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1UMS 09-10
L A D Y S M I T HB L A C K M A M B A Z O
T E A C H E R R E S O U R C E G U I D E
2 0 0 9 - 2 0 1 0
2 UMS 09-10
Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs
University of Michigan
Anonymous
Arts at Michigan
Arts Midwest’s Performing Arts Fund
Bank of Ann Arbor
Bustan al-Funun Foundation for Arab Arts
The Dan Cameron Family Foundation/Alan and Swanna Saltiel
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan
Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art
DTE Energy Foundation
The Esperance Family Foundation
David and Phyllis Herzig Endowment Fund
Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP
JazzNet Endowment
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Masco Corporation Foundation
Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C.
THE MOSAIC FOUNDATION (of R. and P. Heydon)
The Mosaic Foundation [Washington, DC]
National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
Prudence and Amnon Rosenthal K-12 Education Endowment Fund
Rick and Sue Snyder
Target
TCF Bank
UMS Advisory Committee
University of Michigan Credit Union
University of Michigan Health System
U-M Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
U-M Office of the Vice President for Research
Wallace Endowment Fund
This Teacher Resource Guide is a product of the UMS Youth Education Program. Researched, written, and edited by Carlos Palomares and Cahill Smith.
Special thanks to Savitski Design and Omari Rush for their contributions, feedback, and support in developing this guide.
SUPPORTERS
For an additional opportunity to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo, attend this public perfor-mance:
Ladysmith Black Mambazo Sunday, January 31, 4 pm Hill Auditorium
Call the UMS Ticket Office at 734-764-2538 for tickets to this public performance. Note: public performance ticket prices differ significantly from Youth Performance ticket prices and Ticket Office staff can provide full details on avail-ability and cost.
3UMS 09-10
Photo: Rajesh Jantilal
L A D Y S M I T HB L A C K M A M B A Z O
GRADES K-12
1 1 A M - 1 2 N O O N
MONDAY
FEBRUARY 1
2 0 1 0HILL
AUDITORIUM
T E A C H E R R E S O U R C E G U I D E 2 0 0 9 - 2 0 1 0
U M S Y O U T H E D U C AT I O N P R O G R A M
4 UMS 09-10
ATTENDING THE PERFORMANCE6 Attending the Show8 Map + Directions9 HIll Autitorium
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO11 Overview12 Ensemble History14 Meet the Singers15 Joseph Shabalala18 Further Resources
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABOUT SOUTH AFRICA19 South Africa21 A Timeline25 The Provinces 26 Population 28 The Zulu People31 Ilemb33 Further Resources
ABOUT THE MUSIC35 South African Music38 Isicathamiya39 Further Resources
CONNECTIONS42 Appreciating the Performance44 For Students + Educators45 Community
ABOUT UMS47 University Musical Society49 Youth Education Program51 Send Us Feedback!
Short on time?If you only have 15 minutes to review this guide, just read the sections in black in the Table of Contents.
Those pages will provide the most important information about this performance.
5UMS 09-10
AT T E N D I N G T H E P E R F O R M A N C E
Photo: Ladysmith
6 UMS 09-10
TICKETS We do not use paper tickets for
Youth Performances. We hold school reserva-
tions at the door and seat groups upon arrival.
DOOR ENTRY A UMS Youth Performance
staff person will greet your group at your bus
as you unload and escort you on a sidewalk to
your assigned entry doors of Hill Auditorium.
BEFORE THE START Please allow the usher
to seat individuals in your group in the order
that they arrive in the theater. Once everyone
is seated you may then rearrange yourselves
and escort students to the bathrooms before
the performance starts. PLEASE spread the
adults throughout the group of students.
DURING THE PERFORMANCE At the
start of the performance, the lights well
dim and an onstage UMS staff member will
welcome you to the performance and provide
important logistical information. If you have
any questions, concerns, or complaints (for
instance, about your comfort or the behavior
of surrounding groups) please IMMEDIATELY
report the situation to an usher or staff memer
in the lobby.
PERFORMANCE LENGTH One hour with
no intermission
AFTER THE PERFORMANCE When the
performance ends, remain seated. A UMS
staff member will come to the stage and
release each group individually based on the
location of your seats.
SEATING & USHERS When you arrive at
the front doors, tell the Head Usher at the
door the name of your school group and he/
she will have ushers escort you to your block
of seats. All UMS Youth Performance ushers
wear large, black laminated badges with their
names in white letters.
ARRIVAL TIME Please arrive at the Hill
Auditorium between 10:30-10:50pm to allow
you time to get seated and comfortable before
the show starts.
DROP OFF Have buses, vans, or cars drop off
students on East Washington, Thayer or North
University streets based on the drop off as-
signment information you receive in the mail.
If there is no space in the drop off zone, circle
the block until space becomes available. Cars
may park at curbside metered spots or in the
visitor parking lot behind the power Center.
Buses should wait/park at Briarwood Mall.
DETAILS
AT T E N D I N G T H E S H O WWe want you to enjoy your time with UMS!
PLEASE review the important information below about attending the Youth Performance:
TICKETS
USHER
7UMS 09-10
BUS PICK UP When your group is released,
please exit the performance hall through the
same door you entered. A UMS Youth Perfor-
mance staff member will be outside to direct
you to your bus.
AAPS EDUCATORS You will likely not get
on the bus you arrived on; a UMS staff mem-
ber or AAPS Transportation Staf person will
put you on the first available bus.
LOST STUDENTS A small army of volun-
teers staff Youth Performances and will be
ready to help or direct lost and wandering
students.
LOST ITEMS If someone in your group loses
an item at the performance, contact the UMS
Youth Education Program (umsyouth@umich.
edu) to attempt to help recover the item.
AAPS
SENDING FEEDBACK We LOVE feedback
from students, so after the performance please
send us any letters, artwork, or academic
papers that your students create in response
to the performance: UMS Youth Education
Program, 881 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor,
MI 48109-1011.
NO FOOD No Food or drink is allowed in
the theater.
PATIENCE Thank you in adavance for your
patience; in 20 minutes we aim to get 3,500
people from buses into seats and will work as
efficiently as possible to make that happen.
ACCESSIBILITY The following services are
available to audience members:
• Courtesy wheelchairs
• Hearing Impaired Support Systems
PARKING There is handicapped parking
located in the South Thater parking structure.
All accessible parking spaces (13) are located
on the first floor. To access the spaces, driv-
ers need to enter the structure using the
south (left) entrance lane. If the north (right)
entrance lane, the driver must drive up the
ramp and come back down one level to get
to the parking spaces.
WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBILITY Hill Au-
ditorium is wheelchair accessible with ramps
found on the east and west entrances, off
South Thayer Street and Ingalls Mall. The au-
ditorium has 27 accessible seating locations
on its main floor and 8 on the mezzanine
level. Hearing impairment systems are also
available.
BATHROOMS ADA compliant toilets are
available near the Hill Auditorium box office
(west side facing South Thayer).
ENTRY There will be ushers stationed at
all entrances to assist with door opening.
Wheelchair, companion, or other special
seating
8 UMS 09-10
POWER
HILL
ZONE C
ZONE A
ZO
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PARK
PALMER DRIVE
E. HURON ST
E. WASHINGTON ST
E. L IBERTY ST
WILLIAM ST N. UNIVERSITY AVENUE
WA
SH
TE
NA
W A
VE
NU
E
FLET
CH
ER
ST
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AY
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STA
TE
ST
CH
UR
CH
ST
MA
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KIN
G &
RACKHAM
M A P + D I R E C T I O N SThis map, with driving directions to the Hill Auditorium, will
be mailed to all attending educators three weeks before the performance.
