"Halala Indoda" (Seven Videos of This South African Gwijo With Lyrics & A Focus On The Hand Gestures That Are Made While Singing It)

Thato Iniesta Mzizi, Oct. 30, 2022
-snip-
This video title/summary doesn't identify who is singing this gwijo and where they are located. 

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Revision: Nov. 21, 2021

This pancocojams post showcases seven videos of the South African gwijo entitled "Halala Indoda".

The lyrics for this gwijo and their English translation are quoted from the comment sections for two of these YouTube videos. My editorial notes are also included in this post..

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the composer/s of this gwijo and thanks to all those who are featured in this post.
Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.  

-snip-
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/09/what-do-xhosa-south-africa-words-gwijo.html for the related pancocojams post entitled "What Does The Xhosa (South Africa) Words "Amagwijo" & "Igwijo" Mean?"

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/11/black-faced-minstrelsy-in-south-africas.html for a related pancocojams post entitled "Black Faced Minstrelsy In South Africa's Influence On The Custom Of Isicathamiya Groups Wearing White Gloves And Sometimes Making The "Jazz Hands" Gesture."

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DISCLAIMER:
I am African American and unfortunately, I don't speak or read any other language but English. I've never been to any Africa country and I know very little about those cultures besides what I've read (online and offline) and what I've gleaned from watching and listening to YouTube videos. Consequently, I'm aware that what little I think I know about these cultures may be wrong. 

My notes in this post are written from the perspective of an American.

 Additions and corrections are welcome.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES
Pancocojams posts about the cultures of Black people throughout Africa and the African Diaspora are published in part to document what I've found online and in large part to  motivate people who are knowledgeable about these cultures to add to the small amount and often erroneous, shallow, and outdated information that is now available online about these cultures.

In addition to the music itself, this post focuses on the hand gestures that many of the singers make while singing this song. I'm particularly interested in learning about the origins and meanings of two gestures that I've found in these and in some other gwijo videos: 
1, the gesture that is made by rubbing the palms of the hands together . The hands are held up in a praying gesture near the person's chest but not directly over his heart. 
and
2. the gesture that is made by holding up both hands and wiggling your fingers. This last gesture appears to be similar to what people in the United States call "jazz hands" or "spirit fingers", except that in the United States (and elsewhere) "jazz hands" are done with both arms extended to the side and the fingers wiggled.  

I've noticed some of these South African hand gestures in several YouTube videos of other South African choral music performances.*  In my notes in those post I wondered if the "jazz hand-like" gesture had their source in the black faced minstrel groups (including a Black American minstrel group) which toured South Africa in the late 19th and early 20th century. Those minstrel groups greatly influenced the sound of South African choral music and the ways that music was performed and is still performed, 

I'm very interested in learning whether that particular hand gesture was lifted from traditional Xhosa or Zulu cultures (or any other traditional South African cultures) and what was/is its meaning in those cultures.

I realize that the same or similar hand gestures might have different meanings among the same population at different periods of time and/or in different situations. What a particular hand gesture might signify can have even more interpretations when it is done by people from different populations throughout the world. Furthermore, I realize that some hand gestures have secret meanings. Nevertheless, I hope that this post motivates some people who know the meanings of the hand gestures that are done in these amagwijo videos to share online what those gestures mean for the cultural and historical record. 

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS 
This compilation is only a sample of the YouTube videos of "Halala Indoda". The lyrics for this gwijo and the tempo in which it is sung may vary.

Except for showcase video #1, these videos are given in chronological order with the oldest video given first. Number are added for referencing purposes only.

My notes after some of these videos provide time stamps that identify when in the video a particular hand gesture is made. However, that hand gesture could be made elsewhere in that video. Also, videos that aren't followed by any of my editorial notes can have hand gestures throughout whose time stamps I haven't identified.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2: Halala indonda gwijo by Queens College #queenscollege #gwijo #rugby

 

Boys & Men Of Gwijos,  Mar 19, 2022

30,150 views • Mar 19, 2022

Gwijo by Queens College best rugby school in the Eastern Cape -snip- The term "college" in South Africa is comparable to middle school and high school in the United States (8th grade through 12th grade). These singers wear a face mask as protection against corona virus. One example of the rubbing palms together gesture occurs at .50 in this video. The hands are held above his head, but people in the United States would refer to the way they are held as a praying gesture, but in the United States rubbing the palms together means either anticipation of something good, or trying to warm your hands because you're cold, or being greedy. What does this motion mean in the context of this and other gwijo videos? ****

