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Friday, January 10, 2025

Five YouTube Videos Of Female Zulu Ukusina (Dance) Teams That Are Referred To By The Colors Of Their Outfits Or By Their University's Name


Embo Films, Mar 21, 2024  #ingoma #zuludance #zulu

TEAM BLUE

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Edited by Azizi Powell Latest revision- January 29, 2025

This pancocojams post showcases five YouTube videos of female dance teams performing the South African Zulu performance art form named Ukusina. These video examples of female dance groups that are referred to by the color of their outfits or by the name of the university that they attend.* The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes. 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, -snip- *Please share links in the comment section below to other Zulu Ukusina groups that meet this description. Thanks in advance! -snip- Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/01/five-additional-youtube-videos-of-zulu.html for a pancocojams post that showcases five additional female Ukusina teams. And click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/01/seven-2014-2018-youtube-videos-of-zulu.html for a pancocojams post that showcases videos from 2014-2018 of male groups performing Ukusina. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/01/comments-from-various-youtube-videos.html for a pancocojams post that presents selected comments about Ukusina from five YouTube discussion threads. These comments presents some information about that dance form, including answers to questions about why the dancers usually end their performances by purposely falling on their butt.
**** DISCLAIMER I'm an African American woman whose recent knowledge about this dance form only comes from watching a number of online videos (YouTube, YouTube video short, TikTok) and from reading a lot of the comments in those videos’ discussion threads that are in English and reading selected comments in those discussion threads that are translated from Zulu.

Unfortunately, I only speak and read English, and I have never visited South Africa

**** INFORMATION ABOUT UKUSINA
Ukusina is a traditional Zulu performance art form that includes specific types of dancing and (onlookers) singing. Many YouTube videos that I've come across for this dance form don't include drums, but often include whistles and/or long South African horns (vuvuzela?).
Zulus originated the performance art form of Ukusina centuries ago. Ukusina is performed by males and by females who dance separately from each other. During the female Ukusina performances that include musical instruments, males play those instruments and sing. Females sing for males' Ukusina performances, but I haven't seen any videos that include female musicians for those performances
This pancocojams blog showcases some (2014 on) forms of Ukusina. These showcased videos consists of groups (teams) of males or groups (teams, camps) of females performing mostly outdoor to showcase their individual skills and their group choreography and skills. The YouTube videos of female Ukusina dances that I've come across have later publishing dates than the male videos. It's likely that 2014-2018 YouTube videos of Zulu females performing Ukusina were topless. That likelihood might have influenced whether those videos were published on YouTube.
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ADDITIONAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS

These videos are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only. VIDEO #2 - Team Orange 🍊| Cweshe | Inqobo nje makulale kudlabantwana | Intombi emhlophe | shoti | kaZondi 21/4

Embo Films, Apr 23, 2024  MZINYATI

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VIDEO #3 - Amatshitshi Team Maroon - Balibulele izwe lobaba.

Nelisiwe Sibiya, Mar 25, 2022

**** VIDEO #4 - Team Pink | Mehlo | Naba sebayabaleka | Lapha e Newcastle Ingoma yasemajuba camp & workshop

Embo Films, Nov 19, 2024  NEWCASTLE
**** VIDEO #5 - DUT Girls | Othulamsindo | Hamba vangeli lengoma | Nginsizwa mina | Cruze | Ushameni

Embo Films, Sep 15, 2024 

ONGOYE -snip- DUT = Durban University of Technology (South Africa) **** Thanks for visiting pancocojams. Visitor comments are welcome.

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3 comments:

  1. Azizi PowellJanuary 10, 2025 at 10:42 AM

    Here's a comment that I first added to the pancocojams post about 2014-2018 videos of male Ukusina performances:

    "I just happened upon a 2015 YouTube video of females performing Ukusina. The females are bare breasted. That might explain why there appears to be fewer pre 2020s videos of females performing this dance.

    Here's a link to that video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BHZ8LfyJyg Project Zulu girls performing a traditional Zulu dance at Bristol Zoo Copy, published by ProjectZulu
    Mar 9, 2015"

    ReplyDelete
  2. Azizi PowellJanuary 10, 2025 at 10:49 PM

    Do the ways that males usually perform Ukusina differ from the ways that females usually perform?

    Also, do different Ukusina teams have ways of performing ukusina that distinguish them from each other?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Azizi PowellJanuary 14, 2025 at 4:04 PM

    Based on the YouTube videos that I've watched of Ukusina, I wrote that males dance separately from females.

    I just happened upon this video of males and females dancing Ukusina together: "Mgijimi Abanini bengoma | Umbuso Wamaciko | zithelwe ngezibonkolo | Ithwala umboko wayo indlovu" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Srr4qM8LVME&t=22s, published by Embo Films, Sep 30, 2024 DURBAN

    Isn't this dance performance considered to be Ukusina? If not, what is the name of this dance?

    Is it now the custom for males and females to sometimes perform this dance together?

    ReplyDelete

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