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as participants showcased their customs during culture night.
About 280 participants from 10 countries in the Sadc region are at the summit, which is being held at a hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The island nations of Mauritius and Madagascar set the night alight with lively exotic dances while their inland counterparts used a fusion of pre-recorded traditional instruments to hold the audience spellbound.
Although the cultural night represented rare lighter moments at the summit’s gruelling schedule, participants still contextualised it within the summit’s theme, “365 Days of Local Action to End Violence and Empower Women,” by using their impressive dance and song routines to conscientise the audience about the evils of Gender Based Violence (GBV).
The energetic Zimbabwean group was the first to take to the stage.
They mimed a traditional medium being possessed by a spirit to the accompaniment of the mbira and a rendition of the locally popular Dzinonwa MunaSave.
The spirit that spoke through one of the dancers it had possessed ordered women to rise and take their rightful place alongside men as the earth’s rulers.
They had the appreciative crowd eating out of their hands through the inspirational performance.
Not to be outdone, their neighbours, Zambia, followed up the remarkable act with a song that castigated the gender insensitive cultural practice stipulating that if a man dies, his brother could “inherit” his widow.
Using the Chewa Chinamwali dance, they denounced the practice, saying besides exposing vulnerable women to mental and physical abuse, it increased their chances of contracting HIV.
It was magic as their torsos rotated like they were pivoted on well-greased ball bearings.
The colourful Swaziland group then drew sustained applause from the crowd that had already been mellowed by the preceding top drawer performances with an artistic display of the Swazi Ingadla traditional dance. Their fluid movement on stage was pure poetry in motion. The agility and flexibility of one of their dancers, Bonisile Ntuli, stole many hearts. It forced the audience to appreciate the magnificence of the wonderful design of the female form.
One male spectator remarked; “Why would anyone want to repress such beautiful creatures?”
Their breathtaking athletic dances were the talk of the summit late into the night. Increasing the excitement in the hall, the South African contingent had the audience swaying and singing along to the anthemic song, Shosholoza.
However, they did not showcase any of their traditional dances, which include the internationally acclaimed gumboot dance.
The next act from Namibia celebrated that country’s cultural diversity, which they said was united by the Damara/Nama dance that they performed.
They told the story of a young woman who was in a dilemma because her father had abandoned his family.
She had found a man who wanted to marry her, but could not go ahead with the ceremony as culture dictated that as long as her father was still alive, he had to give his consent. Luckily all ended well when the father finally came to his senses and returned to his family.
The emotive piece showed the emotional abuse women often undergo through unfair cultural practices. The Mozambicans then took centre stage with an infectious Portuguese song that had the audience singing along although most of them did not know the meaning of the words.
They showcased an electrifying dance in which they vigorously shook their hands like someone who tries to dry their hands after immersing them in a foul liquid.
After that, like a cool breeze, the Mauritian islanders wafted onto the stage. They turned the audience into one big choir and dance troupe as they moved to the Sega, the country’s national dance.
The catchy tropical rhythm of what sounded like Indian drums complemented their graceful movements across the stage. A heavily pregnant Mauritian woman effortlessly glided on the stage as she twirled and pirouetted to the Sega, raising the temperature to fever pitch. Fellow islanders Madagascar added to the island flavour with their ochre painted faces to whoops of sheer delight from the crowd.
Participants from the mountain kingdom of Lesotho produced a relatively subdued presentation in their beautifully coloured traditional garb.
Party loving Botswana rounded up the night.
The popular Charma Gal tune Mama ntshware nna ke sia Matabele brought everyone to the stage as they danced the night away.
Participants said the night produced a much needed tension release that left them energised to tackle the summit’s business of mapping strategies to meet the Sadc Protocol goal of 50/50 representation for women in Southern African governments by 2015.
Online Reporter