Arjumo - Friday
Si bito - Saturday
Dimasso - Sunday
-snip-
Note: The term "Mandinka" (language) shouldn't be confused with the term "Maninka" (Malinké) language.
According to https://www.alsintl.com/resources/languages/Malinke/
"Malinke (also called Maninkakan Western, Maninka-Western, Malinka) is a Manding language belonging to the Niger-Congo language family. It is spoken in Eastern Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali. There are approximately 500,000 Malinke speakers total.
Malinke has a 59% lexical similarity to Mandinka."
-snip-
Help please! While I've found online information about Maninka (Malinké), I've not been able to find any internet list of the names for the days of the week in that language.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This pancocojams post provides information about names for days of the week in three Mande languages: Bambara, Jula (Dioula), and Mandinka.
"Mande" is a category for some-but not all- traditional languages that are spoken in West Africa.
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series that provides information about and lists for day names in various African languages. Click the "African languages days of the week" tag to find other posts in this ongoing series.
The content of this post is presented for linguistic, cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT MANDE (LANGUAGES CATEGORY)
Excerpt #1:
From http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199772810/obo-9780199772810-0144.xml
"Mande Languages", Dmitry Idiatov, Last Modified 11 January 2017
"Introduction
Mande languages are spoken across much of inland West Africa up to the northwest of Nigeria as their eastern limit. The center of gravity of the Mande-speaking world is situated in the southwest of Mali and the neighboring regions. There are approximately seventy Mande languages. Mande languages have long been recognized as a coherent group. Thanks to both a sufficient number of clear lexical correspondences and the remarkable uniformity in basic morphosyntax, the attribution of a given language to Mande is usually straightforward. The major subdivision within Mande is between Western Mande, which comprises the majority of both languages and speakers, and Southeastern Mande (aka Southern Mande or Eastern Mande, which are also the names for the two subbranches of Southeastern Mande), a comparatively small but linguistically diverse and geographically dispersed group.
Traditionally, Mande languages have been classified as one of the earliest offshoots of Niger-Congo. However, their external affiliation still remains a working hypothesis rather than an established fact. One of the most well-known Mande languages is probably Bamana (aka Bambara), as well as some of its close relatives, which in nonlinguistic publications are sometimes indiscriminately referred to as Mandingo. Mande languages are written in a variety of scripts ranging from Latin-based or Arabic-based alphabets to indigenously developed scripts, both syllabic and alphabetic."
-snip-
This article has been reformatted for this post.
****
Excerpt #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mande_languages
"The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé people and include Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Dioula, Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are millions of speakers, chiefly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast. The Mande languages have traditionally been considered a divergent branch of the Niger–Congo family, but that has always been controversial.”...
****
INFORMATION ABOUT & NAMES OF DAYS OF THE WEEK IN BAMBARA, JULA, AND MANDINKA
Bambara
Excerpt #1:
From http://www.omniglot.com/writing/bambara.htm
"Bambara (Bamanankan)
Bambara is a Mande language with about 3 million speakers in Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ghana. It is spoken principally among the Bambara ethnic group in Mali, where it is the national language and the most widely understood one.
Writing was introduced to the Bambara during the French occupation (1880-1960) and Bambara is usually written with the Latin alphabet, though the N'Ko and Arabic alphabets are also used to some extent. In addition, there is a rich oral literature, consisting largely of tales of kings and heroes."...
****
Excerpt #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambara_language
"The Bambara (Bamana) language, Bamanankan, is a lingua franca and national language of Mali spoken by perhaps 15 million people, 5 million Bambara people and about 10 million second-language users. It is estimated that about 80 percent of the population of Mali speak Bambara as a first or second language. It has a subject–object–verb clause structure and two lexical tones.
Classification
Bambara is a variety of a group of closely related languages called Manding, whose native speakers trace their cultural history to the medieval Mali Empire.[3] Varieties of Manding are generally considered (among native speakers) to be mutually intelligible – dependent on exposure or familiarity with dialects between speakers – and spoken by 30 to 40 million people in the countries Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and the Gambia.[4] Manding is part of the larger Mandé family of languages."...
****
Excerpt #3
http://wikitravel.org/en/Bambara_phrasebook http://wikitravel.org/en/Bambara_phrasebook
Bambara phrasebook, Mali Banner.jpg
"Bambara, or Bamanankan is a language in West Africa, mostly in Mali, where it is mother tongue of the Bambara people (30% of the population), and where 80% of the population can communicate in the language. Bambara will also be useful in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, and Gambia. Together with Dioulé and Malinké it belongs to the Mandekan dialect family, which itself part of the Mande group, which is a Niger-Congo language subgroup.
The language is heavily influenced by French, and even the slightest knowledge of French will make it easier to remember words. If you don't remember a word you can try to use the French word.
[...]
Sunday - kari-don
Monday - nténé-don
Tuesday - tarata-don
Wednesday - araba-don
Thursday - alamisa-don
Friday - (gé)juma-don
Saturday - sibiri-don
****
Jula (Dioula)
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyula_language
"Jula (Dyula, Dioula) is a Mande language spoken in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Mali. It is one of the Manding languages, and is most closely related to Bambara, being mutually intelligible with Bambara as well as Malinke. It is a trade language in West Africa and is spoken by millions of people, either as a first or second language. It is written in the Arabic script and the Latin script, as well as in the indigenous N'Ko alphabet."...
****
From https://www.ethnologue.com/language/dyu
"Jula
A language of Côte d’Ivoire
Alternate Names Dioula, Diula, Djula, Dyoula, Dyula, Jula Kong, Kong Jula, Tagboussikan
Autonym - Julakan
Population
8,500,000 in Côte d’Ivoire; Total users in all countries: 12,486,000 (as L1: 2,208,000; as L2: 10,278,000).
-snip-
"L1" = first language
"L2"- second language"
****
Excerpt #3
From http://www.morethanfootprints.com/dioula-phrasebook.html
"days of the week
Monday - Tènè
Tuesday - Tarata
Wednesday - Araba
Thursday - Lamoussa
Friday - Djouma
Saturday - Sibiri
Sunday - Aty"
****
Mandinka
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandinka_language
"The Mandinka language (Mandi'nka kango), or Mandingo, is a Mandé language spoken by the Mandinka people of the Casamance region of Senegal, the Gambia, and northern Guinea-Bissau. It is the principal language of the Gambia.
Mandinka belongs to the Manding branch of Mandé, and is thus similar to Bambara and Maninka/Malinké. In a majority of areas, it is a tonal language with two tones: low and high, although the particular variety spoken in the Gambia and Senegal borders on a pitch accent due to its proximity with non-tonal neighboring languages like Wolof.
[...]
In Senegal and Gambia, Mandinka is approaching a system of pitch accent under the influence of local non-tonal languages such as Wolof. The tonal system is more robust in Guinea-Bisau."...
****
Excerpt #2
From http://mansata.wikifoundry.com/page/Learn+to+Speak+Mandinka Days of The Week / Months / Year
"Sunday - Alahadi or Dimasso
Monday - Teneng
Tuesday - Talato
Wednesday - Arabo
Thursday - Aramiso
Friday - Ajumo
Saturday - Sibiti"
****
Excerpt #3
From https://mandinkakango.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/days-of-the-week/ Mandinka Days of the week
Posted June 17, 2010 by mandinka Kaŋo
"Teneŋo - Monday
Telato - Tuesday
Arabo - Wednesday
Aramiso - Thursday
Arjumo - Friday
Si bito - Saturday
Dimasso - Sunday
-snip-
Note: The term "Mandinka" (language) shouldn't be confused with the term "Maninka" (Malinké) language.
According to https://www.alsintl.com/resources/languages/Malinke/
"Malinke (also called Maninkakan Western, Maninka-Western, Malinka) is a Manding language belonging to the Niger-Congo language family. It is spoken in Eastern Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali. There are approximately 500,000 Malinke speakers total.
Malinke has a 59% lexical similarity to Mandinka."
-snip-
Help please! While I've found online information about Maninka (Malinké), I've not been able to find any internet list of the names for the days of the week in that language.
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Names For Days Of The Week In Nama (Khoekhoe) Language Of South Africa, Namibia, & Botswana
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides information about names for days of the week in the Nama (Khoekhoe) language Of South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana.
This post also includes two YouTube videos of people speaking Nama.
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series that provides information about and lists for day names in various African languages. Click the "African languages days of the week" tag to find other posts in this ongoing series.
The content of this post is presented for linguistic, cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/seven-videos-of-nama-stap-nama-step.html for a pancocojams post that showcases nine videos of a Nama dance form called "Nama Strap" (also known as "Nama Step" or "Riel").
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE NAMA LANGUAGE
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoekhoe_language
"The Khoekhoe language... also known by the ethnic term Nama /ˈnɑːmə/[3] and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of those non-Bantu languages of southern Africa that contain "click" sounds and have therefore been loosely classified as Khoisan. It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by three ethnic groups, the Nama, Damara, and Haiǁom. A smaller fraction of mostly Nama and Damara who fled the 1904-1908 Namibian War of National Resistance also speak the language in Botswana, while Khoena (previously Colored) are working hard ton [sic] revive the language in South Africa.
[...]
The name for Khoekhoegowab speakers, Khoekhoen, in English khoe is a "person", with reduplication and the suffix -n to indicate the plural[citation needed]. Georg Friedrich Wreede was the first European to study the language, after arriving in Cape Town in 1659.
Khoekhoe is a national language in Namibia, where it is used for teaching up to the university level as well as in the public administration[citation needed]. In Namibia and South Africa, state-owned broadcasting corporations produce and broadcast radio programmes in Khoekhoegowab.
****
Excerpt #2
From http://www.omniglot.com/writing/khoekhoe.htm
"Khoekhoe (Khoekhoegowab)
Khoekhoe is a Khoisan languages spoken by approximately 250,000 people in parts of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. It is spoken by three ethnic groups of people: the Nama (Khoekhoen), Damar and Haiǁom, and is also known as Nama.
Khoekhoe is a national language in Nambia and is used in education at all levels, as well as on the radio. There are also Khoekhoe radio programmes in South Africa.
In the past the term Hottentot was used to refer to the Khoekhoe language and those who spoke it. This name was coined by early Dutch settlers, who, upon hearing the language spoken, thought that all the natives were saying was 'hot' and 'tot'. It is now considered rascist and is no longer used.
The first European to study the Khoekhoe language was Georg Friedricj Wreede, who arrived in Cape Town in 1659."....