MAP
9UMS 09-10
H I L L A U D I T O R I U M
VENUE
HILL AUDITORIUM was built by noted
architectural firm Kahn and Wilby.
Completed in 1913, the renowned
concert hall was inaugurated at the
20th Ann Arbor May Festival, and has
continued to be the site of thousands
of concerts, featuring everyone from
Leonard Bernstein and Cecilia Bartoli to
Bob Marley and Jimmy Buffett.
In May, 2002, Hill Auditorium under-
went an 18-month, $38.6-million dollar
renovation, updating the infrastructure
and restoring much of the interior to its
original splendor. Exterior renovations
included the reworking of brick paving
and stone retaining wall areas, restora-
tion of the south entrance plaza, the
reworking of the west barrier-free ramp
Photo: Mike Savitski
and loading dock, and improvements to
landscaping.
Interior renovations included the
creation of additional restrooms, the
improvement of barrier-free circulation
by providing elevators and an addition
with ramps, the replacement of seating
to increase patron comfort, introduction
of barrier-free seating and stage access,
the replacement of theatrical perfor-
mance and audio-visual systems, and
the complete replacement of mechanical
and electrical infrastructure systems for
heating, ventilation, and air condition-
ing. Re-opened in January, 2004, Hill
Auditorium now seats 3,538.
HILL AUDITORIUM
850 North University Ave
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Emergency Contact
Number:
(734) 764-2538(Call this number to reach a UMS staff person or
audience member at the performance.)
10 UMS 09-10
L A D Y S M I T H B L A C K M A M B A Z O
11UMS 09-10
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO is an
all-male, a capella vocal ensemble from
South Africa.
Assembled in the early 1960s, in South
Africa, by Joseph Shabalala – then a
young farmboy turned factory worker
– the group took the name Ladysmith
Black Mambazo. Ladysmith refers to the
name of Shabalala’s rural hometown,
Black refers to oxen, the strongest of
all farm animals, and Mambazo, the
Zulu word for axe, is a symbol of the
group’s vocal ability to “chop down” all
competition. Their collective voices were
so tight and their harmonies so polished
that they were eventually banned from
isicathamiya competitions, although
they were welcome to participate strictly
as entertainers.
Though a vital and popular contempo-
rary song-and-dance style, isicathamiya
has roots in older Zulu musical and
dance idioms that still flourish within
certain rural communities in South Afri-
ca. The isicathamiya style was developed
largely by Zulu-speaking migrant work-
ers, and over time, the style has drawn
into itself traces of such other idioms as
American minstrelsy, vaudeville, spiritu-
als, missionary hymnody, Tin Pan Alley,
Hollywood tap-dance, and gospel music.
The name isicathamiya is of relatively
recent origin, and is inseparable from
Joseph Sabalala’s impact on the shap-
ing of the style over the last thirty years.
Joseph Shabalala is not only the most
prolific living composer of isicathamiya
music; he is also the style’s foremost
recording artist. (Ballantine 3,4)
While a radio broadcast in 1970 opened
the door to their first record contract,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo was intro-
duced to an international audience in
the mid-1980s when Paul Simon traveled
to South Africa and met Joseph Shabalala
and the other members of Ladysmith
Black Mambazo in a recording studio in
Johannesburg. Simon was captivated by
the stirring sound of bass, alto and tenor
harmonies and incorporated these tradi-
tional sounds in Graceland, a landmark
1986 recording that won the Grammy
Award for Best Album and is considered
seminal in the creation of “World Music”
as a music industry marketing genre.
Since then, Ladysmith Black Mambazo
has gone on to its own successful inter-
national career, performing worldwide,
recording over fifty albums, andwinning
several Grammy awards. On January
31, 2009, Ladysmith Black Mambazo
will perform at Hill Auditorium in Ann
Arbor,Michigan.
Sources: http://imnworld.com/artists/detail/24/ladysmith-black-mambazo
Ballantine, Chirstopher. “Joseph Shabalala: Chronicles of an African Composer.” British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 5 (1996), pp. 1-38.
O V E R V I E WL A D Y S M I T H B L A C K M A M B A Z O
ABOUT
12 UMS 09-10
E N S E M B L E H I S T O RY
ABOUT
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO is
regarded as a cultural emissary at home
and around the world representing the
traditional culture of South Africa. For
more than forty years, Ladysmith Black
Mambazo has married the intricate
rhythms and harmonies of their na-
tive South African musical traditions to
the sounds and sentiments of Christian
gospel music. The result is a musical and
spiritual alchemy that has touched a
worldwide audience representing every
corner of the religious, cultural and
ethnic landscape. To many, they are a na-
tional treasure of the new South Africa in
part because they embody the traditions
suppressed in the old South Africa.
The traditional music sung by Ladysmith
Black Mambazo is called isicathamiya.
It was born in the mines of South Africa.
Black workers were taken by rail to work
far away from their homes and their
families. Poorly housed and paid worse,
they would entertain themselves, after
a six-day week, by singing songs into
the wee hours every Sunday morning.
Cothoza Mfana they called themselves,
“tip toe guys”, referring to the dance
steps choreographed so as to not disturb
the camp security guards. When miners
returned to the homelands, the tradi-
tion returned with them. There began a
fierce, but social, competition held regu-
larly and a highlight of everyone’s social
calendar. The winners were awarded a
goat for their efforts and, of course, the
adoration of their fans. These competi-
tions are held even today in assembly
halls and church basements throughout
Zululand South Africa.
In the late 1950’s Joseph Shabalala took
advantage of his proximity to the urban
sprawl of the city of Durban, allowing
him the opportunity to seek work in a
factory. Leaving the family farm was not
easy, but it was during this time that
Joseph first showed a talent for sing-
ing. After singing with several groups in
Durban he returned to his hometown
of Ladysmith and began to put together
groups of his own. He was rarely satis-
fied with the results. “I felt there was
something missing. I tried to teach the
music that I felt but I failed, until 1964,
when a harmonious dream came to me.
I always heard the harmony from that
dream and I said ‘This is the sound that
I want and I can teach it to my guys’.”
Joseph recruited family and friends. He
taught the group the harmonies from his
dreams. With time and patience Joseph’s
work began to gel into a special sound.
Shabalala says his conversion to Chris-
tianity, in the ‘60s, helped define the
group’s musical identity. The path that
the axe was chopping suddenly had
a direction: “To bring this gospel of
loving one another all over the world,”
he says. However, he is quick to point
out that the message is not specific to
any one religious orientation. “Without
hearing the lyrics, this music gets into
the blood, because it comes from the
blood,” he says. “It evokes enthusiasm
and excitement, regardless of what you
follow spiritually.”
Their musical efforts over the past four
decades have garnered praise and ac-
colades within the recording industry.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s discography
currently includes more than forty record-
ings, garnering three Grammy Awards
and fifteen nominations, including one
for their most recent recording Ilembe:
Honoring Shaka Zulu. In addition to
their work with Paul Simon, Ladysmith
Black Mambazo have recorded with
numerous artists from around the world,
including Stevie Wonder, Josh Groban,
Dolly Parton, Sarah McLaughlin, Em-
mylou Harris, Natalie Merchant, Mavis
Staples, Ry Cooder and Ben Harper. They
have appeared in film, soundtracks and
commercials. A film documentary titled
On Tip Toe: Gentle Steps to Freedom,
the story of Ladysmith Black Mambazo,
was nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Documentary. The group has also
performed at two Nobel Peace Prize Cer-
emonies, a performance for Pope John
Paul II, the South African Presidential in-
augurations, the 1996 Summer Olympics,
and many musical award shows from
around the world.
