Traditional dance group aims to revive the Vhavenda culture

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The traditional dance group, MaTangwa from Ha-Mashau, comprising both young and old dancers, was formed to try and preserve the Venda culture and to keep young people off the streets by teaching and developing them.

“The group was firstly established out of a shared passion for our traditional forms of dancing. The formation of the group responded to a tendency that had been growing among our youth that traditional dances are not suitable for young people. The group members are overturning those perceptions, with tremendous success,” said the group leader, Ms Sarah Mukwange. “We are also passionate about young people. In a country where the youth’s population is greater than that of any other age group, we believe that more opportunities should be created for the young. We want to keep our youth off the streets and teach them the little we can about our culture through tangwa dancing.”

Mukwange says that no tangwa dancers could be found in Mashau for many years. She has played a major role in reviving the dance group. “We had to start from scratch to get elderly and young girls to join us. It was very difficult, as most of the young girls still attended school. Our only option was to do our rehearsals over weekends, and it worked.”

The group now enjoys great popularity as they get invited to perform at different events in the village and further afield. “People are now taking us seriously because we add taste to their events, especially traditional occasions.”

Mukwange’s role includes making sure that rehearsals take place on a weekly basis. “When we perform, all the group members keep an eye on me, because we use body language most of the time. I signal them when to start dancing, change tunes and when the song is fading. I enjoy this role. When I sleep at night, my dreams are filled with tangwa dancing,” she said with a big smile on her face.

“Although everyone is becoming more ‘civilised’ every day, it is important to preserve our own culture. Let us all work together to make sure that traditional practices do not get lost.”

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.