Night Moves

We went to a braai (BBQ) last Saturday night at a coworker’s of Gayle. We danced for hours to the sound of the car stereo’s system pumping out the liquid beats from the open car doors. This taxed the battery, which died and was revived by idling the engine, and the music kept flowing, not just for us but for the neighborhood too. This is not so uncommon or annoying, it happens all the time here. Music drifting down the street, over the walls and into your yard is almost seen as cultural, announcing the pleasures of life. Actually all Sunday morning next door they have been loudly playing contemporary country music. I sort of feel back home again hearing the very music that I grew up with. However this was not by choice but by association. I was just one of the family members collectively listening to the C&W music that was all around us. This is the first time I have heard country music here in Africa. I know that country music is very popular in Germany too and has made its way around the world, moving away from folk status to pop eminence. But as I sit in our yard reading under a tree, the neighbour’s music reduces the distance to Canada. Yet I am then transported back to Africa by the lovely singing of the Catholic church choir. They are singing acapella in their court yard only a few houses away. The bells rang out, calling the congregation and announcing its presence, then the music and singing started for the regular all day Sunday service. Church is a big part of people’s lives here. Work meetings and gatherings start with a prayer, religious TV stations number in the hundreds (I am not exaggerating), and people generally don’t feel any inhibition to bring up god in normal conversation, not in an evangelical way but more as a statement that ‘this is our life.’


Song and rhythm declare life’s joys, and when your body responds through movement, it becomes a revealing personal story of love and seduction. At least this is how I see it when I observe the African’s dance to contemporary music. The way their hips move are smooth, self-assured and persuasive, which is in stark contrast to my bouncy erratic steps. They always yield new gyrations so the movements during their dancing are never repetitive. Their dance is complex, seeming simple in strategy and show, but when I try the moves myself my hips are not that loose. I don’t want to generalize or stereotype but it seems everyone here can bust a move, men and women alike. I have seen a group of older teenaged boys just casually working on dance moves in the streets, responding to music from a sports event that drifted from a stadium. The same event’s music made this older woman, who was cleaning up some trash on the street, start dancing by herself and making me feel like I was missing out by just walking by. When music is played people just break out and move and they don’t feel confined, a public space is a space for all to show enjoyment. Another lovely thing is how all the people with different body shapes regard themselves with real sensual power. When people dance they work it with what they have and don’t seem to be inhibited by anything that might seem provocative. The more playful the move the more joyful the viewers and dancers become.


I have recently experienced this style of dance not so long ago. Our South American, Mexican and Cuban friends in Guelph all have great, fluid and sexy dance moves. I have tried to keep up with my Salsa steps but as Shakira sings in her song “Hips don't lie” mine give me away. You might even call me a dance charlatan. When I hear Shakira and Wyclef Jean song lyrics they definitely sum up my thoughts about these seductive dancers:

“You know my hips don't lie,
And I'm starting to feel it's right,
All the attraction, the tension
Don't you see baby, this is perfection.”


At the braai with Gayle’s colleagues there were two very young girls around 3 years old. They had some fantastic dance moves. There was no encouragement needed to show us adults how it was done. We all joined in on the dance action beside the car under the cloudless sky, with Liz DJ’ing. As the night wore on, I asked the mother of one of the girls how her little one learned all these great moves, she suggested that her daughter just learned from what she saw around the home. Dancing for them is a family affair.