Amid extensive worldwide touring, the
ambitious recording schedule and the
numerous accomplishments and acco-
lades, tragedy struck the group in 2002
when Nellie Shabalala, Joseph’s wife of
thirty years, was murdered by a masked
gunman outside their church in South
Africa. “At the time that this happened,
I tried to take my mind deep into the
spirit, because I know the truth is there,”
Shabalala recalls. “In my flesh, I might
be angry, I might cry, I might suspect
somebody. But when I took my mind into
the spirit, the spirit told me to be calm
and not to worry. Bad things happen,
and the only thing to do is raise your
spirit higher.”
Out of this dark chapter came Raise
Your Spirit Higher -Wenyukela, Black
Mambazo’s brilliant debut recording on
Heads Up International, released in 2004
to coincide with the 10-year anniversary
of the end of apartheid. The album was
Shabalala’s message of hope and unity
to a troubled world. “When the world
looks at you and finds the tears in your
eyes,” says Shabalala, “but you smile in
spite of the tears, then they discover that,
‘Oh, he’s right when he says you must be
strong, because many things have hap-
pened to him, and he still carries on with
the spirit of the music.’”
Ladysmith Black Mambazo celebrated
twelve years of democracy in the Repub-
lic of South Africa with the January 2006
release of Long Walk to Freedom, a
collection of twelve new recordings of
classic Mambazo songs with numer-
ous special guests, including Melissa
Etheridge, Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal,
Joe McBride, Sarah McLachlan, Natalie
Merchant, and Zap Mama. Also appear-
ing on this monumental recording are a
number of South African international
icons lending their support to the South
African anthem “Shosholoza,” including
Hugh Masekela, Vusi Mahlasela, Lucky
Dube, Nokukhanya and others.
Two years later, the group paid tribute
to Shaka Zulu, the iconic South African
warrior who united numerous regional
tribes in the late 1800s and became the
first king of the Zulu nation. Ilembe:
Honoring Shaka Zulu was released in
January 2008. The newest offering from
the group is Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Live! (HUDV 7149), a DVD set for release
in January 2009. The visual feast captures
fourteen songs performed on the stage
of EJ Thomas Hall at the University of
Akron in Akron, Ohio, as well as forty
minutes of in-depth interviews with Sha-
balala and other members of the group.
Meanwhile, traditional life in South Africa
continues to change. Cable television,
MTV, the internet and other international
influences are taking its toll on tradition,
and Joseph sees the wonder and the peril
in this progress. Always a man to find
faith in his dreams, Joseph’s life ambition
now is to establish the first Academy for
the teaching and preservation of indig-
enous South African music and culture in
South Africa.
Joseph continues teaching young children
the traditions of his his elders. Joseph’s
appointment as an associate professor
of ethnomusicology at the University of
Natal has given him a taste of the life
of a scholar. “It’s just like performing,”
says Joseph, beaming. “You work all day,
correcting the mistakes, encouraging the
young ones to be confident in their ac-
tion. And if they do not succeed, I always
criticize myself. I am their teacher. They
are willing to learn. But it is up to me to
see they learn correctly.” Over the years,
with the retirement of several members
of the group, Joseph has enlisted the tal-
ents of his four sons,the next Mambazo
generation. They bring a youthful energy
to the group, ensure the preservation of
the teachings and the traditions of the
South African.
The group has devoted itself to raising
consciousness of South African culture.
Attracting the financial and moral sup-
port of many, including Danny Glover
and Whoopi Goldberg, was just the
beginning. Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s
continues to spread the word of Joseph’s
dream of preservation through educa-
tion, while encouraging all those who
can to give their support.
Compiled from the following sources:
http://imnworld.com/artists/detail/24/ladysmith-black-mambazo www.rockpaperscissors.biz/index.cfm/fuseaction/current.bio/project_id/245.cfm www.mambazo.com/biography.html www.concordmusicgroup.com/artists/Ladysmith-Black-Mambazo/
13UMS 09-10
14 UMS 09-10
M E E T T H E S I N G E R S
PEOPLE
J O S E P H S H A B A L A L A
Soprano
T H A M S A N Q A S H A B A L A L A Alto
S I B O N G I S E N I S H A B A L A L A Bass
T H U L A N I S H A B A L A L A Bass
M S I Z I S H A B A L A L A Tenor
R U S S E L M T H E M B U Bass
A L B E RT M A Z I B U K O Tenor
A B E D N E G O M A Z I B U K O
Bass
N G A N E D L A M I N I Bass
THE PERSONNEL of Ladysmith Black
Mambazo has changed many times
over the years. the original group was
composed of Joseph Shabalala, his
brothers Headman and Enoch; in-laws
Albert, Milton, and Joseph Mazibuko;
and close friend Walter Malinga. Aside
from Joseph Shabalala, Albert Mazibuko
is the only original member left in the
group. Altogether, the group has had
over 30 different members over the past
forty-five years.
Even though the early line-ups of the
group contained mostly relatives from
Shabalala’s family, many of the members
that joined the group after the mid-
1970s were recruited for their profes-
sional qualities. Abednego Mazibuko
joined the group in 1974 and Russel
Mthembu in 1975, both as bass voices.
After alto voice Milton Mazibuko was
murdered in 1980, the group took a
few months offbefore returning the
following year with two new members,
Inos Phungula and Geophrey Mdletshe.
Another long hiatus ensued after the
murder of Joseph’s younger brother
Headman on December 10, 1991. The
group stopped singing for a while be-
fore Joseph recruited four of his six sons.
Joseph Shabalala’s sons Thamsanqa,
Sibonnngiseni, Thulani, and Msizi joined
the group in 1993, moving up from Lady-
smith Black Mambazo’s junior choir, Msh-
engu White Mambazo that was formed
by Joseph in the 1970s. Long-time mem-
ber Jockey Shabalala died in his home in
Ladysmith on February 11, 2006. He was
62, and was a member of the group for
almost forty years. Thamsanqa Shabalala
will take over as the leader of the group
after his father’s retirement.
The members of the group currently re-
side in Kloof, just outside of the coastal
city of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal -
though due to their heavy performance
schedule, the group spends only brief
periods at home.
Sources: Wikipedia “Ladysmith Black Mambazo” Erlmann, V: “Nightsong”, brief history of Ladysmith Black Mambazo (page 93). The University of Chicag Press, 1996
Photo: Rajesh Janeilal
15UMS 09-10
J O S E P H S H A B A L A L A
PEOPLE
THE FOLLOWING EXCERPTS from “Jo-
seph Shabalala: Chronicles of an African
Composer” by ethnomusicologist Chris-
topher Ballantine are included to give
the reader insight into Shabalala’s ap-
proach to music composition. Ballantine
looks at Shabalala’s education, methods,
and asthetics in composition includ-
ing some of Shabalala’s written notes.
Through conversations with Shablala,
Ballantine creates a sketch of Shabalala’s
creative procedures to “begin to gain
a deeper understanding of the creative
musical process itself” (37).
How did Shabalala learn to compose?
His answer was startling: for a period
of six months in 1964, he was visited in
his dreams every night by a choir “from
above” who sang to him. It was, he
says, just like a nightly show in which
he was the only listener. “I’m sleeping
but I’m watching the show. I saw myself
sleeping but watching just like when
you are watching TV.” Shabalala com-
pares this experience to that of going to
music school. (5)
If the dreamtime encounters were for
Shabalala the equivalent of going to a
music school, a later dream assumed
the significance of a final examination
and graduation ceremony, giving him
the confidence and authority to become
the composer-leader of an isicathamiya
group. He dreamt he was sitting on a
revolving chair in the middle of a circle
of twenty-four wise old men: “I used to
call them the senior, the golden oldies
married men-the old ones with white
hair.” Each of them was to address him
with one question, and if he answered
the questions satisfactorily, the circle of
elders would declare him fit to be “a
leader of musicians.” (6)
For Zulu traditionalists,dreams are not
only a pathway for communication be-
tween “the survivors and the shades,”
are also a vital, purposeful activity in
the lives of Zulu people. Joseph Sha-
balala and other traditionalists believe
that dreams can be a way of reaching
focused insight and a means of self-
empowerment. (7)
Joseph Shabala, Photo: R. Hoffman
16 UMS 09-10
ing a performance, he will humorously
encourage them to give a little more (or a
little less) by gesturing in the direction of
the bellies of one or more of his singers.
