Showcase melting pot of tribes

THE Eastern Cape Showcase welcomed travellers from all over the country to the province on Thursday evening with its African music and dance ensemble.

Audience members had an enchanting time, enthralled and transported into the life and history of ANC stalwart Oliver Tambo.

In celebration of the Oliver Tambo centenary, the ensemble fused song and dance from AbaThembu and AmaMpondo tribes.

More than 10 Eastern Cape tribes were depicted in the showcase, spanning across the province and all telling a tale of how their rural tribe and lives were shaped by the life of Oliver Tambo.

Coming alive against the backdrop of Tambo’s life in pictures, the stage was a melting pot of tribes.

A storyteller journeyed with the audience before each performance, linking Tambo’s legacy with the tribute that would follow.

Tambo’s political career was at the centre of her story as she linked his life and work with the liberation of South Africans from apartheid and its injustices.

A group of Basotho women celebrated with the mokhibo dance, which they performed on their knees in a beautiful display of shoulder movement and rhythm.

Four AmaMpondo male dancers honouring Tambo’s birthplace Nkantolo village in Mbizana with the traditional Xhosa celebratory dance, umxhentso.

When the storyteller narrated Tambo’s involvement in the liberation of women in the country, an array of women took to the stage in tribune songs , bringing together different cultures and tribes in celebration of women’s freedom today.

To seal off the enthralling show, all showcase members came together to bid Tambo farewell in song and the crowd erupted in cheers, ululations and dance. — nonsindisoq@