Artists Stage Beautiful Show At The Setswana Week Concert

GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer | Monday September 14, 2009 00:00

 

Although the concert started a few minutes behind the scheduled time, lovers of the Setswana culture soon forgot about that as the do was simply beautiful and engaging from the beginning to the end.

This year's Maruapula Setswana Week, which is celebrated under the theme, 'Culture, my roots, my dignity, my pride' was opened by Maruapula's  principal Andrew Taylor who spoke mostly in Setswana. First on stage were the group Tsoga Africa Theatre Works whose hilarious antics left revellers in stitches.

The drama group, performed short plays in between takes and all their plays put emphasis on the importance of preserving Setswana culture. They also acted as 'Masters of Ceremonies' as they introduced all the performers. Surprisingly, the group were clad in what they called Venda traditional clothes and it would be safe to assume that many in the crowd must have wondered why they chose Venda attire for a Setswana show.

Then again one of the things about the show was that it embraced other cultures that have in one way or another influenced Setswana culture. The group burst onto the stage singing a Ladysmith Black Mambazo song before they made an offering that decried that youngsters are shunning their culture.In the play, 'the grandfather' of a 'child' was not impressed by the fact that she did not know anything about the Setswana culture.

One of the hilarious moments in that piece was when the girl decided to sing the popular traditional song, Tsatsi ke lele, in English.The short play was followed by Mogwana who performed a couple of tsutsube (San dance) songs including the 'entertainment song' Khoba. The group cemented their place as leaders among their peers with their awesome performance.

Tsoga Africa came back on stage with yet another rib-cracking performance in which the young girl, whom everybody loved to hate, dismally failed to correctly pronounce some of the Setswana words.

Clad in All Kasi gear, a Maruapula dance group impressed with their choreography as they danced to Kgotla Kgaodi's hit Afro-pop song, Matshediso. They made way for the dikhwaere group Rangers Marena who also put up an amazing show.

Ranger Marena are a respected dikhwaere group in the country.

After Tsoga Africa pleaded with their audience to embrace the fact that culture is dynamic, the Maruapula group came back on stage and danced to Bujo Mujo's house version of Kulenyane.

The drama group also encouraged members of the audience to appreciate the visual arts as one of the 'children' of the group showed his 'grandfather' who was undoubtedly the star of the show, some of his 'artworks' who happened to be members of the group posing as paintings and sculptures.

The not-so morally upright grandfather instantly purchased the 'sculpture' of a skimpily dressed girl.Mogwana came back to the stage with a performance that was one of the many highlights of this amazing show as some of their dancers did some breathtaking acrobatic tsutsube moves.

The enchanting offering was followed by  Helen Dikobe of Kgankgathi fame. After Helen, the flamboyant and hugely talented Tumediso 'Shanti Lo' Loeto took to the stage performing a couple of Afro-jazzy songs.Popular R'nb singer, Eugene Jackson, who seems to have ventured into Afro-pop, sang a love song that left many female members of the audience drooling, but it was his collaboration with Helen in a wedding song that had everyone asking for more.

Not to be outdone, Kora nominees Dikakapa dished out some of their popular hits, including Mokodue, before making way for a young male dancer who reproduced the late Michael Jackson's moves, including the widely acclaimed Moonwalk style. The young dancer, whose name is sadly not known to Showtime got a standing ovation at the end of his electrifying performance.

Two members of Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Band danced to kwela music, which was popular in South Africa, especially in the 1960s.At the end of the show, all performers sang a contemporary version of the National Anthem.This great show was sponsored by, among others, MultiChoice Botswana, All Kasi, Bifm, the BDF Band, Gabz FM and Sunday Standard.

The Setswana Week continues this week at Maruapula, where many aspects of the Setswana culture would be showcased.