With a movement of his hand, he sug-
gests that he is turning up (or down) the
volume control on an amplifier.
A little more freedom is granted to the
group when they have performed a song
many times and are very familiar with it;
however such liberties are underpinned
by a belief that individual freedom and ex-
pression should not jeopardize the identity
or the coherence of the group. (16, 17)
E D U C AT I O N
Shabalala is committed to the notion
that his compositions should go out
into the world and make a difference.
He holds that he must share his com-
positional knowledge, insight, and
experience. The principal beneficiaries
of such sharing are other composers
in the isicathamiya tradition, but this
activity also reaches various other musi-
cians, students, and so on. Since about
1992, Shabalala has begun trying to
consolidate and summarize, in written
form, the knowledge and principles
he believes may be of most help to the
composers who seek his assistance. (21)
Compiled from source:Ballantine, Chirstopher. “Joseph Shabalala: Chronicles of an African Composer.” British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 5 (1996), pp. 1-38 www.jstor.org/stable/3060865 Accessed: 12/11/2009
COMPOSITIONAL THEMES
M U S I C F O R P E A C E
“Music is for peace. When you sing,
you feel like you want people to
come together and love each other
and share ideas.” And this has always
driven him. (13)
D O S O M E T H I N G N E W
One demand Shabalala always makes
of himself as a composer [is] to try to
do something new. At one level, this
means nothing more than that he seeks
to satisfy his audiences’ appetite for
new Ladysmith Black Mambazo songs.
At another level, though, is the injunc-
tion Shabalala places on himself to be
original, to surpass himself, to do what
has never been achieved before within
the isicathamiya style. Indeed, it is his
sense that he is capable of originality that
keeps him going. (15)
I M P R O V I S AT I O N
Only Shabalala’s solo part is normally
improvised and he maintains that neither
he nor the group know in advance the
details of what he is going to do. The
only thing of which he is certain is that
he will improvise, and the ability to do so
will come from an inspirational force that
he calls “the spirit.” Beyond the arena
of his own solo part, Shabalala permits
the members of his group to improvise
within strict limits and under specific
conditions. “I’m the only one who’s free
all the time!” he says. Sometimes dur-
Shabalala does not immediately produce
finished compositions. The ideas need to
be worked on, fleshed out, refined. And
though this work can be carried out at
any time, Shabalala attributes by far the
largest and most important part of it to
processes that occur while he is asleep.
“When I’m sleeping”, he says, “my spirit
does the work. Sometimes at night when
I’m sleeping,I will discover my wife shak-
ing me- ‘Hey what’s going on? Are you
singing now?’ So that’s why I say: When
my flesh is sleeping, it’s daytime in my
spirit.” When he awakes, he can recall
the dream. He then either makes notes
about it, or if it is vivid enough, he may
go directly to his group and teach them
what he has learned.
How does he compose the parts of
a song and choreograph the dance
steps? Shabalala composes each piece
entirely on his own, working it out and
singing all the various choral parts. His
own soloistic leading part, however, he
treats differently: this will be improvised,
once the group has learned the song.
Almost invariably, the last important
detail to be composed is the intricate
and characteristic choreography that
normally erupts in the cyclical final sec-
tion of a song. (11)
When this dance section is present
in Shabalala’s compositions, he takes
special care with it. A meaningful
match of music and dance has been a
real concern of his since his youth, and
became one of the topics addressed in
the dream visits of his celestial choir.
In any case, he finds that the task of
choreographing comes easily to him.
This is partly a matter of self-confidence:
Joseph knows he is an outstanding
dancer. The members of his group know
this too, and they proudly regard him,
he says, as their dance teacher.
17UMS 09-10
F U R T H E R R E S O U R C E SL A D Y S M I T H B L A C K M A M B A Z O
EXPLORE
WEB
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO
www.mambazo.com
LISTEN
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.
php?storyId=93391815
Jazzset With Dee Dee Bridgewater: •
Ladysmith Black Mambazo And
Hugh Masekela: Carrying South
Africa
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.
php?storyId=1672483
Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Live In •
Studio 4a: Group Celebrates A De-
cade Of South African Freedom
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.
php?storyId=1186957&ps=rs
Musicians In Their Own Words: •
Joseph Shabalala
WATCH
Ladysmith Black Mambazo (2009) Live.
[DVD]. Heads up video.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo. (1999). In
Harmony. [DVD]. Gallo Record Company.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo. (1997). The
Best of [DVD]. Gallo Record Company.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo. (1988). Jour-
ney of Dreams. [DVD]. ILC Ltd.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo. (2004). On
Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom. [DVD].
New Video Group.
Paul Simon. (1997). Classic Albums -
Graceland. [DVD]. Harcourt Films/Isis
Productions
READ
NIGHTSONG
The Introduction to Veit Erlmann’s book
Nightsong was written by Shabalala and
first given as a speech at the University of
Cape Town. This introduction can be ac-
cessed for free at the Google books site
below. See pages 3-9.
Erlmann, Veit. Nightsong: Performance,
Power, and Practice in South Africa. Uni-
versity of Chicago Press, 1996.
18 UMS 09-10
A B O U T S O U T H A F R I C A
Ladysmith Townhall
19UMS 09-10
S O U T H A F R I C A
GEOGRAPHY
SOUTH AFRICA IS IN THE southern tip of Africa where, two great oceans meet, warm weather lasts most of the year, and big
game roams just beyond the city lights. This is where humanity began: fossilised footprints 80,000 years old and the world’s oldest
rock paintings can still be seen in South Africa.
Today, South Africa is the powerhouse of Africa, the most advanced, broad-based economy on the continent, with infrastructure
to match any first-world country. About two-thirds of Africa’s electricity is generated here. Around 40% percent of the continent’s
phones are here. Over half the world’s platinum and 10% of its gold is mined here. And almost everyone who visits is astonished at
how far a dollar, euro or pound will stretch.
Who lives in South Africa?
South Africa is a nation of over 47-mil-
lion people of diverse origins, cultures,
languages and beliefs. Around 79%
are black (or African), 9% white, 9%
«coloured» - the local label for people of
mixed African, Asian and white descent -
and 2.5% Indian or Asian. Just over half
the population live in the cities.
Two-thirds of South Africans are Chris-
tian, the largest church being the indig-
enous Zion Christian Church, followed
by the Dutch Reformed and Catholic
churches. Many churches combine Chris-
tian and traditional African beliefs, and
many non-Christians espouse these tra-
ditional beliefs. Other significant religions
–though with much smaller followings–
are Islam, Hinduism and Judaism.
What languages do people speak?
There are 11 officially recognised lan-
guages, most of them indigenous to
South Africa. Around 40% of the popu-
lation speak either isiZulu or isiXhosa.
You don’t speak either? If your English
is passable, don’t worry. Everywhere you
go, you can expect to find people who
speak or understand English.
English is the language of the cities, of
commerce and banking, of government,
of road signs and official documents.
Road signs and official forms are in Eng-
lish. The President makes his speeches in
English. At any hotel, the receptionists,
waiters and porters will speak English.
Another major language is Afrikaans, a
derivative of Dutch, which northern Euro-
peans will find surprisingly easy to follow.
