A polka experience on the dunes of Khawa
Spira Tlhankane | Friday May 20, 2016 14:40
“Let us first teach little children to breathe, to vibrate, to feel, and to become one with the general harmony and movement of nature. Let us first produce a beautiful human being, a dancing child.”
These words were spoken in 1909 by American pioneer of dance Isadora Duncan and she remained an important figure in both the arts and history. Isadora’s dance today remains the root system for modern dance, creative movement for children and movement therapies. Isadora’s dance is a dream for children and education for life.
Here locally, there is a popular dance called Polka, which originates in the southwestern parts of Botswana. Couples moving in circles clad in formal attire usually perform the dance.
Earlier before the Khawa Dune Festival began, President Ian Khama who helped Polka to reach the mainstream, donated blankets and food to the people of Khawa and I was touched by the way children reacted to the sound of Polka.
I happened to be seated beside the stand where students from Khawa Primary School were neatly seated on the stands.
Immediately the keyboard master touched his first key, the children rose up from the stand in unison to appreciate what they were about to see. Some even imitated the way polka dancers moved about.
Sooner than later, their schoolmates polka dancers emerged in pairs to welcome the President who had just arrived at the time.
I have to admit, I was touched to see that there was a thin line between the children’s moves and what their adult counterparts usually displayed. The President could not hold himself and he solely danced his way towards the beauty of Khawa Primary School students. After he put down cash in appreciation, more and more cash poured in to show appreciation for the children’s talents.
I thought it was over, but on the Friday of the Polka night, I could see every child in the Khawa street excited for what was about to unfold later that night. It was the battle of the best Polka groups in Botswana so they were bound to be ecstatic. Even though people from outside had invaded their land that time, it did not deny them the opportunity to shy away from excitement. Some of them do not watch television so it was their only chance to see the top Polka groups live in action.
The time of the Polka night arrived and while the competing groups were mostly clad in blue to show patriotism, the stands were full packed as everyone waited in anticipation to see the best of Polka.
It was also good to observe that the President had invited children from Mmakgodi to see the dance live in the home of Polka. He had earlier told everyone that he saw these children dance to Polka in Mmankgodi. The President said after the children told him that they only learnt how to dance Polka from a television observation, he took a decision to invite them to Khawa.
The Polka began later in the evening and went on for the latter part of the night but I could see some of the children in Khawa enjoying what they will remember for another year. It was getting cold. Mind you, some of these children walk barefooted and they don’t have winter clothes, but no one moved until the Polka night was officially over and that was very surprising to me.
The elderly people of Khawa were also enjoying and some of them partnered with their children to dance to the sound on the sidelines. The children of Mmankgodi were now given a platform in the big stage as they joined the various polka groups on the centre stage. They utilised the moment, which was perhaps a beginning of bigger invitations to come.
And when the festival ended, I could see their faces wishing the festival could go on for the rest of the night. The good thing is that everyone was given a chance to dance, even though most of the people did not know what they were doing. It was a fun yet inspiring scene to see everyone inside the arena trying to mimic the competitive Polka groups.