Umtshato – The Wedding…

After spending the afternoon shopping, eating, and chatting, Marcus and I headed to our second festival event, Umshato – The Wedding. This 70-member ensemble performs stories in traditional eastern cape African dances. This magnificent show focused on the story of a king who comes across a princess from another tribe and is struck by her beauty. He and his men advance on her and her guard offering her jewels and a lifetime as his queen. She and her guard flirtatiously reject his offer and hurry home. He then approaches her father for her hand in marriage and a bride price negotiation takes place. Ultimately, the king gains his queen and the clans are united through marriage. The sounds were astounding. There were many variations of ankle bells and cymbals, long and short shells at the chest and waist, scarves and braids that each created a unique sounds which resonated through the theatre as the men and women danced and stepped. So many of the dances we do in the States directly evolved from the strong and graceful traditional African movements. Of course it does look a little more crass when performed to the melodic sounds of “booty, booty, booty, - booty rocking everywhere.”