Mzanzi Travel - Local Travel Inspiration (Issue 5)

Cultural Travel
Over the years the rieldans was also adopted as the dance of farmworkers and
sheep shearers in the Karoo, Namaqualand and other regions, elements of
their daily life and activities being portrayed in some of the dances.
Owing to the original campfire dancing venues in sandy, desert-like rural
settings and the later venues on farms, the dance is today still largely practiced
upon sandy locations. Adding to the electrifying energy of the dance produced
by the fast tempo music and the dance moves, is the kicking up of a veritable
dust storm by the nimble-footed dancers. Many of the dances are still
performed in a circular movement, just as they were by the ancient Khoisan
around their campfires in the dusty veld.
While the riel has survived in relative obscurity over the ages, it enjoyed
much popularity among farm workers and other working class people of the
Northern Cape, Western Cape and Karoo between the 1940s and early 1960s,
after which it started fading away. But it has been placed firmly back on the
national dance stage since 2006 with the assistance of the Afrikaanse Taal- en
Kultuurvereniging (ATKV), or Afrikaans Language and Culture Association, with
dance competitions and sponsorships.
Central to its revival, is Elias P. Nel, a native of Verneukpan in the Kenhardt
district of the Northern Cape region known as Boesmanland, who grew up
with the riel being danced in his area. Many years later he approached the
ATKV which adopted it as one of its many cultural heritage projects and now
organises an annual national rieldans competition, with Elias becoming its chief
organiser, ably assisted by the younger Benjamin Bock.
Thanks to their efforts, today the rieldans is again riding a wave of popularity
in the regions of its inception and beyond, and is danced by people ranging
from toddlers to pensioners. At recent dance competitions more than 80% of
the dancers were under the age of 18, a welcome injection of youth that will
ensure its survival.
Elias says tongue-in-cheek that the rieldans was originally created for people
with rubber knees, long breath and playfulness in the genes (in Afrikaans,
“mense met slap knieë, lang asems en ’n klomp speelsheid in die gene”).
high-energy fancy footwork of the riel. But like the tango, as a dance it strongly
reflects the love ritual with its sexually charged and suggestive moves. Yet it also
goes significantly beyond that.
Whereas the tango originated in the working class courtyards, on the street
corners and in the brothels of Buenos Aires, the riel originated around the
campfires of the Khoisan and Nama after the return of their hunters, after good
harvests or during celebrations. The Nama name for the dance, Ikhapara, was
derived from the word khapas which means ‘hat’, and the hat of a man was
considered a useful article with which to court a woman for her hand in marriage.
Hence the dance also became a dance of love and gave rise to many of the dance
moves still seen today, while hats still form an integral part of the costumes of
male dancers.
These days dance groups with colourful names like Bitterfontein Tradisionele
Dansers, Kamiesbergdansers, Vloedrieldansers, Betjies van Betjiesfontein,
Betjies Rooirots, Griekwa-Ratelgat-rieldansers, Kuierkraal-rieldansers and
Knersvlakte-rieldansers practice their dancing in the towns and villages with
equally colourful names like Pofadder, Loeriesfontein, Garies, Kakamas,
Onseepkans, Pella, Vaalputs, Soebatsfontein and Kamieskroon, where the
dance has survived since the early days.
But the riel is not only practiced with a view to competitions. It is also a common
form of entertainment over weekends in many of the towns within the area of
its original inception.
The rieldans is recognised as an ancient celebratory dance and the oldest
entertainment form used as a social, cultural and educational tool by the
Khoisan people before the arrival of Western cultures and traditions at the
Cape of Good Hope. But as the original Khoi and San languages increasingly
disappeared over time, and the influences of Western culture spread across
the sub-continent, the name Ikhapara became less used and was replaced by
the word riel.
MZANZI TRAVEL| www.mzanzitravel.co.za|ISSUE 5 | 65