Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post provides information about South African's "vosho" dance movements.
This post also showcases videos of South Africans performing vosho movements. Selected comments from the discussion thread of one of these videos are also included in this post.
The content of their post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and/or who are featured in this videos. Thanks also to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/05/youtube-video-pitoris-amapiano-vs_20.html for a closely related pancocojams post entitled "YouTube Video "Pitori's Amapiano vs Durban Gqom Dance" (with selected comments from this video's discussion thread)."
****
INFORMATION ABOUT VOSHO DANCE MOVEMENTS
Excerpt #1
From https://www.enca.com/life/watch-can-you-do-the-head-vosho WATCH: Can you do the head vosho?, Thursday 22 March 2018 -
"JOHANNESBURG – The popularised dance called the ‘vosho’ can be described as a South African dance that involves squatting and kicking at the same time.
The dance move has evolved into the ‘head vosho’, where instead of squatting and kicking you extend your arms and you lean your head forward to the rhythm."
-snip-
This article includes some videos of head vosho.
****
Excerpt #2 [article about a contemporary South African dance that includes vosho movements]
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gqom
"Gqom
Stylistic origins: House, kwaito, techno
Cultural origins: Early 2010s, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Gqom is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 2010s from Durban, South Africa.[1] It developed out of South African house music, kwaito and techno.[2] Unlike other South African electronic music, gqom is typified by minimal, raw and repetitive sound with heavy bass beats but without the four-on-the-floor rhythm pattern.[1]
[...]
Name and characteristics
The word gqom derives from an onomatopoeic combination of click consonants in the isiZulu and isiXhosa meaning a hitting drum. It is also expressed as qgom, igqom, gqomu or variants thereof.[5][6]
Gqom is known for its beats which have a minimal, raw and repetitive sound with heavy bass. It is mainly described as having a dark and hypnotic club sound. The style of beats does not use the four-on-the-flour rhythm pattern which is often heard in other house music.[1] Typical lyrical themes include nightlife. It often uses one phrase or a few lines which are repeated numerous times in the song.
Dance moves
Gqom music is associated with a number of distinctive dance moves, including gwara gwara, vosho and bhenga.[9]
Gwara gwara is performed by rolling and swinging the arm and the elbow in terms of making a circle, and one of the leg moves in connection with the arm's rhythm. It has some similarities to the Stanky Leg.[10] The dance move created by disc jockey and producer DJ Bongz, was heavily imitated by South Africans and other African people mainly during 2016.[11][12] It also received widespread globally as the choreography was adopted by notable musicians: Rihanna performed the dance move while performing Wild Thoughts at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards in 2018. Childish Gambino performed the dance in the video of his song "This Is America".[13][14]"
****
Excerpt #3
From https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5106&context=edissertations Soweto, The “storybook Place”: Tourism And
Feeling In A South African Township, Sarah Marie Kgagudi [dissertation], 2019
...South African house dance is characterized by bent legs moving rapidly back and forth, the top half of the body swaying back and forth in half the speed of the leg movements, and arms performing a series of movements such as bent arms with the elbows pushed back and one arm (often the left) moving forward and backwards perpendicular to the waist. A repertoire of specific house dance moves emerging from hit songs such as ‘sika lekhekhe,’ ‘gwaragwara,’ or ‘vosho’ are also inserted into this basic framework of house dance. In tandem with these dance moves, appropriate placements of whistling or verbal expression
of ‘woza,’ ‘hayibo,’ or a repetition of a syllable such as ‘ye,’ ‘ayi,’ or ‘hey’ over and over in descending tone until the last syllable which jumps up in a sort of shout are also signs of musical expertise."
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Video #1: TOP 5 VOSHO DANCE [Compilation]
Ako Ideal Media, Jun 10, 2019
****
Video #2: How To Vosho "South African Dance" (Dance Tutorial) | Chop Daily
Chop Daily, May 25, 2018
****
Video #3: Sho Madjozi - John Cena | A COLORS SHOW
COLORS, Aug 15, 2019
-snip-
Sho Madjozi says "Haibo! Haibo!" and then she does the vosho dance move (squatting down and kicking up one foot). Madjozi then says "It's too much". [This portion begins around 2:56 in that Colors video.]
