Feeling the music
I'm writing this from an internet cafe in Maun where I'm spending the week attending a workshop hosted by UNICEF. But, I wanted to write about our weekend before all the words floating through my head to describe it escaped me.
So, this weekend Brian and I, along with approximately 25 other PCVs, attended the Kuru Dance Festival near D'Kar. I had so much fun. There was dancing around the fire Friday night and then the festival went on all-day Saturday. My favorite dance was "Hunt of the Gemsbok" In it one of the men plays the gemsbok by holding up two sticks to look like antlers. The other men dance around "hunting" The climax of the dance, of course, is the hunters capturing the gemsbok. The only word I can think of to describe the dance is "organic." You just have to see it. You can tell by watching that it is so traditional, San men probably started the dance by entertaining others with a story of when they once caught a gemsbok. I just loved it.
On Sunday and I traveled to Maun with our friends Dave and Wendy who are the volunteers stationed here. As we were waiting outside the gate of the Game Farm the festival started shuttling participants in 4x4 safari-equipped vehicles to load onto buses for their ride home. As the vehicles pulled up, hoardes of people unloaded clapping and dancing. It was such a contrast to the festival where they put on a "performance." This was just spontaneous, enjoying the moment and expressing it through song. So beautiful. We even ended up catching a ride halfway to Maun with a bus full of performers. The entire ride was filled with music. Again, not a performance, just pure spontaneity. I recorded a clip on the bus on the digital camera, when I can get to computer and upload it I'll do it.