Is South Africa a democracy?
South Africa is a vigorous multi-party
democracy with an independent judiciary
and a free and diverse press. One of the
world’s youngest - and most progres-
sive - constitutions protects both citizens
and visitors. You won’t be locked up for
shouting out your opinions, however
contrary. (But be careful about smoking
cigarettes in crowded restaurants!)
What about apartheid?
Up until 1994, South Africa was known
for apartheid, or white-minority rule. The
country’s remarkable ability to put cen-
turies of racial hatred behind it in favour
of reconciliation was widely considered
a social miracle, inspiring similar peace
efforts in places such as Northern Ireland
20 UMS 09-10
and Rwanda. Post-apartheid South Africa
has a government comprising all races,
and is often referred to as the rainbow
nation, a phrase coined by Nobel Peace
Prize winner Desmond Tutu.
What’s the weather like?
Summery, without being sweltering. In
Johannesburg, the country’s commer-
cial capital, the weather is mild all year
round, but can get cool at night. Durban,
the biggest port, is hot and sometimes
humid, a beach paradise. And in Cape
Town, where travellers flock to admire
one of the world’s most spectacular
settings, the weather is usually warm,
though temperamental. If you’re visit-
ing from the northern hemisphere, just
remember: when it’s winter over there,
it’s summer over here. Bring sunglasses
and sunscreen.
Is it a big country?
To a European, yes. The country straddles
1.2-million square kilometres, as big as
several European countries put together.
To an American, maybe not - it’s an
eighth the size of the US. Still, it’s more
than a day’s drive down the highway
from Johannesburg in the north to Cape
Town in the south (if you’re driving sensi-
bly), with the topography ranging across
the spectrum from lush green valleys to
semi-desert.
How is it divided up?
South Africa has nine provinces. Gau-
teng, the smallest and most densely pop-
ulated, adjoins Limpopo, North West and
Mpumalanga in the north. The Northern
Cape, the largest province with the small-
est population, is in the west. The Free
State is in the middle of the country. And
the coastal provinces of KwaZulu-Natal,
the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape
lie to the south.
What are the big cities?
South Africa has two capitals. Cape
Town, the oldest city, is the legislative
capital, where Parliament sits. Pretoria,
1 500 kilometres to the north, is the
executive capital, where the government
administration is housed. Next door to
Pretoria, and close enough that the outer
suburbs merge, is the commercial centre
of Johannesburg, once the world’s great-
est gold mining centre, now increasingly
dominated by modern financial and
service sectors. The second-biggest city
is Durban, a fast-growing port on the
eastern coast, and the supply route for
most goods to the interior.
Is it true that there are robots on the
street corners?
Yes, there are. In South Africa, traffic
lights are known as robots, although no
one knows why. A pick-up truck is a bak-
kie, sneakers are takkies, a barbeque
is a braai, an insect is a gogga and an
alchoholic drink ins a dop.
courtesy of: www.southafrica.info/
21UMS 09-10
S O U T H A F R I C A : A T I M E L I N EThe timeline that appears in this section is focused on events in the history of South Africa
and Apartheid with a few other relevant dates included.
HISTORY
1 6 5 2
Dutch settlers establish a colony on the
Cape of Good Hope, taking land from
indigenous tribes and bringing slaves
from Asia.
1 7 9 5
Great Britain takes control of the colony.
1 8 3 3
The British abolish slavery. Seeking
political freedom and new indigenous
laborers, the Dutch, or “Boers,” migrate
inland.
1 8 6 6
Diamonds discovered in Kimberly, South
Africa.
1 8 9 1
The Indian community, also suffering
under viciously racist treatment was
expelled from the Orange Free State
altogether.
1 8 9 2
Mahatma Ganfhi arrives in South Africa
as a young lawyer and goes on to be-
come a leading figure in Indian resistance
in South Africa.
1 9 1 0
ollowing a series of wars, the British
colonies and Boer republics merge into
the Union of South Africa, with shared
political power between the two white
groups.
1 9 1 1
The African National Congress (ANC)
forms to protect the rights of black South
Africans.
1 9 1 3
The Native Land Act limits property
ownership by blacks. “As against the Eu-
ropean the native stands as an eight year
old against a man of mature experience,”
argues Boer politician JBM Hertzog.
1 9 1 4
The Indian poll tax in Natal is removed
after a mass strike in which a number of
Indians were killed.
Mahatma Gandhi leaves the country.
1 9 1 8
One million black mine workers go on
strike for higher wages.
ANC constitution refers to ANC as a
“Pan African Assosiation.”
1 9 1 9
The Industrial and Commercial Workers’
Union of South Africa was formed.
1 9 3 4
South Africa becomes independent from
Great Britain.
1 9 4 4
The ANC Youth League was formed.
Nelson Mandela was its secretary.
1 9 4 8
The Boers’ National Party is elected to
power on a platform of systemized, legal-
ized racial segregation, or “apartheid.”
1 9 5 0
The Population Registration Act identifies
four racial classifications, in order of su-
periority: white, Asian, coloured (mixed
heritage) and black. The Group Areas
Act designates specific homelands for
each race, and hundreds of thousands of
blacks, coloureds and Asians are forcibly
relocated. Blacks, comprising over 70%
of the population, are restricted to 13%
of the land.
1 9 5 2
The Pass Laws Act requires blacks to carry
identification booklets at all times.
22 UMS 09-10
1 9 6 0
In the town of Sharpeville, white police
open fire on a group of black protesters
burning their pass books. To suppress fur-
ther resistance, The ANC and other black
political organizations are banned.
1 9 6 1
A wing of the ANC led by Nelson Man-
dela threatens violence as a last resort.
Mandela is arrested and imprisoned the
following year. “a democratic and free
society in which all persons live together
in harmony and with equal opportuni-
ties…is an ideal which I hope to live for
and to achieve,” Mandela tells the court.
“But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I
am prepared to die.”
South Africa became a republic and
leaves the Commonwealth.
1 9 6 2
The UN condemns South African apart-
heid policy and passes an arms embargo
the following year.
Madela was arrested and sentenced to a
three-year sentence for incitement.
1 9 6 3
In July a police raid on the Rivonia farm
Lilliesleaf led to the arrest of several of
Mandela’s senior ANC colleagues. Man-
dela was brought from prison to stand
trial with them. They were charged with
sabatoge.
1 9 6 4
Mandela and colleagues were all sen-
tenced to life in prison and taken to
Robben Island.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo is formed.
1 9 6 6
BJ Vorster became prime minister after
the assasignation of Verwoerd. Segrega-
tion became even more strictly enforced.
1 9 6 9
Realing under the blow of the “Rivonia
Trial,” the ANC continued to operate
regrouping at the Morogoro Confrence
in Tanzania
1 9 7 3
Ladysmith Black Mambazo released their
first album, Amabutho, which was the
first album by a black musician or group
in South Africa to receive gold status.
1 9 7 6
June 16, in the black township of Sowe-
to, students take to the streets to protest
forced tuition in Afrikaans; Police fired on
them. 575 people are killed.
1 9 8 5
As civil unrest increases and labor strikes
threaten the economy, Prime Minister
P.W. Botha declares a state of emergency
and implements martial law. Over the
next four years thousands of blacks are
killed and thousands more detained.
Media access is also restricted.
1 9 8 6
The collaboration of Paul Simon and
Ladysmith Black Mambazo produces the
album Graceland.
1 9 8 9
F.W. De Klerk succeeds Botha as Prime
Minister; in his opening address to Parlia-
ment, he announces a plan to desegre-
gate public facilities and unban the ANC.
1 9 9 0
F.W. de Klerk lifted restrictions on 30
oposition groups including the ANC.