****
Excerpt #3
From http://www.omniglot.com/language/time/days.htm
"Khoekhoe (Nama)
Mantaxtses, ǂgurotses (Monday)
Denstaxtses, ǀgamǀîtses (Tuesday)
Wunstaxtses, !nonaǁîtses (Wednesday)
Donertaxtses, hakaǁîtses (Thursday)
Fraitaxtse, koroǁîtses (Friday)
Satertaxtses, !naniǁîtses (Saturday)
Sontaxtses, hûǁîtses (Sunday)"
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: KhoeKhoegowab Lesson No:1
Easy Languages, Uploaded on Dec 28, 2006
KhoeKhoegowab is the most populous and widespread of the Khoisan languages. It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by the Namaqua, Damara, and Haillom, as well as smaller ethnic groups such as the #Khomani. The name for Nama speakers, Khoekhoen, is from the Nama word khoe "person", with reduplication and the suffix -n to indicate the plural.
Thusnelda Dausas and Gabriel /Khoeseb are two young teachers from the primery school, a small school vilage called Baumgartsbrunn in Namibia.
-snip-
Here are selected comments from this video's discussion thread
Gladys Baya, 2007
"I can't even hear the diference between the four of them! :-( Next time someone tells me English sounds are difficult, I'll send them to study KhoeKhoegowab!
Thanks for the lesson!"
**
pusifut, 2007
"they dont speak with the clicks because they want to, they speak because its part of their language. its just like how english speakers are perhaps one of the only peoplep to use th certain words
2007"
**
Stephen Blake. 2012
"Thank you for posting these lessons. I teach high school human geography in Tennessee USA and my classes had a lot of fun trying to speak Khoisan. They asked me to find out the name and artist of that very catchy tune you play at the end. Could you please tell me if you can?
Kindest regards
Stephen"
**
Reply
Easy Languages, 2012
"The name of the artist is: The Dogg
I don't remember the name of the song but you find a lot of his stuff on youtube. He is a very well know Namibian Kwaito - Style musician.
Last year he let us to make a video clip with him to advertise the idea of using digital media on internet by high school students. If you search for "The Dogg" on my channel you could see it. Most of it was done in our partner school in Windhoek.
Thank you for your interest. Namibia is unbelievable beautiful country. "
**
Анастасия Юрь Ева, 2013
"Khosa and Zulu are easier, because the clicks are different and easier to make. I need a better description of how to place the tongue to make the clicks for KhoeKhoegowab."
-snip-
Another commenter wrote that the correct spelling is "Xhosa".
**
Jonathan Canfield, 2016
"Those sounds are pretty hard to distinguish, for beginners. Thanks for the lesson. It was informative and clear."
****
Example #2: KhoeKhoegowab Lesson No:3
Easy Languages, Uploaded on Dec 31, 2006
KhoeKhoegowab is the most populous and widespread of the Khoisan languages. It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by the Namaqua, Damara, and Haillom, as well as smaller ethnic groups such as the #Khomani. The name for Nama speakers, Khoekhoen, is from the Nama word khoe "person", with reduplication and the suffix -n to indicate the plural.
Thusnelda Dausas and Gabriel /Khoeseb are two young teachers from the primery school, a small school vilage called Baumgartsbrunn in Namibia.
-snip-
Here's a comment from this video's discussion thread:
"AdmiralXolo, 2012
"Lol this is easy for Zulu and Xhosa speakers like myself.Althou we don't have as many clicks as the khoi but this is kinda fun"
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This pancocojams post provides information about names for days of the week in the Nama (Khoekhoe) language Of South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana.
This post also includes two YouTube videos of people speaking Nama.
This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series that provides information about and lists for day names in various African languages. Click the "African languages days of the week" tag to find other posts in this ongoing series.
The content of this post is presented for linguistic, cultural, and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/seven-videos-of-nama-stap-nama-step.html for a pancocojams post that showcases nine videos of a Nama dance form called "Nama Strap" (also known as "Nama Step" or "Riel").
****
GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE NAMA LANGUAGE
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoekhoe_language
"The Khoekhoe language... also known by the ethnic term Nama /ˈnɑːmə/[3] and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of those non-Bantu languages of southern Africa that contain "click" sounds and have therefore been loosely classified as Khoisan. It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by three ethnic groups, the Nama, Damara, and Haiǁom. A smaller fraction of mostly Nama and Damara who fled the 1904-1908 Namibian War of National Resistance also speak the language in Botswana, while Khoena (previously Colored) are working hard ton [sic] revive the language in South Africa.
[...]
The name for Khoekhoegowab speakers, Khoekhoen, in English khoe is a "person", with reduplication and the suffix -n to indicate the plural[citation needed]. Georg Friedrich Wreede was the first European to study the language, after arriving in Cape Town in 1659.
Khoekhoe is a national language in Namibia, where it is used for teaching up to the university level as well as in the public administration[citation needed]. In Namibia and South Africa, state-owned broadcasting corporations produce and broadcast radio programmes in Khoekhoegowab.
****
Excerpt #2
From http://www.omniglot.com/writing/khoekhoe.htm
"Khoekhoe (Khoekhoegowab)
Khoekhoe is a Khoisan languages spoken by approximately 250,000 people in parts of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. It is spoken by three ethnic groups of people: the Nama (Khoekhoen), Damar and Haiǁom, and is also known as Nama.
Khoekhoe is a national language in Nambia and is used in education at all levels, as well as on the radio. There are also Khoekhoe radio programmes in South Africa.
In the past the term Hottentot was used to refer to the Khoekhoe language and those who spoke it. This name was coined by early Dutch settlers, who, upon hearing the language spoken, thought that all the natives were saying was 'hot' and 'tot'. It is now considered rascist and is no longer used.
The first European to study the Khoekhoe language was Georg Friedricj Wreede, who arrived in Cape Town in 1659."....
****
Excerpt #3
From http://www.omniglot.com/language/time/days.htm
"Khoekhoe (Nama)
Mantaxtses, ǂgurotses (Monday)
Denstaxtses, ǀgamǀîtses (Tuesday)
Wunstaxtses, !nonaǁîtses (Wednesday)
Donertaxtses, hakaǁîtses (Thursday)
Fraitaxtse, koroǁîtses (Friday)
Satertaxtses, !naniǁîtses (Saturday)
Sontaxtses, hûǁîtses (Sunday)"
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: KhoeKhoegowab Lesson No:1
Easy Languages, Uploaded on Dec 28, 2006
KhoeKhoegowab is the most populous and widespread of the Khoisan languages. It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by the Namaqua, Damara, and Haillom, as well as smaller ethnic groups such as the #Khomani. The name for Nama speakers, Khoekhoen, is from the Nama word khoe "person", with reduplication and the suffix -n to indicate the plural.
Thusnelda Dausas and Gabriel /Khoeseb are two young teachers from the primery school, a small school vilage called Baumgartsbrunn in Namibia.
-snip-
Here are selected comments from this video's discussion thread
Gladys Baya, 2007
"I can't even hear the diference between the four of them! :-( Next time someone tells me English sounds are difficult, I'll send them to study KhoeKhoegowab!
Thanks for the lesson!"
**
pusifut, 2007
"they dont speak with the clicks because they want to, they speak because its part of their language. its just like how english speakers are perhaps one of the only peoplep to use th certain words
2007"
**
Stephen Blake. 2012
"Thank you for posting these lessons. I teach high school human geography in Tennessee USA and my classes had a lot of fun trying to speak Khoisan. They asked me to find out the name and artist of that very catchy tune you play at the end. Could you please tell me if you can?
Kindest regards
Stephen"
**
Reply
Easy Languages, 2012
"The name of the artist is: The Dogg
I don't remember the name of the song but you find a lot of his stuff on youtube. He is a very well know Namibian Kwaito - Style musician.
Last year he let us to make a video clip with him to advertise the idea of using digital media on internet by high school students. If you search for "The Dogg" on my channel you could see it. Most of it was done in our partner school in Windhoek.
Thank you for your interest. Namibia is unbelievable beautiful country. "
**
Анастасия Юрь Ева, 2013
"Khosa and Zulu are easier, because the clicks are different and easier to make. I need a better description of how to place the tongue to make the clicks for KhoeKhoegowab."
-snip-
Another commenter wrote that the correct spelling is "Xhosa".
**
Jonathan Canfield, 2016
"Those sounds are pretty hard to distinguish, for beginners. Thanks for the lesson. It was informative and clear."
****
Example #2: KhoeKhoegowab Lesson No:3
Easy Languages, Uploaded on Dec 31, 2006
KhoeKhoegowab is the most populous and widespread of the Khoisan languages. It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by the Namaqua, Damara, and Haillom, as well as smaller ethnic groups such as the #Khomani. The name for Nama speakers, Khoekhoen, is from the Nama word khoe "person", with reduplication and the suffix -n to indicate the plural.
Thusnelda Dausas and Gabriel /Khoeseb are two young teachers from the primery school, a small school vilage called Baumgartsbrunn in Namibia.
-snip-
Here's a comment from this video's discussion thread:
"AdmiralXolo, 2012
"Lol this is easy for Zulu and Xhosa speakers like myself.Althou we don't have as many clicks as the khoi but this is kinda fun"
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Nine Videos Of Nama Stap (Nama Step Dancing) In Namibia & South Africa
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of a two part series on Nama Stap (Nama step, Riel) dancing in South Africa and Namibia.
This post provides information about Nama Stap and showcases nine videos of that dance form in South Africa and Namibia.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/excerpt-from-pdf-nama-stap-dance.html for Part I of this post. Part I provides an excerpt from a pdf file by E. Jean Johnson Joneson entitled The Nama Stap Dance: an analysis of continuity and change. That research paper focuses on a form of the Nama stap dance in South Africa.
The content of this post is presented for cultural purposes, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the Nama people sharing their cultural heritage with the world. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/names-for-days-of-week-in-nama-khoekhoe.html for a closely related pancocojams post on the names for the days of the week in the Nama language.
Here's an excerpt from that post that is given here for clarification purposes:
"The Khoekhoe language... also known by the ethnic term Nama ... and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of those non-Bantu languages of southern Africa that contain "click" sounds and have therefore been loosely classified as Khoisan....