SHOWCASE VIDEO #3: University Of Fort Hare Rugby - Halala Gwijo

Amagwijo Provider, Premiered Mar 28, 2022
-snip-
Here are the lyrics for this song that were posted in that video's discussion thread by Petje Lepipi, 2022
"ndithe mna nda ba yindoda ndasuka ndanxila 🍺🍺🍻🍻 halala"
-snip-
Google translation from Xhosa (and Zulu) to English:
"when I became a man I got drunk 🍺🍺🍻🍻 congrats"

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #4: Dale College gwijo~halala indoda❤🖤🙌

Dale College amadoda, June 17, 2022
-snip-
Since amgwijo is traditionally (and still almost entirely) a male singing form, the South African colleges that are featured in pancocojams amagwijo posts are attended by males only. 

Notice that the most of the students wear face masks because of the Covid-19 pandemic. 
-snip-
A student is shown rubbing the palms of his hands together around 1:30 in this video. His hands are held in what Americans (from the United States) would call a praying gesture. What does that hand gesture mean in South African cultures or South African amagwijo in particular?

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #5: Selborne College Gwijo - Halala



Anele Sokomani, Jul 23, 2022

“iyoh halala” veske uqonde ba liyatsho eligwijo🥺
-snip-
Google translate from Zulu to English:
-snip-
Yes, congratulations,  just understand that it’s a joke.
-snip-
Here's a comment exchange about the lyrics for this song:
1. Wanele Gasa, 2022
"What are the lyrics to this song 🤲"

**
Reply
2. vusie njamela, 2022
"Iyhoo halala x2 halala x4

Ndide mna ndabayi ndoba ndasuke ndanxila

I yhoo le ndoda x2 yasuka yanxilax2 le ndoda"
-snip-
Google translate from Xhosa to English;
"Wow congratulations x2 congratulations x4

Even I was drunk

Wow, this man just got drunk"
-snip-
Additions and corrections are welcome.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #6:  PORT REX T.H.S 'Halala' Gwijo

iGwijo Liyaphilisa, Oct 3, 2022
-snip-
Throughout this video students singing are shown rubbing the palms of their hands and raising their arms above their head and wiggling their fingers (This last motion isn't the same as waving their arms back and forth which is much more familiar to people in the United States.) 

Many of these students are wearing a face mask as a protection against Covid-19 (corona virus). 

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #7: Indoda (halala) Gwijo



SIBONGISIPHO JOLA,   Nov 6, 2022

448 views • Nov 6, 2022

This video was recorded at the University of the Western Cape FNB Stadium following the championship match of the res league tournament, in which Belhar Dragon defeated Gorvalla Residence. ****
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Visitor comments are welcome.
  

Five Videos Of South African Apostolic Choirs: The Twelve Apostles Church In Trinity (TTACT)

Nhlaka Production,July 24, 2020

Some members of this choir are hitting hand held small "cushion" drums.

At 3:12 in this video the men forcefully push hands down to ground and raise hands near their face with wiggling fingers with the left hand a little higher up than the right hand.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases five videos of The Twelve Apostles Church In Trinity (TTACT also given as TACT), a South African based Apostolic denomination.

This post also includes some very brief statements about this denomination. I've also included my Editorial notes about my reasons for publishing this post.

The content of this post is presented for cultural and religious purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/11/black-faced-minstrelsy-in-south-africas.html 
for a related pancocojams post entitled "Black Faced Minstrelsy In South Africa's Influence On The Custom Of Isicathamiya Groups Wearing White Gloves And Sometimes Making The "Jazz Hands" Gesture."

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/11/videos-of-south-african-apostolic.html "Five Videos Of South African Apostolic Choirs: The Twelve Apostles Church In Christ (TTACC)"

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
In addition to these videos' music, I'm particularly interested in documenting the custom of choir members wearing white gloves or wearing another colored gloves. I posit that this custom of wearing gloves as part of the choir's attire has its source in South Africa's Isicathamiya choral groups and the Isicathamiya choral groups got the custom of wearing white gloves from the United States black faced minstrel groups (and from other minstrel groups (including a Black group known as the Virginia Jubilee Singers) who toured South Africa in the 19th and early 20th century.