After 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela
is released. Meetings between De Klerk
and Mandela begin a four-year negotia-
tion process to abolish apartheid. “Today
we have closed the book on apartheid,”
De Klerk declares.
1 9 9 2
The white electorate of South Africa en-
dorsed de Klerk’s stance in a referendum
ending white minority rule.
1 9 9 4
South Africa holds its first democratic
election with universal suffrage; the
turnout is so substantial that voting lasts
three days. ANC leader Nelson Man-
dela is elected president and joins with
the National Party in a Government of
National Unity.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo sings at Nel-
son Mandela’s inaugaration ceremony
Sources: www.longwharf.org/off_homeTime.htmlwww.southafrica.infowww.sahistory.org.za
23UMS 09-10
T H E P R O V I N C E S
SOUTH AFRICA HAS nine provinces, each with its own government, landscape, population, economy and climate.
Before 1994, South Africa had four provinces: the Transvaal and Orange Free State, previously Boer republics, and Natal and the
Cape, once British colonies. Scattered about were also the grand apartheid “homelands”, spurious states to which black South
Africans were forced to have citizenship.
Under South Africa’s new democratic constitution, the four provinces were broken up into the current nine, and the “homelands”
blinked out of existence. The Cape became the Western Cape, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and the western half of North West,
while the Transvaal became Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the eastern half of North West. Natal was renamed KwaZulu-Na-
tal, incorporating the “homeland” of KwaZulu, and the Orange Free State became simply the Free State. courtesy of: www.southafrica.info/
A map of South Africa before 1994, showing the original four provinces of the Cape, Or-ange Free State, Natal and Transvaal, as well as the grand apartheid “homelands” (Image: South African History Online
Map used with permission from: http//www.SA-Venues.com
GEOGRAPHY
24 UMS 09-10
P O P U L AT I O NSouth Africa is a nation of over 47-million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages and beliefs.
Courtesy of: www.southafrica.info
S O U T H A F R I C A’ S P O P U L AT I O N B Y R A C E
AFRICANS ARE IN the majority at just over 38-million, making up 79.6% of the total population. The white population is estimated at
4.3-million (9.1%), the coloured population at 4.2-million (8.9%) and the Indian/Asian population at just short of 1.2-million (2.5%).
While more than three-quarters of South Africa’s population is black African, this category is neither culturally nor linguistically ho-
mogenous. Africans include the Nguni people, comprising the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi; the Sotho-Tswana people, compris-
ing the Southern, Northern and Western Sotho (Tswana); the Tsonga; and the Venda.
GEOGRAPHY
*
25UMS 09-10
Khoisan is a term used to describe two separate groups, physically similar in being light-skinned and small in stature. The Khoi,
who were called Hottentots by the Europeans, were pastoralists and were effectively annihilated; the San, called Bushmen by the
Europeans, were hunter-gatherers. A small San population still lives in South Africa.
South Africa’s white population descends largely from the colonial immigrants of the late 17th, 18th and 19th centuries:Dutch,
German, French Huguenot and British. Linguistically, it is divided into Afrikaans- and English-speaking groups, although many small
communities that have immigrated over the last century retain the use of other languages.
The majority of South Africa’s Asian population is Indian in origin, many of them descended from indentured workers brought to
work on the sugar plantations of the eastern coastal area then known as Natal in the 19th century. They are largely English-speak-
ing, although many also retain the languages of their origins. There is also a significant group of Chinese South Africans.
*The label “coloured” is a contentious one, but still used for people of mixed race descended from slaves brought in from East
and central Africa, the indigenous Khoisan who lived in the Cape at the time, indigenous Africans and whites. The majority
speak Afrikaans.
S O U T H A F R I C A’ S P O P U L AT I O N B Y L A N G U A G E
Nine of the country’s 11 official languages are African, reflecting a variety of ethnic groupings which nonetheless have a great deal in common in terms of background, culture, and descent.
26 UMS 09-10
Zulu Warriors, Photo: Library of Congress
T H E Z U L U P E O P L E
ABOUT
ISIZULU IS THE LANGUAGE of South
Africa’s largest ethnic group, the Zulu
people, who take their name from the
chief who founded the royal line in the
16th century. The warrior king Shaka
raised the nation to prominence in the
early 19th century. The current monarch
is King Goodwill Zwelithini.
A tonal language and one of the coun-
try’s four Nguni languages, isiZulu is
closely related to isiXhosa. It is probably
the most widely understood African lan-
guage in South Africa, spoken from the
Cape to Zimbabwe but mainly concen-
trated in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.
The writing of Zulu was started by mis-
sionaries in what was then Natal in the
19th century, with the first Zulu transla-
tion of the Bible produced in 1883. The
first work of isiZulu literature was Thomas
Mofolo’s classic novel Chaka, which was
completed in 1910 and published in 1925,
with the first English translation produced
in 1930. The book reinvents the legend-
ary Zulu king Shaka, portraying him as a
heroic but tragic figure, a monarch to rival
Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND BELIEFS
The Zulu language, of which there are
variations, is part of the Nguni language
group. The word Zulu means ‘Sky’ and
according to oral history, Zulu was the
name of the ancestor who founded the
Zulu royal line in about 1670. Today it is
estimated that there are more than forty-
five million South Africans, and the Zulu
people make up about approximately
22% of this number. The largest urban
concentration of Zulu people is in the
Gauteng Province, and in the corridor of
Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The largest
rural concentration of Zulu people is in
Kwa-Zulu Natal.
IsiZulu is South Africa’s most widely
spoken official language. It is a tonal
language understood by people from
the Cape to Zimbabwe and is charac-
terized by many ‘clicks’. In 2006 it was
determined that approximately nine
million South Africans speak Xhosa as a
home language
Its oral tradition is very rich but its
modern literature is still developing. J.L
Dube was the first Zulu writer (1832)
though his first publication, a Zulu story
was written in English titled ‘A Talk on
my Native Land’. In 1903, he concen-
trated on editing the newspaper ‘Ilanga
LaseNatali’. His first Zulu novel ‘Insila
kaShaka’ was published in 1930. We see
a steady growth of publications especially
novels from 1930 onwards’.
27UMS 09-10
The clear-cut distinction made today
between the Xhosa and the Zulu has no
basis in culture or history, but arises out
of the colonial distinction between the
Cape and Natal colonies. Both speak
very similar languages and share similar
customs, but the historical experiences
at the northern end of the Nguni culture
area differed considerably from the his-
torical experiences at the southern end.
The majority of northerners became part
of the Zulu kingdom, which abolished
circumcision. The majority of southern-
ers never became part of any strongly
centralised kingdom, intermarried with
Khoikhoi, and retained circumcision.
Many Zulu people converted to Christian-
ity under colonialism. Although there are
many Christian converts, ancestral beliefs
have not disappeared. There is now a
mixture of traditional beliefs and Chris-
tianity. Ancestral spirits are important
in Zulu religious life,and offerings and
sacrifices are made to the ancestors for
protection, good health, and happiness.
Ancestral spirits come back to the world
in the form of dreams, illnesses, and
sometimes snakes. The Zulu also believe
in the use of magic. Ill fortune such as
bad luck and illness is considered to be
sent by an angry spirit. When this hap-
pens, the help of a traditional healer is
sought, and he or she will communicate
with the ancestors, or use natural herbs
and prayers, to get rid of the problem.
The Zulu are fond of singing as well as
dancing. These activities promote unity
at all the transitional ceremonies such as
births, weddings, and funerals. All dances
are accompanied by drums and the
men dress as warriors . Zulu folklore is
transmitted through storytelling, praise-
poems, and proverbs. These explain
Zulu history and teach moral lessons.