****
Video #4: Kwapata 01
Sizwe Ngcobo, Sep 7, 2016
Vosho in PMB
Song: Isgubhu Sam
Artist: Ronald Lowe
-snip-
PMB= Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietermaritzburg
Kwapata is the name of a secondary school and a high school in PMB, South Africa.
-snip-
Here are some comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only)
1. Trivis Tab, 2019
"Africa.... the mother of dances ..."
**
REPLY
2. Larrypint, 2019
"0:30 that looks like traditional russian dance"
**
REPLY
3. lolololololo lololololololol, 2019
"@Larrypint lol Tsonga people have done that dance for over two thousand years pipe down mate"
**
REPLY
4. Larrypint, 2019
"@lolololololo lololololololol any proof?"
**
REPLY
5. lolololololo lololololololol, 2019
"@Larrypint mate ask any Tsonga people or go to south Africa and ask you can even ask your fellow whites who live among or close to Tsonga people or any traditional south African historian mate also that dance was also done in Turkey before Russia so claiming it to be Russian is funny"
**
REPLY
6. Larrypint, 2019
"@lolololololo lololololololol I was asking for a proof. I can show you 400 years old Russian literature talking about these traditional dance. Turkey? It doesn't exist 500 years ago."
**
REPLY
7. 3rd Eye, 2019
"@Larrypint Nah that dance came from Africa. Africa is the oldest continent. Nice try though slav"
**
REPLY
8. 3rd Eye, 2019
"@Larrypint Africa is the mother of Russia too. So mother russia is really daughter russia 😄"
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Showing posts with label contemporary South African dances. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contemporary South African dances. Show all posts
Monday, May 18, 2020
Monday, October 23, 2017
Five Videos Of The South African "Gwara Gwara" Dance (information & videos)
Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest revision: May 22, 2022
This pancocojams post provides information about South Africa's contemporary social dance called "gwara gwara" (also written as gwaragwara") and showcases five YouTube videos of that dance.
The Addendum of this post provides information about DJ Bongz who popularized the South African dance "gwara gwara".
The content of this post is provided for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the creators of the "Gwara Gwara" dance and thanks to DJ Bongz, the South African DJ who is widely credited as the one who popularized this dance worldwide.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks also to the composers and performers of the music which is featured in these videos.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/10/selected-comments-from-youtube.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Selected Comments From The YouTube Discussion Thread For "Nigerians Murder South African Dance Step "Gwara Gwara".
****
WHAT IS THE "GWARA GWARA" DANCE
"Gwara Gwara" is a social dance that began trending in South Africa in 2016 thanks to its performance and promotion by South African dancer DJ Bongz. The earliest YouTube video of this dance that I've found was published by DURBANDANCE on January 22, 2016 and is entitled "Tarabha DJ Bongz #MrGwara Gwara Dance" [video no longer available].
Another early video of this dance "Dj bongz Gwaragwara dance compilation" was published on Feb 27, 2016 by TK Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5obClFsN0I The brief summary of that video indicates that this is "dj bongz well known famous dance".
[Added May 5, 2020]
Here's a brief excerpt about "Gwara Gwara" from https://africa.com/top-dance-styles-africa/ Top Dance Styles: Africa, 2016
"The Gwara Gwara Dance was made popular by South African dance music artist, DJ Bongz, with the introduction of his hit single “Ofana Nawe,” featuring Sobz.
The dance went viral after DJ Bongz posted tutorials of how to do the dance on his social media streams, and has been featured in the videos of some of the country’s biggest hits, including “Wololo” by Babes Wodumo and “Gobisiqolo” by Bhizer. Gwara Gwara dance has become one of the most popular dance styles in Africa."
****
COMPARISON BETWEEN "GWARA CWARA" AND SOME OTHER CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN SOCIAL DANCES
As I previously indicated, the earliest "Gwara Gwara" YouTube videos that I've found were published in 2016. Many commenters in those videos' discussion threads describe "Gwara Gwara" as a very popular social dance in South Africa.