It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by three ethnic groups, the Nama, Damara, and Haiǁom. A smaller fraction of mostly Nama and Damara who fled the 1904-1908 Namibian War of National Resistance also speak the language in Botswana, while Khoena (previously Colored) are working hard ton revive the language in South Africa." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoekhoe_language
****
INFORMATION ABOUT NAMA STAP (also known as "Nama" dancing and "Riel dancing")
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rieldans
"Riel (or Rieldans) is a Khoisan word for an ancient celebratory dance performed by the San (also known as Bushmen), Nama and Khoi.[1] It is considered one of the oldest dancing styles of indigenous South Africa. Also known as Ikhapara by the Nama, it is danced at an energetic pace and demands a lot of fancy footwork[2][3]
Etymology
The dance was not originally called "riel". The original Khoisan and San languages had mostly disappeared and in South Africa these groups mostly speak Afrikaans. The word was later borrowed from "reel", a Scottish folk dance and in Afrikaans the dance became known as the "riel".[4][5] In Nama the dance is known as Ikhapara which is derived from the word "khapas" which means "hat". The hat of the man is a useful article to win a lady's hand in marriage[6]
History
The riel is the oldest entertainment form used as a social, cultural and educational tool by the Khoisan people long before Western cultures and traditions arrived at the Cape of Good Hope. It is an age-old dance of the Khoisan hunters, with distinct Irish and Scottish folk music influences, all performed to the beat of "boeremusiek", Dutch folk songs and minstrel songs of the south of America … It became the dance of the working classes, particularly between the 1940s and 1950s and was danced, especially in the Northern Cape and Karoo and some other regions.[7]
This lively dance was danced around the campfire after hunting expeditions, good harvests or during a celebration Later this also became the dance of farmworkers and sheep shearers, whose daily activities are often portrayed during a dance.[8][9]
The riel was made popular again in recent years and is a true celebration of ancient traditions that finds new expression in contemporary forms. Its modern version has elements of colonialism as the accompanying instrumentation includes guitar and violin, and the outfits adorning the dances are commonly known as 'working class clothes'.
Dance style classification
General
The most outstanding feature of the riel is the ingenious and frantic footwork and energetic pace at which it is danced. The dance was performed in the dusty sands around a campfire and thus the dance is described by a beautiful Afrikaans expression: “Dans lat die stof so staan” (Dancing at a fast and energetic pace resulting in a lot of dust)
The unique dance is performed by a group, often in a circle. This dance consists of cultural movements (gestures) and is often used to tell a story[10] It is about wooing and lovemaking, and takes some of its moves from animal-like movements and animal courtship, particularly the ostrich. The bright colours of prancing animals' is portrayed in the characteristic colourful costumes.
Styles and moves
Dance moves portray the wooing between man and female and this is portrayed through imitation of animal and bird movements, such as the butterfly, antelope, baboons, snakes, meerkat and horses, as well as the flirting of pigeons, rooster, turkey and ostrich male. These movements include, "bokspring" (gamboling), "kapperjol", trotting and strutting as horses.
The Afrikaans idiom "vlerksleep" (courtship dance like a bird) is displayed in the riel.[11] The man use his coat panel, his arm or his hat held in his hand, to court with a lady or for example, to invite her to dance.
There is also the ever-popular monkey dance or depictions of the working environment, the galloping of horses, sheep shearing or herdsman dance. Everyday use is manifested in the "askoek" slapping, where the right foot is securely placed above the left knee and slapped – or vice versa – to demonstrate how excess ash are dusted from the "askoek" (a bread baked in ashes).[12]
Instruments
The dance is characterized by lively music and music instruments such as the "ramkie" (tin guitar made out of an empty oil can and a piece of wood with strings), odd handmade violin or, sometimes, a banjo, accordion or mouth organ, are used as accompaniment[13]”...
-snip-
Judging from the titles of YouTube videos about this dance form and the online information that I've read about this dance, it appears that the name "Riel" has been replaced by the name "Nama stap" (also given as "Nama stap"). Also, in addition to the name "Riel", the European influence of the reel dance is evidenced by some of the ways that the dance is performed i.e. the couples holding hands while dancing in the circle or line, and the women twirling under their male partners' arm.
It seems to me that the clothing that is worn by traditional Nama stap dancers are only partly influenced by garments, hats, and bonnets worn by the South African Cape's and Namibia's Dutch and German colonizers. I think that that United States minstrelsy also influenced the patches in the pants that are worn by some male traditional Nama stap dancers, and those patches are imitating the poor clothing of Black people who were supposedly portrayed in those minstrel shows. Note that White American black faced minstrels and African Americans singers and dancers performed in South Africa as early as the mid 19th century and were especially popular in Cape Town, South Africa. Read a brief quote about the influence of black faced minstrelsy and Black American performers in South Africa in the comment section below.
It's interesting that the author/s' of this Wikipedia page didn't mention one person blowing a whistle as part of the Namastap instrumentation. Maybe blowing a whistle is a more recent addition to that instrumentation.
-snip-
Additional information and comments about this dance form in the video summaries and comments that are found below.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Prince Ariyo Cultural Group [Namibia, South Africa]
Eddie Links Published on Aug 27, 2012
Namastap at Gochas
Cultural Festival 2011
****
Example #2: Nama Dance [Namibia]
blacfoundation, Published on Oct 3, 2012
****
Example #3: Nama Stap - Cultural Dance from Namibia
Eric F Published on Nov 6, 2014
Students from Kalkrand, Hardap Region perform the Nama Stap in Okahandja.
-snip-
Here are three selected comments from this video's discussion thread:
rodger ndwandwe, 2015
"what a beautiful performance...i really love the music (namastap)"
**
Jbk Witbooi, 2015
"The pride of the south Namastap..."
**
Audrey MABANZA BIYAOULA, 2015
"More white influence...but great"
****
Example #4: Die Nuwe Graskoue Trappers Riel Dance Team [South African group performing in the USA]
Alan Straton, Published on May 26, 2014
South Africa's entry in the World Championships of Performing Arts in LA later this year is the 2013 ATKV Junior Riel Dance Champions; 'Die Nuwe Graskoue Trappers Riel Dance Team' here showing their stuff at the Media Launch for the 2014 Kirkwood Wildsfees.
'Die Nuwe Graskoue Trappers Riel Dance Team' will represent Team South Africa at the 18th annual World Championships of Peforming Arts in Los Angeles, United States between 11 and 19 July 2014.
Each year, countries send their best and most outstanding talent to the U.S. During this heated week of events, competitors go head to head "Olympic-style" in a wide variety of competitions. Each winner gets a coveted gold medal which brings with it the respect and admiration of people around the world along with potentially a career opportunity of a lifetime including over $130,000 USD in scholarships.
The Nuwe Graskoue Trappers Riel Dance Team made it through the Provincial rounds to represent the Western Province Team of Performing Arts at the final of The South African Championships of Performing Arts which took place in Rustenburg from the 4 to 13 April 2014.
They were the only group from the West Coast and Cederberg Municipality to make it to the final as well as the first ever Riel Dance Group to make it to this prestigious event. They entered for the Dance Event in the Ethnic Folk Category. The band that leads this dance group also competed in the Instrumental Event in both the Original and Open Categories.
The band took the Gold Medal in the Open as well as the Original Category as well as scooping the Original Category overall Trophy Award. The band will also take part at the World Championships of Performing Arts in LA later this year.
South African actress, Marbi van Wielligh signed with Chancellor Entertainment and moved to Hollywood after a successful show on the World Championships of Performing Arts stage.
****
Example #5: Kwaai City - NAMA DANCE A `RIEL' HIT AT THE CAPE TOWN CARNIVAL [South Africa]
Kwaai City, Published on Jun 9, 2014
For the first time ever, the Riel - age-old dance of the Nama people - took pride-of-place at the Cape Town Carnival. Riel Dancers from Wupperthal, Elizabethfontein, Citrusdal Academy, as far as the Northern Cape, revived the dance to tell modern day stories of their lives. Floris Brand of Bushman's Kloof assembled the troop of eager dancers for the grand occasion - who danced the streets of Cape Town - to the traditional music of maestro, Bertie Zass and his band. And the crowds absolutely loved them!
Born out of traditional Khoi and San ceremonial dances around the fire, it has been practiced by descendants of these indigenous cultures for many years, most of whom were sheep shearers and farm workers across the Cape.
The Riel dance was very popular in the forties, fifties and sixties, but has been sadly neglected in recent decades. Dressed typically in traditional, farm-worker outfits - the women in dresses with aprons and old frontier bonnets, and the men in waistcoats and hats adorned with feathers, finished with the famous, hand-made red veldskoen -- these vibrant dancers were a `Riel' hit.
Popular Riel dances include courtship rituals, and mimicking typical animal antics along with lots of bravado, showmanship and foot stomping. It has only recently been revived through the efforts of writer and storyteller, Elias Nel of the Afrikaanse Taal & Kultuurvereniging (ATKV), who introduced the ATKV Riel dance competition in 2006, to ensure the survival of the dance and introduce the world to this wonderful, foot-stomping, cultural whirlwind….
****
Example #6: Namibian Nama Dancers [Namibia]
Northern Cape Tourism Published on Sep 22, 2015
The Namibian Nama Cultural dancers at the first annual Pella Festival.
****
Example #7: Riel dancers at Snoek & Patat festival in Goedverwacht 2015
H Vergo, Published on Jun 28, 2015
I took this video at the festival which is held annually. Riel dancing ise part of the South African Coloured community's heritage.
-snip-
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloureds for an outdated d article about South Africa's Cape Coloured population that still provides some historical and cultural information about that population. I gather that that Wikipedia page is outdated since-if I correctly understand the Wikipedia article on the Khoekhoe language that is quoted in the beginning of this post, "Hottentots, and later "Cape Coloureds" are now retired referents for the population that is now known as "Nama". Please correct me if I'm mistaken about this point.
****
Example #8: Real Namastap by Schmelenville Combined School culture group [Namibia]
Bertha Motinga Published on Nov 8, 2016
****
Example #9: Riel Dance Competition Final in Paarl [South Africa]
Rudolf Rieger Published on Dec 15, 2016
Rieldans / Riel Dance competition final hosted by ATKV on the 3rd of December 2016 in Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa. This trailer forms part of the documentary in production "Africa's Indigenous Survivors" The Khoekhoe Saga, which is financed by the NLC and produced by On Set Film Productions
****
This concludes this two part pancocojams series on Nama Stap. Additional video examples of Nama Stap will be published in this blog and can be found by clicking the "Nama stap" tag.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams
Visitor comments are welcome.
This is Part II of a two part series on Nama Stap (Nama step, Riel) dancing in South Africa and Namibia.
This post provides information about Nama Stap and showcases nine videos of that dance form in South Africa and Namibia.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/excerpt-from-pdf-nama-stap-dance.html for Part I of this post. Part I provides an excerpt from a pdf file by E. Jean Johnson Joneson entitled The Nama Stap Dance: an analysis of continuity and change. That research paper focuses on a form of the Nama stap dance in South Africa.
The content of this post is presented for cultural purposes, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the Nama people sharing their cultural heritage with the world. Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/names-for-days-of-week-in-nama-khoekhoe.html for a closely related pancocojams post on the names for the days of the week in the Nama language.