The choral singing still of this Apostolic denomination reminds me of Isicathamiya choral singing.

I'm also interested in documenting the choirs' dancing/marching movements as well as their extensive use of hand gestures while they sing. These characteristics also remind me of Isicathamiya choral groups. Although I'm certainly no expert on Isicathamiya music or on Zulu culture, it appears to me that the dance movements and hand gestures that both of these vocal music groups performed in the past and still perform now come from traditional Zulu culture (Think of Ladysmith Black Mambazo as an example of  an Isicathamiya music group although that group is much smaller than Isicathamiya groups and didn't/ doesn't wear the suits and gloves that Isicathamiya groups wore and still wear).

I'm curious about the hand gestures that singers in both these types of South African music use. Unfortunately, I haven't found any information online about what any of these hand gestures mean.   Is performing imitative gestures while singing traditional in Zulu and/or other South African ethnic groups?   

Are the gestures that resemble "jazz hands" / "spirit fingers" from traditional Zulu culture or from United States minstrel groups that toured South Africa (and elsewhere) in the late 19th century and the early 20th century?*

Hopefully, people who are knowledgeable about these subjects will share some information here or elsewhere online. Doing so would be greatly appreciated.

****
I haven't found any information in English about The Twelve Apostles Church in Trinity (TTACT) besides its Facebook page with this information:
 https://www.facebook.com/The12ACT/

"The Twelve Apostles Church in Trinity

Apostolic Church

321 Avoca Road, Effingham Heights, Durban, South Africa."
-snip-
I don't know anything about the history of  The Twelve Apostles Church in Trinity (TTACT) denomination or the differences, if any, between that denomination and The Twelve Apostles Church In Christ (TTACC). However, their name similarities suggests that there was or is some connection between these denominations.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/11/videos-of-south-african-apostolic.html for the pancocojams post entitled "Videos Of South African Apostolic Choirs: The Twelve Apostles Church In Christ (TTACC)."

As is the case with that post, after the videos that are showcased in this post, I've included notes about the singers' attire and whether they wore white gloves or another color gloves.

The attire that TTACT members wear in these showcased videos is somewhat similar to the attire that TTACC members wear. In both groups the males wear identical attire and the females wear identical attire, except for the each group's leader.

The TTACT men and boys wear royal blue jackets (or light blue suit jackets), white shirts, blue ties, white pants, and white gloves .The group leader for the male group doesn't wear any gloves. 

In some of these showcased TTACT videos, the women wear a white blouse (sometimes with a red insignia) and royal blue skirts to the knees or shortly below the knees. Sometimes  for the women who also wear a white bonnet or a white tied scarf. In some videos the women don't wear gloves. However, in one of the videos, the women wear identical white dresses that are slightly below the knees. A sky blue corsage is pinned on the top right hand side of the dress. The women wear a white bonnet, sky blue long gloves, and white dress shoes. 

DISCLAIMER: These descriptions of the attire for TTACT members only refers to the videos that are showcased in this post. Members of this denomination may wear other attire on other occasions. 

I have included a few notes in this post about some of the hand gestures and dance movements the singers did in those showcased videos. 

 Additions and corrections are welcome for all of these editorial notes.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2: - TTACTSO UNIZULU lapho kuGcwele by Clement

nqobile DeNqobee,  May 11, 2022

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3: TTACT 2022 Evangelical brothers. Mthatha | Apostle and Youth day

Ncedo Mbini,  Jun 27, 2022

Evangelical Junior brothers. Umzimvubu region 🌈

[…]

Disclaimer: All my videos are recorded by me, there is no third party involved. My videos don't mean to harm ivangeli lika baba, my motive is to show the world the beauty of TTACT and to share our songs to anyone who would like to listen to them.
-snip-

Around 8:32 in this video, the singers are doing a hand motion that is similar to what people in the United States and in some other nations call "jazz hands" or "spirit fingers.".

