“Beautiful”: Modern Khoi and San Captivate With Fancy Footwork Dancing Up a Storm in Dusty Karoo

• An ancient tradition was on full display in a viral video of a culturally rich performance by Khoi and San youths
• The scenes of their enthusiastic performance of a centuries-old rieldans were shared by X user @jenna_original
• An enthused online community danced their way to the comments to take in the electric showing in Calvinia

A culturally rich dance routine steeped in ancient tradition is a sight to behold anywhere in the world.

Such was the case in a video making the rounds online. It shows young men and women breaking into an energetic Khoi and San dance.

Modern Khoi and San dance up a storm

An X user, @jenna_original, posted the material with the caption:

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"Calvinia, Karoo. Traditional Rieldans of the Khoi and San."

The 71-second clip shows about a dozen Khoi and San youth performing the rieldans or riel — their nifty footwork sending up a cloud of dust.

Displaying poise and abundant enthusiasm, the performance culminates a centuries-old celebratory dance by the San, Nama and Khoi, characterised by spectacular, fast-paced foot movement.

The riel is a social, cultural and educational tool with distinct influences from Irish and Scottish folk music.

According to Wikipedia, it has gained renewed popularity in recent years. Its modern version has elements of colonialism as the accompanying instrumentation includes guitar and violin.

The clip captures this as the dancers move to the energetic sounds of a guitar accompanied by song and hand clapping.

This made for a boisterous and lively performance in Calvania, in the Northern Cape, a historical birthing ground for South Africa's "first people".

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SA takes in impressive scenes

Briefly News looks at the enthused reception the clip received.

@ministerTP__ wrote:

"It makes sense why re nale 'tsutsube' as Batswana."

@sdebu_nba said:

"The Khoi people need more representation in our country."

@lungie_klaas added:

"This is beautiful to watch, damn. Diversity in this country is beyond."

Men's modern Zulu ukugida dance-off

In a related dance theme, Briefly News reported that Zulu people are among the proudest of their culture, heritage and language among SA's ethnic groups.

It is little wonder that traditional affairs tend to be colourful — whether at a ukuthwasa ritual or umemulo, a coming-of-age ceremony for women.

Source: Briefly News