Here's an excerpt from that post that is given here for clarification purposes:
"The Khoekhoe language... also known by the ethnic term Nama ... and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of those non-Bantu languages of southern Africa that contain "click" sounds and have therefore been loosely classified as Khoisan....
It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by three ethnic groups, the Nama, Damara, and Haiǁom. A smaller fraction of mostly Nama and Damara who fled the 1904-1908 Namibian War of National Resistance also speak the language in Botswana, while Khoena (previously Colored) are working hard ton revive the language in South Africa." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoekhoe_language
****
INFORMATION ABOUT NAMA STAP (also known as "Nama" dancing and "Riel dancing")
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rieldans
"Riel (or Rieldans) is a Khoisan word for an ancient celebratory dance performed by the San (also known as Bushmen), Nama and Khoi.[1] It is considered one of the oldest dancing styles of indigenous South Africa. Also known as Ikhapara by the Nama, it is danced at an energetic pace and demands a lot of fancy footwork[2][3]
Etymology
The dance was not originally called "riel". The original Khoisan and San languages had mostly disappeared and in South Africa these groups mostly speak Afrikaans. The word was later borrowed from "reel", a Scottish folk dance and in Afrikaans the dance became known as the "riel".[4][5] In Nama the dance is known as Ikhapara which is derived from the word "khapas" which means "hat". The hat of the man is a useful article to win a lady's hand in marriage[6]
History
The riel is the oldest entertainment form used as a social, cultural and educational tool by the Khoisan people long before Western cultures and traditions arrived at the Cape of Good Hope. It is an age-old dance of the Khoisan hunters, with distinct Irish and Scottish folk music influences, all performed to the beat of "boeremusiek", Dutch folk songs and minstrel songs of the south of America … It became the dance of the working classes, particularly between the 1940s and 1950s and was danced, especially in the Northern Cape and Karoo and some other regions.[7]
This lively dance was danced around the campfire after hunting expeditions, good harvests or during a celebration Later this also became the dance of farmworkers and sheep shearers, whose daily activities are often portrayed during a dance.[8][9]
The riel was made popular again in recent years and is a true celebration of ancient traditions that finds new expression in contemporary forms. Its modern version has elements of colonialism as the accompanying instrumentation includes guitar and violin, and the outfits adorning the dances are commonly known as 'working class clothes'.
Dance style classification
General
The most outstanding feature of the riel is the ingenious and frantic footwork and energetic pace at which it is danced. The dance was performed in the dusty sands around a campfire and thus the dance is described by a beautiful Afrikaans expression: “Dans lat die stof so staan” (Dancing at a fast and energetic pace resulting in a lot of dust)
The unique dance is performed by a group, often in a circle. This dance consists of cultural movements (gestures) and is often used to tell a story[10] It is about wooing and lovemaking, and takes some of its moves from animal-like movements and animal courtship, particularly the ostrich. The bright colours of prancing animals' is portrayed in the characteristic colourful costumes.
Styles and moves
Dance moves portray the wooing between man and female and this is portrayed through imitation of animal and bird movements, such as the butterfly, antelope, baboons, snakes, meerkat and horses, as well as the flirting of pigeons, rooster, turkey and ostrich male. These movements include, "bokspring" (gamboling), "kapperjol", trotting and strutting as horses.
The Afrikaans idiom "vlerksleep" (courtship dance like a bird) is displayed in the riel.[11] The man use his coat panel, his arm or his hat held in his hand, to court with a lady or for example, to invite her to dance.
There is also the ever-popular monkey dance or depictions of the working environment, the galloping of horses, sheep shearing or herdsman dance. Everyday use is manifested in the "askoek" slapping, where the right foot is securely placed above the left knee and slapped – or vice versa – to demonstrate how excess ash are dusted from the "askoek" (a bread baked in ashes).[12]
Instruments
The dance is characterized by lively music and music instruments such as the "ramkie" (tin guitar made out of an empty oil can and a piece of wood with strings), odd handmade violin or, sometimes, a banjo, accordion or mouth organ, are used as accompaniment[13]”...
-snip-
Judging from the titles of YouTube videos about this dance form and the online information that I've read about this dance, it appears that the name "Riel" has been replaced by the name "Nama stap" (also given as "Nama stap"). Also, in addition to the name "Riel", the European influence of the reel dance is evidenced by some of the ways that the dance is performed i.e. the couples holding hands while dancing in the circle or line, and the women twirling under their male partners' arm.
It seems to me that the clothing that is worn by traditional Nama stap dancers are only partly influenced by garments, hats, and bonnets worn by the South African Cape's and Namibia's Dutch and German colonizers. I think that that United States minstrelsy also influenced the patches in the pants that are worn by some male traditional Nama stap dancers, and those patches are imitating the poor clothing of Black people who were supposedly portrayed in those minstrel shows. Note that White American black faced minstrels and African Americans singers and dancers performed in South Africa as early as the mid 19th century and were especially popular in Cape Town, South Africa. Read a brief quote about the influence of black faced minstrelsy and Black American performers in South Africa in the comment section below.
It's interesting that the author/s' of this Wikipedia page didn't mention one person blowing a whistle as part of the Namastap instrumentation. Maybe blowing a whistle is a more recent addition to that instrumentation.
-snip-
Additional information and comments about this dance form in the video summaries and comments that are found below.
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1: Prince Ariyo Cultural Group [Namibia, South Africa]
Eddie Links Published on Aug 27, 2012
Namastap at Gochas
Cultural Festival 2011
****
Example #2: Nama Dance [Namibia]
blacfoundation, Published on Oct 3, 2012
****
Example #3: Nama Stap - Cultural Dance from Namibia
Eric F Published on Nov 6, 2014
Students from Kalkrand, Hardap Region perform the Nama Stap in Okahandja.
-snip-
Here are three selected comments from this video's discussion thread:
rodger ndwandwe, 2015
"what a beautiful performance...i really love the music (namastap)"
**
Jbk Witbooi, 2015
"The pride of the south Namastap..."
**
Audrey MABANZA BIYAOULA, 2015
"More white influence...but great"
****
Example #4: Die Nuwe Graskoue Trappers Riel Dance Team [South African group performing in the USA]
Alan Straton, Published on May 26, 2014
South Africa's entry in the World Championships of Performing Arts in LA later this year is the 2013 ATKV Junior Riel Dance Champions; 'Die Nuwe Graskoue Trappers Riel Dance Team' here showing their stuff at the Media Launch for the 2014 Kirkwood Wildsfees.
'Die Nuwe Graskoue Trappers Riel Dance Team' will represent Team South Africa at the 18th annual World Championships of Peforming Arts in Los Angeles, United States between 11 and 19 July 2014.
Each year, countries send their best and most outstanding talent to the U.S. During this heated week of events, competitors go head to head "Olympic-style" in a wide variety of competitions. Each winner gets a coveted gold medal which brings with it the respect and admiration of people around the world along with potentially a career opportunity of a lifetime including over $130,000 USD in scholarships.
The Nuwe Graskoue Trappers Riel Dance Team made it through the Provincial rounds to represent the Western Province Team of Performing Arts at the final of The South African Championships of Performing Arts which took place in Rustenburg from the 4 to 13 April 2014.
They were the only group from the West Coast and Cederberg Municipality to make it to the final as well as the first ever Riel Dance Group to make it to this prestigious event. They entered for the Dance Event in the Ethnic Folk Category. The band that leads this dance group also competed in the Instrumental Event in both the Original and Open Categories.
The band took the Gold Medal in the Open as well as the Original Category as well as scooping the Original Category overall Trophy Award. The band will also take part at the World Championships of Performing Arts in LA later this year.
South African actress, Marbi van Wielligh signed with Chancellor Entertainment and moved to Hollywood after a successful show on the World Championships of Performing Arts stage.
****
Example #5: Kwaai City - NAMA DANCE A `RIEL' HIT AT THE CAPE TOWN CARNIVAL [South Africa]
Kwaai City, Published on Jun 9, 2014
For the first time ever, the Riel - age-old dance of the Nama people - took pride-of-place at the Cape Town Carnival. Riel Dancers from Wupperthal, Elizabethfontein, Citrusdal Academy, as far as the Northern Cape, revived the dance to tell modern day stories of their lives. Floris Brand of Bushman's Kloof assembled the troop of eager dancers for the grand occasion - who danced the streets of Cape Town - to the traditional music of maestro, Bertie Zass and his band. And the crowds absolutely loved them!
Born out of traditional Khoi and San ceremonial dances around the fire, it has been practiced by descendants of these indigenous cultures for many years, most of whom were sheep shearers and farm workers across the Cape.
The Riel dance was very popular in the forties, fifties and sixties, but has been sadly neglected in recent decades. Dressed typically in traditional, farm-worker outfits - the women in dresses with aprons and old frontier bonnets, and the men in waistcoats and hats adorned with feathers, finished with the famous, hand-made red veldskoen -- these vibrant dancers were a `Riel' hit.
Popular Riel dances include courtship rituals, and mimicking typical animal antics along with lots of bravado, showmanship and foot stomping. It has only recently been revived through the efforts of writer and storyteller, Elias Nel of the Afrikaanse Taal & Kultuurvereniging (ATKV), who introduced the ATKV Riel dance competition in 2006, to ensure the survival of the dance and introduce the world to this wonderful, foot-stomping, cultural whirlwind….
****
Example #6: Namibian Nama Dancers [Namibia]
Northern Cape Tourism Published on Sep 22, 2015
The Namibian Nama Cultural dancers at the first annual Pella Festival.
****
Example #7: Riel dancers at Snoek & Patat festival in Goedverwacht 2015
H Vergo, Published on Jun 28, 2015
I took this video at the festival which is held annually. Riel dancing ise part of the South African Coloured community's heritage.
-snip-
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloureds for an outdated d article about South Africa's Cape Coloured population that still provides some historical and cultural information about that population. I gather that that Wikipedia page is outdated since-if I correctly understand the Wikipedia article on the Khoekhoe language that is quoted in the beginning of this post, "Hottentots, and later "Cape Coloureds" are now retired referents for the population that is now known as "Nama". Please correct me if I'm mistaken about this point.
****
Example #8: Real Namastap by Schmelenville Combined School culture group [Namibia]
Bertha Motinga Published on Nov 8, 2016
****
Example #9: Riel Dance Competition Final in Paarl [South Africa]
Rudolf Rieger Published on Dec 15, 2016
Rieldans / Riel Dance competition final hosted by ATKV on the 3rd of December 2016 in Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa. This trailer forms part of the documentary in production "Africa's Indigenous Survivors" The Khoekhoe Saga, which is financed by the NLC and produced by On Set Film Productions
****
This concludes this two part pancocojams series on Nama Stap. Additional video examples of Nama Stap will be published in this blog and can be found by clicking the "Nama stap" tag.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams
Visitor comments are welcome.