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #4: : TTACT GAUTENG THANKS GIVING 2022 HIGHLIGHTS

Trinity Live, Sept. 3, 2022

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #5: TTACT -Welcome in Pietermaritzburg under O/S Sibisi

sphesihle Goodman, Sep 29, 2022

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Visitor comments are welcome.

Five Videos Of South African Apostolic Choirs: The Twelve Apostles Church In Christ (TTACC)

Thethelela Khwatha, Oct 11, 2021

38,343 views • Oct 11, 2021

Inqwelo****
Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases five videos of The Twelve Apostles Church In Christ (TTACC also given as TACC) a South African based Apostolic denomination.

Brief information about The Twelve Apostles Church In Christ is included in this post along with my editorial notes.

The content of this post is presented for cultural and religious purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/11/black-faced-minstrelsy-in-south-africas.html for a related pancocojams post entitled "Black Faced Minstrelsy In South Africa's Influence On The Custom Of Isicathamiya Groups Wearing White Gloves And Sometimes Making The "Jazz Hands" Gesture."

Also, click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/11/five-videos-of-south-african-apostolic.html for the related pancocojams post entitled "Five Videos Of South African Apostolic Choirs: The Twelve Apostles Church In Trinity (TTACT)"

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE

In addition to these videos' music, I'm particularly interested in documenting the custom of choir members wearing white gloves or wearing another colored gloves. I posit that this custom of wearing gloves as part of the choir's attire has its source in South Africa's Isicathamiya choral groups and the Isicathamiya choral groups got the custom of wearing white gloves from the United States black faced minstrel groups (and from other minstrel groups (including a Black group known as the Virginia Jubilee Singers) who toured South Africa in the 19th and early 20th century.

The choral singing still of this Apostolic denomination reminds me of Isicathamiya choral singing.

I'm also interested in documenting the choirs' dancing/marching movements as well as their extensive use of hand gestures while they sing. These characteristics also remind me of Isicathamiya choral groups. Although I'm certainly no expert on Isicathamiya music or on Zulu culture, it appears to me that the dance movements and hand gestures that both of these vocal music groups performed in the past and still perform now come from traditional Zulu culture (Think of Ladysmith Black Mambazo as an example of  an Isicathamiya music group although that group is much smaller than Isicathamiya groups and didn't/ doesn't wear the suits and gloves that Isicathamiya groups wore and still wear).

I'm curious about the hand gestures that singers in both these types of South African music use. Unfortunately, I haven't found any information online about what any of these hand gestures mean.   Is performing imitative gestures while singing traditional in Zulu and/or other South African ethnic groups?   

Are the gestures that resemble "jazz hands" / "spirit fingers" from traditional Zulu culture or from United States minstrel groups that toured South Africa (and elsewhere) in the late 19th century and the early 20th century?*

Hopefully, people who are knowledgeable about these subjects will share some information here or elsewhere online. Doing so would be greatly appreciated.

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SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE TWELVE APOSTLES CHURCH IN CHRIST 
The history of the Twelve Apostles Church In Christ is difficult to follow without talking about politics, race, religious schisms, and more.

Here's a quote from https://twelveapostlescc.org/ 
“Twelve Apostles Church In Christ is an independent Apostolic Church with its Head Administration office in East London, South Africa. 

Membership is well in access of 4 million…Due to the political legacy of the previous (white) regime, the members are predominately black Africans.”...

Read https://twelveapostlescc.org/history/  and  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Apostolic_Church 
for the complicated history of this Christian denomination. 

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS

Excerpt for Showcase Video #1, these videos are numbered for referencing purposes only and are given in chronological order with the oldest videos given first.

My brief notes about the choirs'  hand gestures may be included after these videos.

DISCLAIMER: These descriptions of the attire for TTACC members only refers to the videos that are showcased in this post. Members of this denomination may wear other attire on other occasions. 

I have included a few notes in this post about some of the hand gestures and dance movements the singers did in those showcased videos. 

 Additions and corrections are welcome for all of these editorial notes.

SHOWCASE VIDEO # 2: TTACC 2019 Thanksgiving Evangelical brothers

 

Ncedo Mbini, Aug 14, 2019

Evangelical brothers kwiThanksgiving 11.08.2019.. Abavangeli bakaBaba
-snip-
The men wear identical royal blue suit jackets, white shirt, white pants, and black shoes. The men wear a royal blue tie, white gloves, and black dress shoes.