Praise-poems (poems recited about the
kings and the high achievers in life) are
becoming part of popular culture. The
Zulu, especially those from rural areas,
are known for their weaving, craft-
making, pottery, and beadwork. The Zulu
term for “family” (umndeni) includes
all the people staying in a homestead
who are related to each other, either by
blood, marriage, or adoption. Drinking
and eating from the same plate was and
still is a sign of friendship. It is customary
for children to eat from the same dish,
usually a big basin. This derives from a
‘share what you have’ belief which is part
of ubuntu (humane) philosophy.
Source: www.sahistory.org.za/pages/artsmediaculture/cul-ture%20&%20heritage/cultural-groups/zulu.htm
ORIGINS Archaeological evidence
shows that the Bantu-speaking groups,
ancestors of the Nguni, migrated
down from East Africa as early as the
eleventh century.
Long ago, before the Zulu were forged
as a nation, they lived as isolated family
groups and partly nomadic northern
Nguni groups. These groups moved
about within their loosely defined
territories in search of game and
good grazing for their cattle. As they
accumulated livestock and supporters,
family leaders divided and dispersed in
different directions, while still retaining
family networks.
The Zulu homestead (imizi) consisted
of an extended family and others at-
tached to the household through social
obligations. This social unit was largely
self-sufficient, with responsibilities di-
vided according to gender. Men were
generally responsible for defending the
homestead, caring for cattle, manufac-
turing and maintaining weapons and
farm implements, and building dwellings.
Women had domestic responsibilities and
raised crops, usually grains, on land near
the household.
By the late eighteenth century, a process
of political consolidation among the
groups was beginning to take place. A
number of powerful chiefdoms began to
emerge and a transformation from pasto-
ral society to a more organised statehood
occurred. This enabled leaders to wield
more authority over their own sup-
porters, and to compel allegiance from
conquered chiefdoms. Changes took
place in the nature of political, social,
and economic links between chiefs of
these emerging power blocks and their
subjects. Zulu chiefs demanded steadily
increasing tribute or taxes from their sub-
jects, acquired great wealth, commanded
large armies, and, in many cases, subju-
gated neighbouring chiefdoms.
Military conquest allowed men to
achieve status distinctions that had
become increasingly important. This
culminated early in the nineteenth
century with the warrior-king Shaka
conquering all the groups in Zululand
and uniting them into a single powerful
Zulu nation, that made its influence felt
over southern and central Africa. Shaka
ruled from 1816 to 1828, when he was
assassinated by his brothers.
Shaka recruited young men from all over
the kingdom and trained them in his
own novel warrior tactics. His military
campaign resulted in widespread violence
and displacement, and after defeat-
ing competing armies and assimilating
their people, Shaka established his Zulu
nation. Within twelve years, he had
forged one of the mightiest empires the
African continent has ever known. The
28 UMS 09-10
Zulu empire weakened after Shaka’s
death in 1828.
Source: www.sahistory.org.za/pages/artsmediaculture/cul-ture%20&%20heritage/cultural-groups/zulu.htmcourtesy of: www.southafrica.info/
COLONIALISM AND APARTHEID One
of the most significant events in Zulu
history was the arrival of Europeans in
Natal. By the late 1800s, British troops had
invaded Zulu territory and divided Zulu
land into different chiefdoms. The Zulu
never regained their independence. Natal
received ‘Colonial government’ in 1893,
and the Zulu people were dissatisfied about
being governed by the Colony. A plague
of locusts devastated crops in Zululand and
Natal in 1894 and 1895, and their cattle
were dying of rinderpest, lung sickness,
and east coast fever. These natural disasters
impoverished them and forced more men
to seek employment as railway construc-
tion workers in northern Natal and on the
mines in the Witwatersrand.
The last Zulu uprising, led by Chief
Bambatha in 1906, was a response to
harsh and unjust laws and unimaginable
actions by the Natal Government. It was
sparked off by the imposition of the
1905 poll tax of £1 per head, introduced
to increase revenue and to force more
Zulus to start working for wages. The
uprising was ruthlessly suppressed.
The 1920s saw fundamental changes
in the Zulu nation. Many were drawn
towards the mines and fast-growing cit-
ies as wage earners, and were separated
from the land and urbanized. Zulu men
and women have made up a substantial
portion of South Africa’s urban work
force throughout the 20th century, espe-
cially in the gold and copper mines of the
Witwatersrand. Zulu workers organized
some of the first black labour unions in
the country. For example, the Zulu Wash-
ermen’s Guild, Amawasha, was active in
Natal and the Witwatersrand even before
the Union of South Africa was formed
in 1910. The Zululand Planters’ Union
organized agricultural workers in Natal in
the early twentieth century.
The dawn of apartheid in the 1940s
marked more changes for all Black South
Africans, and in 1953 the South African
Government introduced the “home-
lands”. In the 1960s the Government’s
objective was to form a “tribal authority”
and provide for the gradual development
of self-governing Bantu national units.
The first Territorial Authority for the Zulu
people was established in 1970 and the
Zulu homeland of KwaZulu was defined.
In March 1972, the first Legislative Assem-
bly of KwaZulu was constituted by South
African Parliamentary Proclamation.
The homeland of KwaZulu (or place of
the Zulu) was granted self-government
under apartheid in December 1977. Ac-
cording to the apartheid social planners
ideal of ‘separate development’ it was
intended to be the home of the Zulu
people. Although it was relatively large,
it was segmented and spread over a
large area in what is now the province of
KwaZulu-Natal.
Chief Mangosutho (Gatsha) Buthelezi, a
cousin of the king, was elected as Chief
Executive. The town of Nongoma was
temporarily consolidated as the capi-
tal, pending completion of buildings at
Ulundi. The 1970s also saw the revival of
Inkatha, later the Inkatha Freedom Party
(IFP), the ruling and sole party in the self-
governing KwaZulu homeland.
The capital of KwaZulu was Ulundi and
its government was led by Chief Man-
gosuthu Buthelezi, leader of the Inkatha
Freedom Party (IFP), who established a
good relationship with the ruling National
Party. He also distanced himself from the
African National Congress (ANC), with
whom he had had a close relationship.
The government offered Buthelezi and
KwaZulu the status of fully ‘indepen-
dent homeland’ several times during the
1980s. He continually refused, saying he
wanted the approximately four million
residents of the homeland to remain
South African citizens. Nonetheless,
Buthelezi claimed chief ministerial privi-
leges and powers in the area.
Military prowess continued to be an
important value in Zulu culture, and this
emphasis fueled some of the political vio-
lence of the 1990s. Buthelezi’s nephew,
Goodwill Zwelithini, was the Zulu mon-
arch in the 1990s. Buthelezi and King
Goodwill won the agreement of ANC
negotiators just before the April 1994
elections that, with international media-
tion, the government would establish a
special status for the Zulu Kingdom after
the elections. Zulu leaders understood
this special status to mean some degree
of regional autonomy within the province
of KwaZulu-Natal.
In 1994, KwaZulu became a part of
South Africa when it merged with the
former Natal to become KwaZulu-Natal.
Sources: www.sahistory.org.za/pages/artsmediaculture/cul-ture%20&%20heritage/cultural-groups/zulu.htmwww.sahistory.org.za/pages/places/villages/kwazuluNatal/kzn.htm
29UMS 09-10
I L E M BH O N O R I N G S H A K A Z U L U
HISTORY
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO has re-
leased at least two records bearing Shaka
Zulu’s name: Shaka Zulu in 1987 and
Ilemb: Honoring Shaka Zulu in 2008.
With that in mind, it is worth looking at
the history of the warrior king.
One history of Shaka Zulu is available
online at www.sahistory.org.za/pages/
people/bios/zulu-shaka.htm.