Excerpt From pdf: "The Nama Stap Dance: an analysis of continuity and change" (Nama Step dancing in South Africa & Namibia)
Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part I of a two part series on Nama Stap in South Africa and Namibia. "Nama Stap" (Nama Step) is also known as "Nama" dancing and "Riel dancing".
Part I provides an excerpt from a pdf file by E. Jean Johnson Joneson entitled The Nama Stap Dance: an analysis of continuity and change. This research paper focuses on a form of the Nama Stap dance in South Africa.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and socio-cultural purposes.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/seven-videos-of-nama-stap-nama-step.html for Part II of this series. Part II provides information about Nama Stap and showcases nine videos of that dance form in South Africa and Namibia.
I recommend visitors to this blog read this entire pdf article.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the Nama people sharing their cultural heritage with the world. Thanks also to E. Jean Johnson Joneson, the writer of this pdf paper.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/names-for-days-of-week-in-nama-khoekhoe.html for a closely related pancocojams post on the names for the days of the week in the Nama language.
Here's one quote from that post that is given here for clarification purposes:
Here's an excerpt from that post that is given here for clarification purposes:
"The Khoekhoe language... also known by the ethnic term Nama ... and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of those non-Bantu languages of southern Africa that contain "click" sounds and have therefore been loosely classified as Khoisan....
It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by three ethnic groups, the Nama, Damara, and Haiǁom. A smaller fraction of mostly Nama and Damara who fled the 1904-1908 Namibian War of National Resistance also speak the language in Botswana, while Khoena (previously Colored) are working hard ton revive the language in South Africa." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoekhoe_language
****
EXCERPT FROM RESEARCH PAPER ON NAMA STAP (NAMA STEP) DANCING
Pancocojams Editor:
This excerpt is mostly given as is, including ellipses "...", except for ellipses given in brackets that I used to indicate portions of this paper that aren't quoted in this post. I included one asterisk for a Nama word that is given in italics in that paper. The definition for that word is given below this excerpt.
From http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/1808/1/fulltext.pdf http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/1808/1/fulltext.pdf
The Nama Stap Dance: an analysis of continuity and change
E. Jean Johnson Jones
University of Surrey – Department of Dance and Theatre Studies
"Introduction
This article expands the field research carried out over a five year period (2001-2006) among the Nama people who live in !Khubus village, South Africa. The Nama may be identified with a sequence of movement that is widely recognised throughout South Africa as the Nama Stap (Step); the Nama Stap (NS) in turn is the major movement motif of the Nama Stap Dance (NS/D), and the foundation of the Nama Stap Dance-Female Puberty Version (NS/P).1
Despite overt colonial influences within these dances today, the Nama have declared these performance artefacts to be symbols of Nama identity. These dances, I will suggest, contrast with more classical Nama identifiers, such as the matjieshuis (mat house) and the Nama language itself. This article attempts to provide an appreciation of the Nama, especially Nama women, through an analysis and interpretation of the Nama Stap Dance-Puberty Version. It will then examine the major movement motif know as ‘the Nama Stap’ within the context of the NS/P. Through an integration of selected research methodologies, especially Laban analysis, dance analysis, and field research, an interpretation of the dance is suggested that reveals traditional and contemporary, colonial and post-colonial, markings.2
The Nama of !Khubus Village
Originating in the northern Cape, the Nama are the best known of the Khoekhoen peoples.3
Two groups of Nama are distinguished: the Great Nama who live in Great Namaqualand in Namibia and the Little Nama who reside in Little Namaqualand in the north-western region of South Africa. This paper begins by examining the lifestyle of the Nama of !Khubus village, Little Namaqualand.
Namaqualand, located in northern South Africa, is the least populated region of South Africa due in large part to its harsh, desert-like climate and mountainous terrain.
During the apartheid period (1948-1991), it was one of twenty areas known as reserves, coloured reserves, or coloured rural areas. Reserves were officially established in the early part of the 1900s as permanent settlements for the indigenous peoples of South
[page] 2
Africa.
Namaqualand, the largest reserve, includes Concordia, Komagga, Leliefontein, Richtersveld, and Steinkopf. The village of !Khubus is part of the Richtersveld reserve, where it lies in close proximity to the Richtersveld National Park.4 The village of !Khubus is but one village settlement that developed out of the missionary crusades of the 19th-century. These religious campaigns were characterised by power over and domination of the indigenous people who inhabited the area. Ironically, it was through the mission station system that the national reserves system was established.
[...]
[page] 3
Language in !Khubus, and in the Richtersveld more generally, is closely related to South Africa’s political history, especially that of the apartheid period. Even the spelling of the word !Khubus is reflective of colonial, traditional and contemporary customs striving to establish equilibrium. I noted, for example, three different spellings of the word !Khubus. According to local informants, ‘!Khubus’ is the proper Nama spelling.5
Nama is referred to as a family language. This means that older members of a family, and perhaps a few youth, speak it; few of these, however, are able to write in it.
Even those who do speak Nama will not use it outside of the home. According to mature adults in !Khubus Afrikaans was the language of clergy, school, employment and government officials. The use of Nama was rigorously discouraged: school-aged children were punished physically and socially, and the few employment opportunities to be had favoured Afrikaans speakers. Previously, Nama marked a speaker as uneducated and therefore socially inept. To some extent, this sentiment lingers today.
However, with the new South Africa, the re-establishment of indigenous languages is important to local identities.
The new South Africa, the ‘Rainbow Nation’, has adopted eleven official languages: Afrikaans, English, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Ndebele, Siswati, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Tshivenda, Xitsonga. Afrikaans is the language used by Nama in the Richtersveld; this is due largely to the dictum of the apartheid government that ruled South Africa for nearly fifty years. It is used in the home, at school, in business, and socially. Nama people who are fifty years of age or older may, however, have retained the traditional Nama click language, and, in many cases, are able to speak a second ‘African’ language. English is not a language freely spoken among the Nama of !Khubus or its surrounding area. The acceptance of Afrikaans as the dominant speech in South Africa remains widespread but language use underpins cultural survival.
[...]
In the post apartheid era the Khoisan Heritage Programme (KHP) was established as part of South Africa’s nation-wide cultural revitalisation campaign. The Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (DACST) and the South African Heritage Resource Agency (SAHRA) manage KHP. In the case of !Khubus, one of the major cultural revival programmes involves the re-establishment of the Nama language.
[page] 4
In Nama history, the Nama language fortunately survived in !Khubus during the colonial period. As related by anthropologist Peter Carstens, Prior to 1844 all mission work in Richtersveld was carried out by visiting missionaries…But in this year, J.F. Hein, a ‘Baster-Hottentot’ from Wupperthal, was sent there as an evangelist…Both he and his wife spoke Nama…Hein establish[ed] a small school in which he taught. The
medium of instruction in both these institutions was Nama. (Carstens, 1966, p 206).
On the farms, however, where the Khoikhoi worked they had to speak either Dutch or Afrikaans. During the twentieth century, language and cultural loss was more profound as urbanisation separated families and communities.
Contemporary cultural revival initiatives sponsored by KHP include the establishment, in !Khubus, of a Nama Stap dance group organised through the local school and managed by middle aged women in !Khubus, and a traditional Nama guitar ensemble that tours throughout the Richtersveld region that accompanies the Nama Stap dance group. Therefore, as much as spoken language is a major part of revitalizing Nana identity, so for this present generation of Nama is the continuity and change taking place in their dance.
A Movement Signature: The Nama Stap
For as long as they can remember, the Nama people have been dancing the Nama Stap (NS). No one has been able to provide evidence of why or how it came into being. Very few Nama, if any, have no embodied knowledge of the NS. Most learn this dynamic cultural artefact in childhood along with other Nama signifiers such as round huts, Nama mud ovens and Nama baked bread. Today Nama also do the Nama Stap Dance (NS/D) and the Nama Stap Dance-Female Puberty Version (NS/P); the later dance has evolved from the historic Nama female puberty ceremony. What is of interest to my research is that the NS, in all its variations, reflects the more recent life experiences of the Nama.
Description of the NS motif does not appear in literature concerning the Nama nor can Nama account for its introduction into the dance. The NS motif appears to be a contemporary addition. The NS motif, for example, is performed when either a demonstration of the NS/D, NS/P or the NS motif is requested. In addition, the NS is performed as part of Nama social gatherings as well as at performances and ceremonies 5 organised for tourist and government-sponsored activities. While the NS can be, and is, performed apart from the NS/P, the NS/P cannot exist apart from the NS, its most significant motif.
The NS as a cultural artefact can be considered from different perspectives including the ethnographic where the dancing itself is the focus of attention or the anthropological where the culture as a whole must be considered. It may also be viewed in terms of a detailed movement analysis and documentation of the movement content.
Extending an interpretation from anthropological perspectives, issues such as gender relations, the impact of Christianity on the Nama, and the power of colonial influences may also be observed in this dance analysis.
[...]
[page] 6
The NS is primarily a travelling movement which progresses forward and backward through space while the feet typically maintain a close relationship to Place.
In Labanotation the idea of Place follows the basic law that ‘place’ is directly related to the centre of gravity of the performer (Hutchinson, Labanotation, 1970, p 35). When the feet move away from a central axis, rather than lifting away from the floor, they maintain contact with it by sliding across its surface. This sliding action is one of the features that distinguishes the Nama of !Khubus from other Nama groups. These two features, along with the fact that the limbs are never stretched beyond neutral, ensure that the dance step is small in respect of distance travelled and use of bodily kinesphere.
An erect torso that is supported by a buoyant, springy action in the pelvis …typifies this NS. Rather than initiating its own directions in space, the torso responds to movements of other body parts, especially the feet and the pelvis. The movement of these parts causes the torso to tip or deviate on and off its central axis in a counterbalancing motion. Moving in response to the torso, the arms behave in a passive manner that sometimes develops into a swing movement. Dynamically, two similar effort drives, dab and glide, are apparent. These efforts vary in time only—one accelerating while the other decelerates. Steps on Place dab (acceleration) while sliding steps glide (deceleration). These aspects of the NS are organised or phrased in relatively shorter or longer units. Overlapping, impulsive phrases organise the movement travelling forward while one long phrase structure movement travelling backward. These movement attributes that converge to create a ‘signature’ of the Nama Stap are readily observed
when the pattern is viewed as a discrete movement sequence.
[...]
