THE RIGHT NOTE:
Celebrate Heritage Day with a musical journey through Africa
AWARD-winning indigenous musician Dizu Plaatjies is to headline the Heritage Day festivities at Artscape Theatre Centre on Sunday. His concert Road Trip with Dizu Plaatjies promises to impress audiences. The two-time South African Music Awards winner will be taking his audience on a much-anticipated musical journey using the many rare and wonderful African instruments he has collected in his 25-year career.
He will be featuring legends Pops Mohamed and Dave Reynolds, whom Plaatjies deems “the cream of South African music”.
The show will also include dancing choreographed by Elvis Sibeko, joined by the award-winning poet Siphokazi Jonas and many others.
Plaatjies said the concert was about awareness of African heritage and how important it was for people to know where they came from and where they were going.
He said it was shameful that heritage had a specific month and date on which it was celebrated.
“Heritage Day is supposed to begin right from the beginning of the year; giving dates kills our culture,” Plaatjies said.
He added that he used his music as a weapon to promote and keep heritage alive.
He said his music was appreciated internationally, and he found that by using his language and traditional gear in his performances, he invited more people to embrace his music and tradition.
Plaatjies said his music was inclusive of all South African cultures as he tried to use languages other than Xhosa in his music.
“I use different languages even though I am not fluent in all, but that promotes the learning of different languages and Ubuntu,” he said.
Plaatjies added that his music promoted self-reliance and he wanted African people to break away from being dependent as this stifled their growth.
“In the olden days we used oral ways to tell stories, now I use music to talk about the issues of society and how Africans need to be independent,” he said.
Dizu Plaatjies is currently an Artist in Residence at Artscape Theatre Centre, and also facilitates the Indigenous Ensemble workshops in the building and lectures African Music at the University of Cape Town.
Tickets range from R120-R150 and are available via Computicket or Artscape-Dial-a-Seat 021 421 7695.
‘I USE MUSIC TO TALK ABOUT THE ISSUES OF SOCIETY, AND HOW AFRICANS NEED TO BE INDEPENDENT’