In the beginning of the video the men bend down with the fingers of both of their hands wiggling, the men slowly raise their hands in their air above their head with the fingers still wiggling. 

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3: TTACCSO UNIZULU - Ganda Ganda

TTACCSO TV, Premiered Feb 17, 2020

TTACCSO UNIZULU performed this song in 2018 National Closing function hosted by TTACCSO TUT. This song titled Ganda Ganda was composed by Mhlungu.
-snip- The young women wear a white blouse with a knee length royal blue skirt. They also wear a white head scarf, white socks, and white tennis shoes. The young men wear a royal blue suit jacket, a royal blue tie, white shirt, white pants, black belt, and black shoes. They also wear white gloves. ****SHOWCASE VIDEO #4:  TACC 2020 Opening Bizana IMPM - abamazanga ubaba

Thethelela Khwatha, Mar 13, 2020

19,723 views • Mar 13, 2020

Welcoming of mother chief ❤❤❤ -snip- The women dress identically in white blouses with royal blue shirt below the knees and a blue tied belt. They also wear a tied white scarf and white scandals. They don't wear any gloves.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #5: TACC Mothers' Worship Medley by Mother Lulu Matyumza, Mother Mabhola and Mother Sinama

Thethelela Khwatha,  Oct 14, 2021

Thursday service
-snip-
The women don't wear any gloves. They wear a white blouse and blue skirt with a white scarf over their hair.
 
Notice the woman rubbing the palms of her hands together than clapping her hands around .022 in this video. I've noticed that hand gesture in videos of the South African music form known as "amagwijo" ("igwijo" / "gwijo").

Also, throughout this video notice the women raising one arm over their head and wiggling that hand (not waving that hand from side to side).

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Visitor comments are welcome. 

Black Faced Minstrelsy In South Africa's Influence On The Custom Of Isicathamiya Groups Wearing White Gloves And Sometimes Making The "Jazz Hands" Gesture

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents three videos of South Africa's Isicathamaya groups wearing white gloves or (since at least 2017) wearing gloves of another color.

In at least one of these videos, an Isicathamiya  group makes a form of the "jazz hands" gesture.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and entertainment purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who helped develop the vocal performance styles that are featured in this post. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to all those are featured in this post. Thanks to all those are associated with these showcased videos. 

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
This pancocojams post is published to spark consideration about these topics which hopefully will results in online and offline information about this subject by those who are far more knowledgeable than I am about the influence of black faced minstrelsy upon certain South African vocal performances. 
  
There's no doubt that the Isicathamiya custom of  wearing white gloves (or lately, wearing other color gloves) has its source in 19th century United States black-faced minstrelsy. This pancocojams posts introduces to some people the historical fact that groups of  United States White minstrel groups and United States Black minstrel groups toured South Africa in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, and thus helped birth the creation of  South African minstrel groups and other vocal group performances such as Isicathamiya. (People in the United States may be familiar with Ladysmith Black Mambazo. That group's singing and performance style is based on Isicathamiya, although that group is much smaller than other Isicathamiya groups and their attire is quite different from Isicathamiya groups.) 

The second part that I posit in this post -that some Isicathamiya groups perform the hand gesture that is known as "jazz hands" or "spirit fingers" and that those Isicathamiya hand gestures have their source in black faced minstrelsy is much more questionable. 

When I refer to South African singers "doing jazz hands" I don't mean that they hold (or held) their arms extended from their waist and wiggle their fingers. Instead, their hands are held near the top of their head and their fingers are wiggled.  

I don't know whether the history of Isicathamiya supports the notion that that gesture was commonly done. I also don't know if that gesture is widely done in the 21st century. 

I also don't know whether that gesture that is performed now by Isicathamiya groups (and probably was performed by Isicathamiya groups in the past) has/had its origin in traditional Zulu or other South African ethnic groups' dances. In other words, was that gesture performed by United States black faced minstrels in the 19th century before they toured South Africa?

Furthermore, I don't know whether the "jazz hand" gesture that Isicathamiya groups do (and presumable did in the past) means the same thing/s as jazz hands mean and meant in the United States.  