In the discussion thread for the video given below as Example #4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt4C1kdTiyM DANCE GWARA GWARA COMPILATION), several Angolan commenters wrote that the "Gwara Gwara" dance was actually the Angolan dance named "Kuduro". Other commenters in the discussion thread for the "SA DANCE GWARA GWARA COMPILATION" video mentioned above wrote that "Gwara Gwara" was like [Ghana's] Azonto dance. However, other commenters refuted that comparison indicating that the two dances are nothing alike.
Pancocojams posts on "Kuduro" and on "Azonto" can be found by using this blog's internal search engine.
****
COMPARISON OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN DANCE "GWARA GWARA" WITH THE AFRICAN AMERICAN DANCE "STANKY LEGS"
From https://www.wikihow.com/Dance-the-Gwara-Gwara, by the WikiHow staff, March 29, 2019
"The Gwara Gwara is a South African dance move created by DJ Bongz. It's been popularized in the U.S. by performers like Rhianna, and it has some similarities to the Stanky Leg.[1] The Gwara Gwara mainly involves lifting and swinging one leg, then pulling the rest of your body into that movement....
Latest revision: May 22, 2022
This pancocojams post provides information about South Africa's contemporary social dance called "gwara gwara" (also written as gwaragwara") and showcases five YouTube videos of that dance.
The Addendum of this post provides information about DJ Bongz who popularized the South African dance "gwara gwara".
The content of this post is provided for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the creators of the "Gwara Gwara" dance and thanks to DJ Bongz, the South African DJ who is widely credited as the one who popularized this dance worldwide.
Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
Thanks also to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks also to the composers and performers of the music which is featured in these videos.
-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2017/10/selected-comments-from-youtube.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Selected Comments From The YouTube Discussion Thread For "Nigerians Murder South African Dance Step "Gwara Gwara".
****
WHAT IS THE "GWARA GWARA" DANCE
"Gwara Gwara" is a social dance that began trending in South Africa in 2016 thanks to its performance and promotion by South African dancer DJ Bongz. The earliest YouTube video of this dance that I've found was published by DURBANDANCE on January 22, 2016 and is entitled "Tarabha DJ Bongz #MrGwara Gwara Dance" [video no longer available].
Another early video of this dance "Dj bongz Gwaragwara dance compilation" was published on Feb 27, 2016 by TK Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5obClFsN0I The brief summary of that video indicates that this is "dj bongz well known famous dance".
[Added May 5, 2020]
Here's a brief excerpt about "Gwara Gwara" from https://africa.com/top-dance-styles-africa/ Top Dance Styles: Africa, 2016
"The Gwara Gwara Dance was made popular by South African dance music artist, DJ Bongz, with the introduction of his hit single “Ofana Nawe,” featuring Sobz.
The dance went viral after DJ Bongz posted tutorials of how to do the dance on his social media streams, and has been featured in the videos of some of the country’s biggest hits, including “Wololo” by Babes Wodumo and “Gobisiqolo” by Bhizer. Gwara Gwara dance has become one of the most popular dance styles in Africa."
****
COMPARISON BETWEEN "GWARA CWARA" AND SOME OTHER CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN SOCIAL DANCES
As I previously indicated, the earliest "Gwara Gwara" YouTube videos that I've found were published in 2016. Many commenters in those videos' discussion threads describe "Gwara Gwara" as a very popular social dance in South Africa.
In the discussion thread for the video given below as Example #4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt4C1kdTiyM DANCE GWARA GWARA COMPILATION), several Angolan commenters wrote that the "Gwara Gwara" dance was actually the Angolan dance named "Kuduro". Other commenters in the discussion thread for the "SA DANCE GWARA GWARA COMPILATION" video mentioned above wrote that "Gwara Gwara" was like [Ghana's] Azonto dance. However, other commenters refuted that comparison indicating that the two dances are nothing alike.
Pancocojams posts on "Kuduro" and on "Azonto" can be found by using this blog's internal search engine.
****
COMPARISON OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN DANCE "GWARA GWARA" WITH THE AFRICAN AMERICAN DANCE "STANKY LEGS"
From https://www.wikihow.com/Dance-the-Gwara-Gwara, by the WikiHow staff, March 29, 2019
"The Gwara Gwara is a South African dance move created by DJ Bongz. It's been popularized in the U.S. by performers like Rhianna, and it has some similarities to the Stanky Leg.[1] The Gwara Gwara mainly involves lifting and swinging one leg, then pulling the rest of your body into that movement....
