On July 17, I was privileged to be able to attend the
Ncamagoro Circuit Culture Competition. Ncamagoro Circuit consists of about 20
schools in Kavango Region. It was an amazing event, and more importantly, it
was my first cultural song and dance festival! I only heard about it in passing
when I was at school. My school has a culture group, and they were going to
attend the event. I asked if I could attend and was given permission.
The morning of the competition I walked to the school around
630. On a side note, there is something that people widely refer to as “Africa
Time.” In essence, Africa Time means that everyone shows up 2-4 hours after the
original time. I must tell you, Africa Time is no joke, and it occurs 99% of
the time. I am accustomed to it somewhat, but I still do not like it. I still
show up to everything early or at the latest, on time. The culture competition
was no exception. I was told to be Mpora School at 7am, but we did not leave
until after 9am. I wasn’t worried because this was just a day to learn about
the culture I live around.
We arrived at the Ncamagoro Circuit Head Office to find
hundreds of people gathered to watch event. I was the only white person
there, and as usual, I received hundreds of stares until I left back to my village.
I went and found as good a spot to take pictures as possible, although the spot
was not ideal. It’s hard to remember every group that performed, but it gave me
such joy and happiness to take pictures and videos of the entire day. I took
about 400 pictures and video clips.
The largest class grade bracket was the primary school
level, elementary school in the United States. I think there were about 15
groups to perform. There was a format that each group had to follow. They were
allowed 10-15 minutes for the whole program. The judging was based on three
segments: dancing, singing, and drama. Each group could divvy up the allotted
time between each segment; but there had to be three songs.
Singing in Namibia is significantly different from what people
would consider singing in America. A good voice in Namibia is usually a female
voice. Mainstream musicians and vocalists would probably describe the ideal
Namibian voice as coming from the nose, in a pinched manner. When I first heard
it, I was not sure if that’s how the person was supposed to sound, but as time
went on, I found out that it is. I don’t think it’s bad in the current context;
it’s just different. I tried to imagine how a typical Western voice would sound
in a cultural competition; it is a laughable thought. Traditional songs,
Kwangali Tribe song more specifically, vary in meaning. I’ll give a few
examples of the songs with background:
Vindele viloya, Vindele viloya, Eeeh!
Vindele viloya, Vindele viloya Kuluwanda
Vapatu valoya, Vapatu valoya, Eeeh!
Vapatu valoya, Vapatu valoya Kuluwanda
Background: Once
upon a time there was a war in Angola; the war broke oe between black Angolans
and the apartheid regime of the Portoguese. In order for black Angolans to
soothe the emotional pain the war inflicted upon their lives, they came up with
this revolutionary song.
It might seem strange to have a song based off Angolan
history in a Namibia culture competition. However, Angola and Namibia have had
an exchange of culture for a long time. Many Namibians came from Angola. Some
other examples of songs include a song about the life of an orphan, and how he
was taken care of at home by caregivers. Some other subjects of traditional
songs include pounding Mahangu, a staple grain that looks like corn, and hunting
wild animals.
The dramas, as they are referred to in a Namibia, were about
daily life. Some were funny. Some were sad. Some of them were very poignant in
how they illustrated current issues in Namibia such as domestic violence and
so-called “passion killings.” There was one play about a person who fell ill
and went to a witch doctor. I asked a friend if witch doctors did some of the
things that were in the play, and he said yes. Another side note: the friend I
asked was supposed to be killed by a witch doctor in the early 90’s when he was
a baby, but his family saved him.
My favorite parts were the dancing and costumes. The
costumes that were used were amazing. They were all made of brightly colored
beads, animal skins, and some cloth. Everything was handmade. I have seen my
mother making the ones for my school. I never had an idea how long it would
take, but seeing how often she was slaving away on each one, I would not be
surprised if the man hours for each one was 20-30 hours (this is a guess). When
the students danced, the beads would make a clicking sound and sway
rhythmically. The traditional Kwangali tribe dances use shoulders, shuffling
feet, and limber hips. The hands are usually clapping. The dancers will form
lines. There are always drums going, usually three males. Then 1-3 dancers,
usually one male and two females, will slowly dance their way out to center
stage. There is a lot of interplay between the guy and the girls. The guy will
dance around the girls using his shoulder while also sticking out his tongue as
far as it can go. There is a lot of eye contact.