Nama Stap Dance-Puberty Version Performance - An Ethnographic Account
While in residence in !Khubus, I was fortunate to witness a performance of the Nama Stap Dance-Puberty Version in June 2001. This version of the Nama Stap Dance
[page] 7
is based on the historic Nama Female Puberty Ceremony described most notably by
Agnes Hoernlé. Hoernlé is sometimes referred to as the ‘mother of South African anthropology’ (Barnard and Spencer, 1996). During her field research among the Nama between 1912 and 1913, Hoernlé recorded various rite of passage ceremonies. Among these is her description of the Nama female puberty ceremony.
[...]
The dance activities began in the early evening in the front yard of the home of one of the performers. A single pole-type lamp poured light onto the front steps where the speaker for the evening stood. The remainder of the yard, including the performance area, was in shadow. The dance event was in full swing when we arrived. A matjieshuis* occupied one corner (Figure 3). The area left of the matjieshuis and continuing fully around the periphery of the space was active with people talking and children running to and fro. Downstage right of the matjieshuis were about half a dozen chairs intended for us and other guests from the Richtersveld National Park; these were the people for whom the festivities had
been arranged. There was much laughing and talking among the group that also included people from the village. To the right of the seating area were the front steps of the house, and next to these an electric keyboard. This area was thumping with the sound of music and the voices of young men. Completing the circle around to the front of the matjieshuis was another group of people. Here were men, women, and children moving, dancing, laughing, and talking with each other or dancing alone. The central
area, the dancing space, remained relatively clear. The mood was festive, and people seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Our host for the evening was Willem De Wet, an organiser of the event and member of the !Khubus community, as well as a park ranger. Speaking in Afrikaans, he acknowledged and welcomed visitors to !Khubus and also announced our presence. He gave a brief introduction to the Nama Stap Dance-Puberty Version and to the women taking part in the performance. Sitting in front of the matjieshuis, the finer points of the dance were further explained by the dancers themselves.6
The dance company was composed of seven mature Nama women ranging between fifty and sixty-five years of age. The post-menopausal experience of the women struck me as curious. The dance, I had been told, was a contemporary interpretation of a rite of passage ceremony intended for a young female to mark the onset of her first menstrual cycle. I noted younger women in the audience, so wondered why they were not involved in the performance.
As the introductory bars of music started, the dancers casually formed a line of three pairs near the opening of the matjieshuis while the seventh dancer had unobtrusively entered the hut by the rear opening (See Figure 3). The observers either stood around the edges of the space or took seats on the ground, benches, steps, or around the matjieshuis. After a short stepping progression forward, the first theme of the dance was displayed. Each pair of dancers made a full clockwise circular path around each other as
the arms of each circled, embraced, and slid along the torso of her partner. This intricate inter-twining action was performed along a counter-clockwise oblong or circular path. Holding hands, gliding, shuffling steps defined the next segment of the unbroken counter-clockwise path. It was not possible to distinguish the rhythm for this stepping action as the dancers did not seem to be co-ordinated in regard to timing. Each appeared to be dancing to a slightly different beat; perhaps this is the nature of the movement. Roughly three-quarters of the way around the circle the dancers shuffled backwards (Figure 5). They were then moving backwards on a clockwise circular path.
This change in direction seemed to help the dancers re-organise themselves rhythmically and spatially. This collection of basic actions—progressing forward, turning around each other, and retreating—were then repeated to bring the dancers approximately three quarters of the way around the circle once again. Upon completing the second circle the first pair and second pair of dancers exchanged places and the circle was repeated a third time. This circuit was slightly changed from the others. Spatially, the curved shape of the path gradually expanded to take the form of an outward spiral that aimed towards the rear of the matjieshuis. The turning of the dancers around each other also changed. Rather than a change of movement pattern itself, it showed a change in attitude; each pair of dancers seemed to perform a succession of
turns along a spiralling path. The visual and dynamic effect was a progression of seemingly endless spinning towards the black space at the rear of the matjieshuis.
Still moving in pairs, the dancers continued their counter-clockwise dance around the hut. As they approached the front opening they gathered together, peered inside and hammered on its walls. Getting no response, they danced their way around the hut once again. When they reappeared along the right side of the matjieshut a new member of the group had joined them. Her elaborately painted face singled her out
from the rest and she became the focus of attention of both dancers and observers. With her arrival, the mood of the performance was lifted to a light gay tone. As they continued their progression around the matjieshuis the dancers took it in turns to spin with the new comer. When all who wanted to had danced with her, the ceremony ended.
The dance event, however, was not quite complete.
The ceremony was immediately followed by a discussion. The performers answered questions and responded to comments regarding the dance and their performance. The final portion of the evening was then given over to social dancing, in which the performers, villagers, and visitors could meet, chat, and dance with each
other. It was also a chance to have a go at learning the Nama Stap from the performers. Young, old, men and women joined in this informal dance lesson. The evening finished on a high note with everyone ‘Nama Stepping’ to a popular dance beat coming from the electric keyboard. The organisation of the dance, spatial relationship between dancers, and sequence of dance patterns were elements that came together to distinguish the NS/P.
[...]
[page] 10
The Nama Stap Dance-Puberty Version Performance – An Anthropological
Perspective
The Nama Stap Dance that I viewed was organised not as a rite of passage ceremony which marks the transition of a Nama female from childhood to young adulthood, but as a performance event based on that ceremony. It was sponsored, planned, and hosted by the Richtersveld National Park in conjunction with the !Khubus community. This context alters both the performer’s and observer’s perception of the
dance and its progression as a ceremony, from ritual to theatre, raises a number of significant issues concerning its analysis and contemporary interpretation.
A dance titled the Nama Stap Dance could be regarded as a cultural representation or symbol of the Nama. Yet, Dutch colonists have heavily influenced Nama culture, including its dancing, since the Nama were subjugated by Dutch (and German) pioneers and forced to adopt much of their culture, including language. How is this ‘foreign’ influence situated in relation to the Nama today? It would appear that the contemporary Nama accept several variants of the NS/D and NS/P as representative of their culture.
The NS is part of the movement vocabulary of all residents of !Khubus from the very young pre-school child to the eldest grandparent. It, along with the NS/D, is part of the primary education programme of the local school that all school-aged children of !Khubus attend. Within the school setting, young dancers are encouraged to not only develop as good Nama Stap dancers but also to be inventive within the form. Through
the dance, a competitive spirit is encouraged and nurtured. Further, the NS and the NS/D are the forms that are most frequently performed and exported out of the village setting as part of local and government-sponsored tourist activities. These two dances enable a range of fundamental educational principles and the assertion of positive self and communal image. Within such a structure the future of the NS, NS/D and its
[page] 11
messages will survive, adapt and remain a dynamic aspect of the Nama culture.
The puberty version of the NS/D presents this research with a set of particular challenges in terms of interpretation. There are, for instance, a number of descriptions of the historic Nama female puberty ceremony on which the dance is based. These include, among others, Hoernlé (1918), Hoff (Barnard, 1992), and informants in !Khubus. The Hoernlé and Hoff versions introduce elements of the dance not mentioned
by cultural informants, such as the use of cold water and the fact that the initiate’s feet should not touch the ground. What is the historical significance of these elements and why have they disappeared from the ceremony? More fundamentally, what purpose does the dance ceremony serve for Nama women today? Close analysis of the Nama Stap Dance Puberty Version provides evidence of the effects of continuity, discontinuity and transformation in the contemporary context.
!Khubus is sometimes labelled a sleeping town. This identifies a locale as well as a condition in which there is no paid work in the immediate vicinity. Residents must seek employment outside of the community and, where practical, return home to rest. This situation was already apparent when Carstens did his research fifty years ago. Today, those who are employed further afield such as in Port Nolloth, Springbok, or even Cape Town, do not return to the village on a regular basis. Grandparents in small accommodation, as few as three rooms, may care for as many as three or four children. According to informants, it is the case that some parents gradually cease to return to the village for long periods of time. The extended absence of parents from the village has had an effect on traditional social systems; male puberty ceremonies, for example, have all but disappeared (Barnard, 1992, p.185). In terms of the female Nama legacy, as traced through the NS and the NS/P, the intervention of the remaining middle-aged females and grandmothers, has allowed the Nama female puberty ceremony to survive thus far. Since another generation of young women to whom to pass the dance is either absent or no longer appreciates the significance of the dance, the future of the NS/P is however uncertain. The presence of the NS/P in the tourist performance has perhaps slowed this process of loss and discontinuity.
[...]
[page] 12
Some informants felt that the knowledge of traditional hut construction was part of Nama cultural heritage that should not be closely linked to commerce. Of equal importance is the process of why and how culture is restored, if indeed it can be.
The indigenous peoples of South Africa have not had access to their country’s vast natural resources such as diamonds, gold, and fertile farmland. Nor have they had access to the same superior educational opportunities or the worthwhile employment of white South Africans. This deprivation has left many indigenous peoples devastated culturally and economically The acknowledgement of cultural identity among
indigenous peoples through a programme of cultural revitalisation has had positive psychological and economic benefits. Dancing, in this regard, can be revised along commercial lines and developed into what has been referred to by anthropologist and dance ethnographer Adrienne Kaeppler as ‘Airport Art’ (1992). This form of art caters directly to a commercial market and is displayed at tourist venues. Tony Manhire, a specialist of San Rock Art and one of my guides, expressed concern that the dances of the San were being exploited in this way.
[...]
Notes
1. I have labelled this version of the dance ‘Nama Stap Dance-Female Puberty’ Version in order to distinguish it from the better know Nama Stap Dance.
2. The content of this article relates to the three fieldtrips undertaken in Namaqualand, South Africa between 2001-2006 as part of my doctorial research titled: Nama Marks and Etchings: an analysis and interpretation of the Nama Stap.
3. Basically, all specialists would agree that the Khoisan peoples include speakers of numerous click-using languages which belong to some four or five language families, subfamilies or groups. The linguistically ‘generic’ relationship between all Khoisan languages have yet to be established beyond question, but most specialists do assume for reasons of practicality that we can at least speak of a Khoisan phylum or superfamily. Briefly, Khoisan language families or subfamilies include Khoe (also
know as Khwe-Kovab or Hottentot), !Kung (Ju), Ta’a (including !Xõ), !Wi, and tentatively ‘South-western’ or ‘Cape’ (/Xam) (Barnard, 1992, p. 22-23).
4. Situated in the western corner of Namaqualand, and named after Dr. Ricther, an inspector of the Rhenish Mission who visited the area in 1830, the Richtersveld National Park was opened on 16 August 1991. The management of the park is atypical in that it is managed by community members and National the Park Board.
5. I noted three spellings of !Khubus: Khoboes, Kuboes, and !Khubus. The name is a Nama word meaning ‘God is found here.’"
[...]
