Gumboot dance

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The gumboot dance is an African dance that is performed by dancers wearing Wellington boots. In South Africa, these are more commonly called gumboots.

The boots may be embellished with bells, so that they ring as the dancers stamp on the ground.

Contents 1 Sources 2 See also 3 External links 4 References

[edit] Sources

Gumboot dancers are commonly sighted on the streets and plazas of tourist areas in South Africa, such as the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town. The dance likely originated among South African gold miners ^[1], and especially among their tough working conditions ( obscurity , dampness, ...). Many of the steps and routines are parodies of the officers and guards who controlled the mines and workers' barracks.^{[citation needed]} Like other forms of African dance, Gumboot utilizes the concepts of polyrhythm and total body articulation, drawing from the cultural dances of the African workers that manned the mines.^[2] It is a percutant dance made by idiophones or autophones (objects of the everyday life vibrating by themselves), and is similar in execution and style to forms of "Stepping" done by African-American fraternities and sororities.

[edit] See also

The dance is the highlight of the performance of Black Umfolosi, a prominent Zimbabwean folk group.^[3]

The album Graceland by the American pop singer Paul Simon has a song titled "Gumboots", which is performed in the style of South African township jive (mbaqanga) and contains performances by members of the Boyoyo Boys.

The British-American Composer David Bruce has written a Clarinet Quintet entitled Gumboots, which was inspired by Gumboot dancing. It was commissioned by Carnegie Hall in 2008 and can be heard in full on the Carnegie Hall website, performed by Todd Palmer and the St Lawrence String Quartet.

[edit] External links

• Lesole's Dance Project - South African Gumboots (example of dancers with bells on their gumboots)

[edit] References

http://otoplasma.com/gumboots/dance.html