ZULU AND GUMBOOT DANCES

With Diwele LUBI

Born in the township of Jouberton in South Africa, Diwele Lubi has performed the traditional dances of this country from a very early age. He left South Africa to train at the London Contemporary Dance School and developed his own language that sits between tradition and modernity. Based in Strasbourg, he founded the Matlosana dance company. He regularly teaches, notably at the Suds à Arles festival.

South Africa comprises nine ethnicities and each one has its own cultural particularities and dances: dances of seduction, warrior dances, healing dances. They all celebrate life and are supported by song and body percussion. The Zulu dance is a warrior dance that shows the strength and courage that animates those performing it, while the gumboot dance involves a percussive technique using rubber boots, which was created by South African miners during apartheid. Diwele will be accompanied by the Jamaican percussionist Ras Happa.