[This paper has a total of 29 pages, including notes/citations]
****
Pancocojams Note
* matjieshuis = traditional Nama reed house http://www.richt
****
This concludes Part I of this two part series on Nama Stap.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
This is Part I of a two part series on Nama Stap in South Africa and Namibia. "Nama Stap" (Nama Step) is also known as "Nama" dancing and "Riel dancing".
Part I provides an excerpt from a pdf file by E. Jean Johnson Joneson entitled The Nama Stap Dance: an analysis of continuity and change. This research paper focuses on a form of the Nama Stap dance in South Africa.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric and socio-cultural purposes.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/seven-videos-of-nama-stap-nama-step.html for Part II of this series. Part II provides information about Nama Stap and showcases nine videos of that dance form in South Africa and Namibia.
I recommend visitors to this blog read this entire pdf article.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the Nama people sharing their cultural heritage with the world. Thanks also to E. Jean Johnson Joneson, the writer of this pdf paper.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/04/names-for-days-of-week-in-nama-khoekhoe.html for a closely related pancocojams post on the names for the days of the week in the Nama language.
Here's one quote from that post that is given here for clarification purposes:
Here's an excerpt from that post that is given here for clarification purposes:
"The Khoekhoe language... also known by the ethnic term Nama ... and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of those non-Bantu languages of southern Africa that contain "click" sounds and have therefore been loosely classified as Khoisan....
It belongs to the Khoe language family, and is spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa by three ethnic groups, the Nama, Damara, and Haiǁom. A smaller fraction of mostly Nama and Damara who fled the 1904-1908 Namibian War of National Resistance also speak the language in Botswana, while Khoena (previously Colored) are working hard ton revive the language in South Africa." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoekhoe_language
****
EXCERPT FROM RESEARCH PAPER ON NAMA STAP (NAMA STEP) DANCING
Pancocojams Editor:
This excerpt is mostly given as is, including ellipses "...", except for ellipses given in brackets that I used to indicate portions of this paper that aren't quoted in this post. I included one asterisk for a Nama word that is given in italics in that paper. The definition for that word is given below this excerpt.
From http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/1808/1/fulltext.pdf http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/1808/1/fulltext.pdf
The Nama Stap Dance: an analysis of continuity and change
E. Jean Johnson Jones
University of Surrey – Department of Dance and Theatre Studies
"Introduction
This article expands the field research carried out over a five year period (2001-2006) among the Nama people who live in !Khubus village, South Africa. The Nama may be identified with a sequence of movement that is widely recognised throughout South Africa as the Nama Stap (Step); the Nama Stap (NS) in turn is the major movement motif of the Nama Stap Dance (NS/D), and the foundation of the Nama Stap Dance-Female Puberty Version (NS/P).1
Despite overt colonial influences within these dances today, the Nama have declared these performance artefacts to be symbols of Nama identity. These dances, I will suggest, contrast with more classical Nama identifiers, such as the matjieshuis (mat house) and the Nama language itself. This article attempts to provide an appreciation of the Nama, especially Nama women, through an analysis and interpretation of the Nama Stap Dance-Puberty Version. It will then examine the major movement motif know as ‘the Nama Stap’ within the context of the NS/P. Through an integration of selected research methodologies, especially Laban analysis, dance analysis, and field research, an interpretation of the dance is suggested that reveals traditional and contemporary, colonial and post-colonial, markings.2
The Nama of !Khubus Village
Originating in the northern Cape, the Nama are the best known of the Khoekhoen peoples.3
Two groups of Nama are distinguished: the Great Nama who live in Great Namaqualand in Namibia and the Little Nama who reside in Little Namaqualand in the north-western region of South Africa. This paper begins by examining the lifestyle of the Nama of !Khubus village, Little Namaqualand.
Namaqualand, located in northern South Africa, is the least populated region of South Africa due in large part to its harsh, desert-like climate and mountainous terrain.
During the apartheid period (1948-1991), it was one of twenty areas known as reserves, coloured reserves, or coloured rural areas. Reserves were officially established in the early part of the 1900s as permanent settlements for the indigenous peoples of South
[page] 2
Africa.
Namaqualand, the largest reserve, includes Concordia, Komagga, Leliefontein, Richtersveld, and Steinkopf. The village of !Khubus is part of the Richtersveld reserve, where it lies in close proximity to the Richtersveld National Park.4 The village of !Khubus is but one village settlement that developed out of the missionary crusades of the 19th-century. These religious campaigns were characterised by power over and domination of the indigenous people who inhabited the area. Ironically, it was through the mission station system that the national reserves system was established.
[...]
[page] 3
Language in !Khubus, and in the Richtersveld more generally, is closely related to South Africa’s political history, especially that of the apartheid period. Even the spelling of the word !Khubus is reflective of colonial, traditional and contemporary customs striving to establish equilibrium. I noted, for example, three different spellings of the word !Khubus. According to local informants, ‘!Khubus’ is the proper Nama spelling.5
Nama is referred to as a family language. This means that older members of a family, and perhaps a few youth, speak it; few of these, however, are able to write in it.
Even those who do speak Nama will not use it outside of the home. According to mature adults in !Khubus Afrikaans was the language of clergy, school, employment and government officials. The use of Nama was rigorously discouraged: school-aged children were punished physically and socially, and the few employment opportunities to be had favoured Afrikaans speakers. Previously, Nama marked a speaker as uneducated and therefore socially inept. To some extent, this sentiment lingers today.
However, with the new South Africa, the re-establishment of indigenous languages is important to local identities.
The new South Africa, the ‘Rainbow Nation’, has adopted eleven official languages: Afrikaans, English, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Ndebele, Siswati, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, Tshivenda, Xitsonga. Afrikaans is the language used by Nama in the Richtersveld; this is due largely to the dictum of the apartheid government that ruled South Africa for nearly fifty years. It is used in the home, at school, in business, and socially. Nama people who are fifty years of age or older may, however, have retained the traditional Nama click language, and, in many cases, are able to speak a second ‘African’ language. English is not a language freely spoken among the Nama of !Khubus or its surrounding area. The acceptance of Afrikaans as the dominant speech in South Africa remains widespread but language use underpins cultural survival.
[...]
In the post apartheid era the Khoisan Heritage Programme (KHP) was established as part of South Africa’s nation-wide cultural revitalisation campaign. The Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (DACST) and the South African Heritage Resource Agency (SAHRA) manage KHP. In the case of !Khubus, one of the major cultural revival programmes involves the re-establishment of the Nama language.
[page] 4
In Nama history, the Nama language fortunately survived in !Khubus during the colonial period. As related by anthropologist Peter Carstens, Prior to 1844 all mission work in Richtersveld was carried out by visiting missionaries…But in this year, J.F. Hein, a ‘Baster-Hottentot’ from Wupperthal, was sent there as an evangelist…Both he and his wife spoke Nama…Hein establish[ed] a small school in which he taught. The
medium of instruction in both these institutions was Nama. (Carstens, 1966, p 206).
On the farms, however, where the Khoikhoi worked they had to speak either Dutch or Afrikaans. During the twentieth century, language and cultural loss was more profound as urbanisation separated families and communities.
Contemporary cultural revival initiatives sponsored by KHP include the establishment, in !Khubus, of a Nama Stap dance group organised through the local school and managed by middle aged women in !Khubus, and a traditional Nama guitar ensemble that tours throughout the Richtersveld region that accompanies the Nama Stap dance group. Therefore, as much as spoken language is a major part of revitalizing Nana identity, so for this present generation of Nama is the continuity and change taking place in their dance.
A Movement Signature: The Nama Stap
For as long as they can remember, the Nama people have been dancing the Nama Stap (NS). No one has been able to provide evidence of why or how it came into being. Very few Nama, if any, have no embodied knowledge of the NS. Most learn this dynamic cultural artefact in childhood along with other Nama signifiers such as round huts, Nama mud ovens and Nama baked bread. Today Nama also do the Nama Stap Dance (NS/D) and the Nama Stap Dance-Female Puberty Version (NS/P); the later dance has evolved from the historic Nama female puberty ceremony. What is of interest to my research is that the NS, in all its variations, reflects the more recent life experiences of the Nama.
Description of the NS motif does not appear in literature concerning the Nama nor can Nama account for its introduction into the dance. The NS motif appears to be a contemporary addition. The NS motif, for example, is performed when either a demonstration of the NS/D, NS/P or the NS motif is requested. In addition, the NS is performed as part of Nama social gatherings as well as at performances and ceremonies 5 organised for tourist and government-sponsored activities. While the NS can be, and is, performed apart from the NS/P, the NS/P cannot exist apart from the NS, its most significant motif.
The NS as a cultural artefact can be considered from different perspectives including the ethnographic where the dancing itself is the focus of attention or the anthropological where the culture as a whole must be considered. It may also be viewed in terms of a detailed movement analysis and documentation of the movement content.
Extending an interpretation from anthropological perspectives, issues such as gender relations, the impact of Christianity on the Nama, and the power of colonial influences may also be observed in this dance analysis.
[...]
[page] 6
The NS is primarily a travelling movement which progresses forward and backward through space while the feet typically maintain a close relationship to Place.
In Labanotation the idea of Place follows the basic law that ‘place’ is directly related to the centre of gravity of the performer (Hutchinson, Labanotation, 1970, p 35). When the feet move away from a central axis, rather than lifting away from the floor, they maintain contact with it by sliding across its surface. This sliding action is one of the features that distinguishes the Nama of !Khubus from other Nama groups. These two features, along with the fact that the limbs are never stretched beyond neutral, ensure that the dance step is small in respect of distance travelled and use of bodily kinesphere.
An erect torso that is supported by a buoyant, springy action in the pelvis …typifies this NS. Rather than initiating its own directions in space, the torso responds to movements of other body parts, especially the feet and the pelvis. The movement of these parts causes the torso to tip or deviate on and off its central axis in a counterbalancing motion. Moving in response to the torso, the arms behave in a passive manner that sometimes develops into a swing movement. Dynamically, two similar effort drives, dab and glide, are apparent. These efforts vary in time only—one accelerating while the other decelerates. Steps on Place dab (acceleration) while sliding steps glide (deceleration). These aspects of the NS are organised or phrased in relatively shorter or longer units. Overlapping, impulsive phrases organise the movement travelling forward while one long phrase structure movement travelling backward. These movement attributes that converge to create a ‘signature’ of the Nama Stap are readily observed
when the pattern is viewed as a discrete movement sequence.
[...]