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This pancocojams post pre-supposes that its readers have some knowledge about black faced minstrelsy in the United States and black faced minstrelsy in South Africa. This pancocojams post also pre-supposes that its readers are familiar with the history of and how to make the hand gesture that is now known as "jazz hands" or "spirit fingers".

Here's a quote from the 2018 pancocojams post entitled "Excerpt From A 1997 article About Isicathamiya Music (The Music Style Popularized By Ladysmith Black Mambazo)" http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2018/01/excerpt-from-1997-article-about.html

[quoting "Songs Of The Night: Isicathamiya Choral Music From KwaZulu Natal" by Angela Impey https://folklife.si.edu/resources/Festival1997/songsof.htm
..."By the 1920s, minstrel shows had gained widespread popularity throughout South Africa, extending deep into remote parts of the countryside, where traditional performance practices remained relatively unaltered. These shows particularly impressed Zulu migrant workers from the KwaZulu Natal regions, who combined stylistic elements of minstrelsy performance with ingoma (dance characterized by forward-stretching hands and high-kicking footwork) and izingoma zomtshado (Zulu wedding songs closely related in structure to ingoma songs) to form the prototype of present-day isicathamiya song and dance.

The vast number of Zulu men who entered the migrant labor system were made to occupy the marginal spaces of the cities: squalid, single-sex hostels, compounds, and impoverished locations. City dwelling demanded creative responses to the dislocation from home and family and to the new experiences of everyday life. With urban development in South Africa, Blacks formed trade unions, sports organizations, and entertainment clubs. Zulu isicathamiya groups developed a complex network of weekly competitions; they were prescribed and stately occasions, organized around set pieces, as had been the convention of school and mission competitions. Choral groups comprised men who shared regional and kinship ties. While isicathamiya competitions may have originated in Durban and KwaZulu Natal, they soon emerged among Zulu migrants in Johannesburg, where performances took on subtle stylistic differences."...

Also, click https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-10-05-so-youve-never-heard-of-reuben-t-caluza-that-needs-to-change/ for the Oct. 5, 2021 article by Emma Dollery entitled "So, you’ve never heard of Reuben T. Caluza? That needs to change."

Here's a brief excerpt of that article: 
[Reuben T.] "Caluza was born near Edendale, KwaZulu-Natal (then called Natal) in 1895, and, according to this short biography, displayed musical talent at a very early age. His talent was further developed in secondary school, when he attended John Dube’s Ohlange High School, the first school founded by a black South African, and one of the first institutions of higher learning for people of colour. Later, he spent time in America, where he studied music at Hampton University and then Columbia University, after which he returned to South Africa to be appointed the head of Adams College School of Music. 

It was in America that Caluza first encountered ragtime, a genre which originated in African American musical communities and is sometimes credited as a precursor to jazz. Miller expands: “This influence of ragtime had a big impact: Caluza was instrumental in developing and revolutionising the ‘concert form’, freeing it up from static missionary choral performance and rather combining movement/dancing with singing performance, relating to the action-songs of isicathamiya, which became a central part of concert entertainment in South African choral music.”...

Also, click https://esat.sun.ac.za/index.php/Minstrels#The_African_Minstrels for information about black faced minstrelsy in 19th/early 20th century South Africa and a list of a black faced minstrel groups who toured that nation or were from that nation.

Here are two brief excerpts from that page:

 “The Virginia Jubilee Singers and Orpheus McAdoo

An influential jubilee and minstrelsy group who visited South Africa in the 1890s under the leadership of impresario Orpheus McAdoo. The group was also known as the Virginia Concert Company, the Virginia Jubilee Concert Company, McAdoo's Vaudeville Company or even simply as The Jubilee Singers. Their visits are believed to have had a substantial influence on the style of the Cape Coon Carnival

See the Virginia Jubilee Singers”
-snip-
This write up doesn’t note that these performers were Black Americans.

**
"The cultural influence of the minstrelsy movement in South Africa

The impact of the first visit by the original Christy's Minstrels and the various minstrel-style shows subsequently done by the various garrison theatre companies, visiting professionals and a number of amateur companies, in the course of the 19th century has been quite profound.

