This week on Inside Africa, CNN International heads to South Africa’s western and northern Cape to follow the stomping feet of the men, women and children who are bringing back an energetic expression of culture and creativity, the Riel. Rieldans is a folk dance that has evolved from South Africa’s most ancient cultures. Almost forgotten in the last century, the Riel is experiencing a revival. The programme meets Benjamin Bok, a cultural activist who is helping restore the dance’s popularity by travelling to remote towns and schools promoting a dancing competition.
Bok heads to the Elizabethfontein Primary School in the Cederberg Mountains. This is a Rielschool; a place where teachers and pupils embrace the dance and incorporate it into many of their lessons. Mariette Kotze is the Rieldans leader at Elizabethfontein and she explains to the programme how teaching the Riel has transformed the school and their local community: “It changed the whole school’s set up, it transformed our children. It brought the community closer and our little children blossomed because Riel is in their souls. Riel is in the soul of the people.”
Elders from the community are encouraged to come into the classroom and help teach. Kotze explains how this came about: “This is a dance handed down from generation to generation. The moment [the children] started dancing, the parents said: ‘No, teacher, that’s not how you do it. Let me show you how to dance the Riel.’ So that is how the community came closer to the school.”
Riel dancers act out scenes from everyday life in the stories they dance out in the thick layer of red sand covering the dance area, which is kicked up into the air as they move, creating dust. The Riel is also a method of courtship for teenage dancers; Kotze explains: “In the riel, if you throw down your hat, then you are wooing a girl. The moment a man dances round you and throws his hat down, the girl knows he’s trying to woo you.”
The cultural significance of this dance is explained to the programme by Captain John Cornelius Witbooi, chief of the Griqua-Nama tribe: “This is much more important than just fun for the simple reason that we, here in South Africa, lost our culture as a result of apartheid and colonialism.”
Peter Takelo, a cultural activist, explains how the heritage of the dance is reflected in its movements: “The Rieldans is about stories because our forefathers were storytellers and through the Rieldans we are trying to tell those stories… One of the more important things is as the child hits the dust, he tastes the dust. It is as if he is talking to his ancestors because he is coming to thank them for the Riel he is doing.”
Rieldans champion Anisha Kotze further outlines the theme of identity when describing the importance of reviving the dance: “The Rieldance died out and nobody [practised] anymore. Then the AKTV breathed new life into the riel, brought back our culture and started the competition.” The competition has been a success, Bok explains: “Twelve years ago, this competition was initiated by the AKTV and it’s still growing. This year, we have about 103 [people] participating alone, but there’s more groups in the western Cape mostly.”
The revival of the Riel has also benefited local industry. During practise, the children wear special red dancing shoes made in the small hamlet of Wupperthal. The programme meets Gerhard Faroa, one of the shoemakers at the factory whose families have been making the same shoes since 1833. Faroa tells the programme that he is grateful to have a source of income: “The Riel has helped us a lot, it’s made us famous. But even in Wupperthal there is very little work – the community struggles financially. Many folk are subsistence farmers and they have to grow their own vegetables for use at home and for the people who live in poverty.”
The show airs at the following times:
Monday, 11 December at 0630 SAST
Tuesday, 12 December at 0330 SAST