Nama Stap Dance-Puberty Version Performance - An Ethnographic Account
While in residence in !Khubus, I was fortunate to witness a performance of the Nama Stap Dance-Puberty Version in June 2001. This version of the Nama Stap Dance
[page] 7
is based on the historic Nama Female Puberty Ceremony described most notably by
Agnes Hoernlé. Hoernlé is sometimes referred to as the ‘mother of South African anthropology’ (Barnard and Spencer, 1996). During her field research among the Nama between 1912 and 1913, Hoernlé recorded various rite of passage ceremonies. Among these is her description of the Nama female puberty ceremony.
[...]
The dance activities began in the early evening in the front yard of the home of one of the performers. A single pole-type lamp poured light onto the front steps where the speaker for the evening stood. The remainder of the yard, including the performance area, was in shadow. The dance event was in full swing when we arrived. A matjieshuis* occupied one corner (Figure 3). The area left of the matjieshuis and continuing fully around the periphery of the space was active with people talking and children running to and fro. Downstage right of the matjieshuis were about half a dozen chairs intended for us and other guests from the Richtersveld National Park; these were the people for whom the festivities had
been arranged. There was much laughing and talking among the group that also included people from the village. To the right of the seating area were the front steps of the house, and next to these an electric keyboard. This area was thumping with the sound of music and the voices of young men. Completing the circle around to the front of the matjieshuis was another group of people. Here were men, women, and children moving, dancing, laughing, and talking with each other or dancing alone. The central
area, the dancing space, remained relatively clear. The mood was festive, and people seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Our host for the evening was Willem De Wet, an organiser of the event and member of the !Khubus community, as well as a park ranger. Speaking in Afrikaans, he acknowledged and welcomed visitors to !Khubus and also announced our presence. He gave a brief introduction to the Nama Stap Dance-Puberty Version and to the women taking part in the performance. Sitting in front of the matjieshuis, the finer points of the dance were further explained by the dancers themselves.6
The dance company was composed of seven mature Nama women ranging between fifty and sixty-five years of age. The post-menopausal experience of the women struck me as curious. The dance, I had been told, was a contemporary interpretation of a rite of passage ceremony intended for a young female to mark the onset of her first menstrual cycle. I noted younger women in the audience, so wondered why they were not involved in the performance.
As the introductory bars of music started, the dancers casually formed a line of three pairs near the opening of the matjieshuis while the seventh dancer had unobtrusively entered the hut by the rear opening (See Figure 3). The observers either stood around the edges of the space or took seats on the ground, benches, steps, or around the matjieshuis. After a short stepping progression forward, the first theme of the dance was displayed. Each pair of dancers made a full clockwise circular path around each other as
the arms of each circled, embraced, and slid along the torso of her partner. This intricate inter-twining action was performed along a counter-clockwise oblong or circular path. Holding hands, gliding, shuffling steps defined the next segment of the unbroken counter-clockwise path. It was not possible to distinguish the rhythm for this stepping action as the dancers did not seem to be co-ordinated in regard to timing. Each appeared to be dancing to a slightly different beat; perhaps this is the nature of the movement. Roughly three-quarters of the way around the circle the dancers shuffled backwards (Figure 5). They were then moving backwards on a clockwise circular path.
This change in direction seemed to help the dancers re-organise themselves rhythmically and spatially. This collection of basic actions—progressing forward, turning around each other, and retreating—were then repeated to bring the dancers approximately three quarters of the way around the circle once again. Upon completing the second circle the first pair and second pair of dancers exchanged places and the circle was repeated a third time. This circuit was slightly changed from the others. Spatially, the curved shape of the path gradually expanded to take the form of an outward spiral that aimed towards the rear of the matjieshuis. The turning of the dancers around each other also changed. Rather than a change of movement pattern itself, it showed a change in attitude; each pair of dancers seemed to perform a succession of
turns along a spiralling path. The visual and dynamic effect was a progression of seemingly endless spinning towards the black space at the rear of the matjieshuis.
Still moving in pairs, the dancers continued their counter-clockwise dance around the hut. As they approached the front opening they gathered together, peered inside and hammered on its walls. Getting no response, they danced their way around the hut once again. When they reappeared along the right side of the matjieshut a new member of the group had joined them. Her elaborately painted face singled her out
from the rest and she became the focus of attention of both dancers and observers. With her arrival, the mood of the performance was lifted to a light gay tone. As they continued their progression around the matjieshuis the dancers took it in turns to spin with the new comer. When all who wanted to had danced with her, the ceremony ended.
The dance event, however, was not quite complete.
The ceremony was immediately followed by a discussion. The performers answered questions and responded to comments regarding the dance and their performance. The final portion of the evening was then given over to social dancing, in which the performers, villagers, and visitors could meet, chat, and dance with each
other. It was also a chance to have a go at learning the Nama Stap from the performers. Young, old, men and women joined in this informal dance lesson. The evening finished on a high note with everyone ‘Nama Stepping’ to a popular dance beat coming from the electric keyboard. The organisation of the dance, spatial relationship between dancers, and sequence of dance patterns were elements that came together to distinguish the NS/P.
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[page] 10
The Nama Stap Dance-Puberty Version Performance – An Anthropological
Perspective
The Nama Stap Dance that I viewed was organised not as a rite of passage ceremony which marks the transition of a Nama female from childhood to young adulthood, but as a performance event based on that ceremony. It was sponsored, planned, and hosted by the Richtersveld National Park in conjunction with the !Khubus community. This context alters both the performer’s and observer’s perception of the
dance and its progression as a ceremony, from ritual to theatre, raises a number of significant issues concerning its analysis and contemporary interpretation.
A dance titled the Nama Stap Dance could be regarded as a cultural representation or symbol of the Nama. Yet, Dutch colonists have heavily influenced Nama culture, including its dancing, since the Nama were subjugated by Dutch (and German) pioneers and forced to adopt much of their culture, including language. How is this ‘foreign’ influence situated in relation to the Nama today? It would appear that the contemporary Nama accept several variants of the NS/D and NS/P as representative of their culture.
The NS is part of the movement vocabulary of all residents of !Khubus from the very young pre-school child to the eldest grandparent. It, along with the NS/D, is part of the primary education programme of the local school that all school-aged children of !Khubus attend. Within the school setting, young dancers are encouraged to not only develop as good Nama Stap dancers but also to be inventive within the form. Through
the dance, a competitive spirit is encouraged and nurtured. Further, the NS and the NS/D are the forms that are most frequently performed and exported out of the village setting as part of local and government-sponsored tourist activities. These two dances enable a range of fundamental educational principles and the assertion of positive self and communal image. Within such a structure the future of the NS, NS/D and its
[page] 11
messages will survive, adapt and remain a dynamic aspect of the Nama culture.
The puberty version of the NS/D presents this research with a set of particular challenges in terms of interpretation. There are, for instance, a number of descriptions of the historic Nama female puberty ceremony on which the dance is based. These include, among others, Hoernlé (1918), Hoff (Barnard, 1992), and informants in !Khubus. The Hoernlé and Hoff versions introduce elements of the dance not mentioned
by cultural informants, such as the use of cold water and the fact that the initiate’s feet should not touch the ground. What is the historical significance of these elements and why have they disappeared from the ceremony? More fundamentally, what purpose does the dance ceremony serve for Nama women today? Close analysis of the Nama Stap Dance Puberty Version provides evidence of the effects of continuity, discontinuity and transformation in the contemporary context.
!Khubus is sometimes labelled a sleeping town. This identifies a locale as well as a condition in which there is no paid work in the immediate vicinity. Residents must seek employment outside of the community and, where practical, return home to rest. This situation was already apparent when Carstens did his research fifty years ago. Today, those who are employed further afield such as in Port Nolloth, Springbok, or even Cape Town, do not return to the village on a regular basis. Grandparents in small accommodation, as few as three rooms, may care for as many as three or four children. According to informants, it is the case that some parents gradually cease to return to the village for long periods of time. The extended absence of parents from the village has had an effect on traditional social systems; male puberty ceremonies, for example, have all but disappeared (Barnard, 1992, p.185). In terms of the female Nama legacy, as traced through the NS and the NS/P, the intervention of the remaining middle-aged females and grandmothers, has allowed the Nama female puberty ceremony to survive thus far. Since another generation of young women to whom to pass the dance is either absent or no longer appreciates the significance of the dance, the future of the NS/P is however uncertain. The presence of the NS/P in the tourist performance has perhaps slowed this process of loss and discontinuity.
[...]
[page] 12
Some informants felt that the knowledge of traditional hut construction was part of Nama cultural heritage that should not be closely linked to commerce. Of equal importance is the process of why and how culture is restored, if indeed it can be.
The indigenous peoples of South Africa have not had access to their country’s vast natural resources such as diamonds, gold, and fertile farmland. Nor have they had access to the same superior educational opportunities or the worthwhile employment of white South Africans. This deprivation has left many indigenous peoples devastated culturally and economically The acknowledgement of cultural identity among
indigenous peoples through a programme of cultural revitalisation has had positive psychological and economic benefits. Dancing, in this regard, can be revised along commercial lines and developed into what has been referred to by anthropologist and dance ethnographer Adrienne Kaeppler as ‘Airport Art’ (1992). This form of art caters directly to a commercial market and is displayed at tourist venues. Tony Manhire, a specialist of San Rock Art and one of my guides, expressed concern that the dances of the San were being exploited in this way.
[...]
Notes
1. I have labelled this version of the dance ‘Nama Stap Dance-Female Puberty’ Version in order to distinguish it from the better know Nama Stap Dance.
2. The content of this article relates to the three fieldtrips undertaken in Namaqualand, South Africa between 2001-2006 as part of my doctorial research titled: Nama Marks and Etchings: an analysis and interpretation of the Nama Stap.
3. Basically, all specialists would agree that the Khoisan peoples include speakers of numerous click-using languages which belong to some four or five language families, subfamilies or groups. The linguistically ‘generic’ relationship between all Khoisan languages have yet to be established beyond question, but most specialists do assume for reasons of practicality that we can at least speak of a Khoisan phylum or superfamily. Briefly, Khoisan language families or subfamilies include Khoe (also
know as Khwe-Kovab or Hottentot), !Kung (Ju), Ta’a (including !Xõ), !Wi, and tentatively ‘South-western’ or ‘Cape’ (/Xam) (Barnard, 1992, p. 22-23).
4. Situated in the western corner of Namaqualand, and named after Dr. Ricther, an inspector of the Rhenish Mission who visited the area in 1830, the Richtersveld National Park was opened on 16 August 1991. The management of the park is atypical in that it is managed by community members and National the Park Board.
5. I noted three spellings of !Khubus: Khoboes, Kuboes, and !Khubus. The name is a Nama word meaning ‘God is found here.’"
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[This paper has a total of 29 pages, including notes/citations]
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Pancocojams Note
* matjieshuis = traditional Nama reed house http://www.richt
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This concludes Part I of this two part series on Nama Stap.
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