One of the most noticeable of the longer-term effects of the exposure to the Christy's performances, is to be seen in the way they directly influenced the form, dress and style of what was long known as the Coon Carnival, or Kaapse Klopse, in Cape Town, put on by troupes hailing from various regions of the larger Cape Town area. The annual event, taking place on the 2nd of January (referred to as "Tweede Nuwejaar), is today called the Cape Minstrel Carnival in English, though still referred to as the Kaapse Klopse in Afrikaans.

Besides this key event, a number of other South African minstrel groups - such as the African Darkies, African Own Entertainers, and the Midnight Follies - became popular, and in their turn influenced township performance in various parts of the country, through their use of so-called "coon" songs and skits borrowed from recordings and sheet music from Britain and the USA."...

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Click https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-fabulous-history-of-jazz-hands "The Fabulous History of JAZZ HANDS!" Here's a brief excerpt from that article:

..."The exact origins of jazz hands are a bit murky, but as with most performative dance, it likely has its roots in African dance traditions. “I see one thread of it coming up through the African-American foundation of jazz dance, and that authentic jazz tradition,” says Rebecca Katz Harwood, Associate Professor of Musical Theater at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. ”In as much as vaudeville grows out of minstrelsy, that’s another step backwards on the family tree of jazz hands.”

It’s likely that the simple act of shaking your hands as part of the performance came into use when vaudeville performers began taking their cues from these traditions. As vaudeville began evolving into film, it brought jazz hands with it. Some people contend that jazz hands can be traced back to Al Jolson’s 1927 film, The Jazz Singer. In the film, Jolson plays a young man who defies his strict Jewish parents, and becomes a singer. The film is mainly remembered both for being the first ever “talkie,” with dialogue synchronized to the action, and also for Jolson’s incredibly offensive blackface minstrelsy. The performance numbers in the film, which were praised upon its release, are still somewhat unforgettable today (if you can get past the blackface).

Some of Jolson’s moves are reminiscent of what we would call jazz hands, with arms outstretched and hands extended pleadingly to the audience, but his moves lack the signature shake. “When I think of Al Jolson, I think of the blackface and the white gloves over his hands. And of course part of what those white gloves do is draw attention to the hands,” says Katz Harwood."...

For an example of "jazz hands", click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BatoXPSA3HQ "The Simpsons - Jazz Hands", published by AreaEightyNine, Jul 13, 2017.

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YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF ISICATHAMIYA GROUPS

These videos are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

SHOWCASE #1: Zulu Messengers , AmaBhoza KaCothoza Umdlalo ka BGK 1

 

Zulu Messengers, Oct 9, 2017
-snip-
I especially want to direct your attention to the song that starts at 55:57 and the portion of  that song that begins at 1.01:17.  I believe that the  wide eyes, big smile, and wiggling white gloved hands next to their faces definitely resemble black face minstrelsy. 

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2: UMDLALO Wase MzimkhuluNMZ



NMZ Multimedia, Aug 16, 2017

-snip-
9:52 in this video shows the group leader holding his hands above his face, wiggling those hands, and grimacing. That grimacing is part of a longer series of mimicking movements, and differs from the "happy/excited" emotions that are conveyed by "jazz hands".    

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3: Inkululeko ejajini (Iphimbo Iscathamiya Music Organization)

Inkululeko, Nov. 29, 2021

-snip-
This contemporary Iscathamiya group incorporated Zulu dance movements into their performance. The leader performed a large number of imitative hand gestures. While I didn't see anything that I'd call the "jazz hands" gesture that is performed near the top of the head as I've seen it in the video given as #1 in this pancocojams post, wouldn't have been out of place among these other imitative gestures.  

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ADDENDUM
I haven't come across any videos of the world famous Isicathamiya and mbube group Ladysmith Black Mambazo wearing Western suits and gloves like the other Isicathamiya groups. It's likely that they wore suits and white gloves when they were competing in isicathamiya competitions. (They won so often that they were asked to stop competing).

If you've come across Ladysmith Black Mambazo or any other Isicathamiya group doing "jazz hands" (other than waving goodbye as at 1:21 in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sghfvbd0Nbg , please share that link or links.)

Also, if you have any other information about the imitative movements and hand gestures these groups make, please share that information. Thanks! 
 
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