****
THE MUSIC USED TO DANCE "GWARA GWARA"
"Gwara Gwara" appears to be danced to Southern African "House" instrumental music. For example, a commenter in the discussion thread for the Jul 23, 2016 video entitled "Gwara gwara n bhenga dance" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj9pBAXJXzM indicated that the music track being danced to was "Xoli M - 1000 Hearts". And a nunber of commenters indicated that the track that was used in the video given below as Example #4 was the Angolan "House" music track "Wololo" by Dj Maceeya.
****
WHAT DOES "GWARA GWARA" MEAN?
In the discussion thread for this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj9pBAXJXzM, commenter Vodacom Mkhize (2016) responded to the question "What does "Gwara Gwara" means with this statement:
"It's a bird, it's a variation of gwala gwala/ligwalagwala/igwalagwala, a Zulu/Ndebele bird (maybe an African parrot) which was used by kings like Shaka to honour a brave person. The dance is from the moves of the bird, but it's better to ask the inventors anyway."
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1:
0:04 / 6:17
DJ Bongz - Gwaragwara - Official Video
AGGREGATOR AFRICA, Oct 5, 2018
Enjoy to DJ Bongz's latest song "Gwaragwara
-snip-
This video replaces another video of DJ Bongz that was embedded in this post but is no longer available.
****
Example #2: KIDS DANCE the GWARA GWARA South African DANCE
Courtney Danelli, Published on Mar 18, 2017
The gwara gwara South African dance
GWARA GWARA dance KIDS
****
Example #3: BEST SA DANCE gwara gwara
Tebogo Ndou, Published on Mar 15, 2017
****
Example #4: SA DANCE GWARA GWARA COMPILATION
TMan Ostrong, Published on Apr 17, 2016
Dj Bongz's Gwara Gwara, The Trending Dance
Watch The Second Episode Here: https://youtu.be/9wFByqn8nZc
****
Example #5: GWARA GWARA TUTORIAL!! || Easy step by step tutorial on how to GWARA GWARA
Presh Okosi, Apr 29, 2018
Watch how to dance the popular South African dance called Gwara gwara, looks difficult but it’s very very easy to learn 💪🏾
-snip-
This video replaces another gwara gwara tutorial video that was embedded in this post but is no longer available.
****
ADDENDUM #1: INFORMATION ABOUT DJ BONGZ
From https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/deejay-bongz.html
"Deejay Bongz
DJ
House DJ who became a household name in South Africa for his albums Game Changer, No Retreat and No Surrender. He became the first South African DJ to sell double Platinum and won two best dance compilation awards at the Metro Fm Awards.
Before Fame
He started putting out songs around 2005.
Trivia
His album Game Changer was nominated for a South African Music Award for Best Kwaito Album in 2016.
Family Life
His real name is Bongani Dlamini. He was born and raised near Durban, South Africa."...
****
From https://www.marieclaire.co.za/celebrity/dj-bongz-gwara-gwara-become-international-dance-sensation
"DJ Bongz’ GwaraGwara Is Now A Viral Dance Sensation And You Need To Watch This Mashup
by: Afika Jadezweni, 30 January, 2018
"A one-minute video of people from all over the world doing DJ Bongz’ Gwara Gwara has gone viral on Twitter this afternoon. This is a dance originally popularised by local house hitmaker DJ Bongz, who has been seen in many videos doing the dance either at performances or on any other regular occasion where the music is good and loud enough. And now it has become an international dance sensation.
The montage posted today on Twitter by Gagasi FM’s DJ Websta recognises the local DJ as the ‘Gwara Gwara originator’ and thanks Bongz for introducing the dance to the world.
[...]
This video comes a day after South Africans were quick to point out that one of Rihanna’s dance moves during her Grammy Awards performance* was in fact DJ Bongz’ Gwara Gwara (along with the Ghanaian azonto) and not the stanky leg as international media initially claimed.
****
ADDENDUM #2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5PSUSNHvuc "Rihana Dancing Gwara Gwara at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards 2018"
-snip-
American actor, Hip Hop composer, performer Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) also performed gwara gwara as part of his hit "This is American"
video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
THE MUSIC USED TO DANCE "GWARA GWARA"
"Gwara Gwara" appears to be danced to Southern African "House" instrumental music. For example, a commenter in the discussion thread for the Jul 23, 2016 video entitled "Gwara gwara n bhenga dance" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj9pBAXJXzM indicated that the music track being danced to was "Xoli M - 1000 Hearts". And a nunber of commenters indicated that the track that was used in the video given below as Example #4 was the Angolan "House" music track "Wololo" by Dj Maceeya.
****
WHAT DOES "GWARA GWARA" MEAN?
In the discussion thread for this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj9pBAXJXzM, commenter Vodacom Mkhize (2016) responded to the question "What does "Gwara Gwara" means with this statement:
"It's a bird, it's a variation of gwala gwala/ligwalagwala/igwalagwala, a Zulu/Ndebele bird (maybe an African parrot) which was used by kings like Shaka to honour a brave person. The dance is from the moves of the bird, but it's better to ask the inventors anyway."
****
SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Example #1:
0:04 / 6:17
DJ Bongz - Gwaragwara - Official Video
AGGREGATOR AFRICA, Oct 5, 2018
Enjoy to DJ Bongz's latest song "Gwaragwara
-snip-
This video replaces another video of DJ Bongz that was embedded in this post but is no longer available.
****
Example #2: KIDS DANCE the GWARA GWARA South African DANCE
Courtney Danelli, Published on Mar 18, 2017
The gwara gwara South African dance
GWARA GWARA dance KIDS
****
Example #3: BEST SA DANCE gwara gwara
Tebogo Ndou, Published on Mar 15, 2017
****
Example #4: SA DANCE GWARA GWARA COMPILATION
TMan Ostrong, Published on Apr 17, 2016
Dj Bongz's Gwara Gwara, The Trending Dance
Watch The Second Episode Here: https://youtu.be/9wFByqn8nZc
****
Example #5: GWARA GWARA TUTORIAL!! || Easy step by step tutorial on how to GWARA GWARA
Presh Okosi, Apr 29, 2018
Watch how to dance the popular South African dance called Gwara gwara, looks difficult but it’s very very easy to learn 💪🏾
-snip-
This video replaces another gwara gwara tutorial video that was embedded in this post but is no longer available.
****
ADDENDUM #1: INFORMATION ABOUT DJ BONGZ
From https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/deejay-bongz.html
"Deejay Bongz
DJ
House DJ who became a household name in South Africa for his albums Game Changer, No Retreat and No Surrender. He became the first South African DJ to sell double Platinum and won two best dance compilation awards at the Metro Fm Awards.
Before Fame
He started putting out songs around 2005.
Trivia
His album Game Changer was nominated for a South African Music Award for Best Kwaito Album in 2016.
Family Life
His real name is Bongani Dlamini. He was born and raised near Durban, South Africa."...
****
From https://www.marieclaire.co.za/celebrity/dj-bongz-gwara-gwara-become-international-dance-sensation
"DJ Bongz’ GwaraGwara Is Now A Viral Dance Sensation And You Need To Watch This Mashup
by: Afika Jadezweni, 30 January, 2018
"A one-minute video of people from all over the world doing DJ Bongz’ Gwara Gwara has gone viral on Twitter this afternoon. This is a dance originally popularised by local house hitmaker DJ Bongz, who has been seen in many videos doing the dance either at performances or on any other regular occasion where the music is good and loud enough. And now it has become an international dance sensation.
The montage posted today on Twitter by Gagasi FM’s DJ Websta recognises the local DJ as the ‘Gwara Gwara originator’ and thanks Bongz for introducing the dance to the world.
[...]
This video comes a day after South Africans were quick to point out that one of Rihanna’s dance moves during her Grammy Awards performance* was in fact DJ Bongz’ Gwara Gwara (along with the Ghanaian azonto) and not the stanky leg as international media initially claimed.
****
ADDENDUM #2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5PSUSNHvuc "Rihana Dancing Gwara Gwara at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards 2018"
-snip-
American actor, Hip Hop composer, performer Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) also performed gwara gwara as part of his hit "This is American"
video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)