The image of Shaka Zulu portrayed in this
account is of a brutal warrior who united
the Zulu nation through force and who
“accorded white traders most favored
treatment, ceded them land, and permit-
ted them to build a settlement at Port
Natal” (now Durban). This image, along
with the general history of Shaka Zulu,
is a disputed topic. For example, take a
look at the book Myth of Iron: Shaka
in History, by Dan Wylie, an academic at
South Africa’s Rhodes University.
Dr. Wylie described his book as an “anti-
biography” because the material for an
accurate biography did not exist. “There
is a great deal that we do not know, and
never will know,” he says.
Dr. Wylie argues that Shaka Zulu, the
19th-century warrior king dubbed Af-
rica’s Napoleon, was not the bloodthirsty
military genius of historical depiction
[…] His reputation for brutality was
concocted by biased colonial-era white
chroniclers and unreliable Zulu storytell-
ers who turned the man into a myth.
(source www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/
may/22/rorycarroll.mainsection)
An 1824 Sketch of Shaka (1781-1828), the great Zulu king, four years before his death.By James King, it is the only known drawing of Shaka (Image: South African Government Online)
30 UMS 09-10
Although the history of Shaka Zulu
is disputed and his heroic status is
somewhat ambiguous, nevertheless,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo has chosen
to honor Shaka.
The ensemble’s official website offers
the following story in the promotion of
their album Ilemb: Honoring Shaka
Zulu (2008):
In the late 1700s, Shaka Zulu, a charis-
matic and cunning young warrior, united
the Zulus with various neighboring tribes
into a single powerful force that helped
give birth to a proud nation. Today, Sha-
ka Zulu is regarded as one of the greatest
leaders in African history. His combina-
tion of warrior discipline, visionary leader-
ship, innate creativity, and unshakable
belief in a united nation continues to
resonate to this day in South Africa. He
is revered as the single figure that gave
birth to the indomitable fighting spirit of
the Zulus – the same spirit that enabled
South Africans to persevere amid the
European domination of their homeland
for nearly two centuries of apartheid.
Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu celebrates
not only Shaka Zulu but the sense
of perseverance, creativity and pride
that he has inspired in generations of
descendants. “He was a warrior, an
athlete, a singer, a dancer, a visionary,
he was so many things,” says Joseph
Shabalala,…“He was a diplomat too. He
could talk about differences in a civilized
way, but he was also very proud. If you
said, ‘No, I’m not going to cooperate,’
then he would say, ‘Alright, let us see
who is the boss.’”
Nearly two centuries after Shaka Zulu’s
passing the messages of peace, unity,
social harmony and national pride tran-
scend their points of origin and resonate
throughout the globe. “There have been
so many generations that have come and
gone since Shaka was king of the Zulus,
but there are still many hearts and minds
to be conquered,” says Shabalala, who
balances his spiritual convictions with his
cultural roots. “There are still many peo-
ple who need to be filled with the spirit
of unity and hope that Shaka embodied.
We are trying to remind people of the
importance of what this man did. That
was my purpose, to bring the people
back to the roots of their culture.”
Source www.mambazo.com/
31UMS 09-10
2004 NPR SPECIAL SOUTH AFRICA, 10
YEARS LATER
www.npr.org/news/specials/mandela/
This includes:
Legacy of the U.S. Anti-Apartheid •
Movement
South Africa’s Rocky Road to De-•
mocracy
South Africa: Truth and Reconcilia-•
tion
Cornel West Commentary: U.S.-•
South African Relations
Michael Eric Dyson Commentary: 10 •
Years After Apartheid
WEB
FRONTLINE: THE LONG WALK OF
NELSON MANDELA
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/
shows/mandela/
MORE DETAILED HISOTRY TIMELINES
OF SOUTH AFRICA:
www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/
chronology.htm
TIMELINE OF APARTHEID LEGISLA-
TION
www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/
special-chrono/governance/apartheid-
legislation.html#1920
ART AND RESITANCE APARTEID
www.sahistory.org.za/pages/artsmedi-
aculture/protest_art/index.htm
SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY ONLINE
www.sahistory.org.za/
U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SA
COUNTRY STUDY
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/zatoc.html
F U R T H E R R E S O U R C E SS O U T H A F R I C A
EXPLORE
LISTEN
MANDELA: AN AUDIO HISTORY
www.radiodiaries.org/mandela/
A five-part radio series documenting the
struggle against apartheid through rare
sound recordings, including the voice
of Nelson Mandela himself. The series
includes:
A recording of the 1964 trial that •resulted in Mandela’s life sentence
A visit between Mandela and his •family secretly recorded by a prison
guard
Marching songs of guerilla soldiers•Government propaganda films•Pirate radio broadcasts from the •African National Congress
Interviews with former ANC activists, •National Party politicians, army gen-
erals, Robben Island prisoners, and
ordinary witnesses to history
32 UMS 09-10
A B O U T T H E M U S I C
33UMS 09-10
S O U T H A F R I C A N M U S I C
ABOUT
From the earliest colonial days until the present time, South African music has created itself out of the mingling of local ideas and forms with those imported from outside the country,
giving it all a special twist that carries with it the unmistakable flavor of the country.
BEGINNINGS In the Dutch colonial
era, from the 17th century on, indig-
enous tribes people and slaves imported
from the east adapted Western musical
instruments and ideas. The Khoi-Khoi,
for instance, developed the ramkie, a
guitar with three or four strings, based
on that of Malabar slaves, and used it to
blend Khoi and Western folk songs. The
mamokhorong was a single-string violin
that was used by the Khoi in their own
music-making and in the dances of the
colonial centre, Cape Town, which rapidly
became a melting pot of cultural influ-
ences from all over the world.
Western music was played by slave
orchestras (the governor of the Cape,
for instance, had his own slave orchestra
in the 1670s)and travelling musicians
of mixed-blood who moved around the
colony entertaining at dances and other
functions, a tradition that continued
into the era of British domination after
1806. In a style similar to that of British
marching military bands, coloured (mixed
race) bands of musicians began parading
through the streets of Cape Town in the
early 1820s, a tradition that was given
added impetus by the travelling min-
strel shows of the 1880s. The tradition
continues to the present day with the
great carnival held in Cape Town every
New Year.
MISSIONARIES AND CHOIRS The
penetration of missionaries into the inte-
rior of South Africa over the succeeding
centuries also had a profound influence
on the nation’s musical styles. In the late
1800s, early African composers such
as John Knox Bokwe began composing
hymns that drew on traditional Xhosa
harmonic patterns. In 1897, Enoch Son-
tonga, then a teacher, composed the
hymn “Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika” (God Bless
Africa), which was later adopted by the
liberation movement and ultimately be-
came the national anthem of democratic
South Africa.
The missionary influence, plus the later
influence of American spirituals, spurred
a gospel movement that is still very
strong in South Africa today. Drawing
on the traditions of churches such as
the Zion Christian Church, it has expo-
nents whose styles range from the more
traditional to the pop-infused sounds of,
for instance, former pop-singer Rebecca
Malope.
Gospel, in its many forms, is one of the
best-selling genres in South Africa today,
with artists who regularly achieve sales of
gold and platinum status. The missionary
emphasis on choirs, combined with the
traditional vocal music of South Africa,
and taking in other elements as well, also
gave rise to a mode of a capella singing
that blend the style of Western hymns
with indigenous harmonies. This tradition
is still alive today in the isicathamiya
form, of which Ladysmith Black Mam-
bazo are the foremost and most famous
exponents. This vocal music is the oldest
traditional music known in South Africa.
It was communal, accompanying dances
or other social gatherings, and involved
elaborate call-and-response patterns.
Though some instruments such as the
mouth bow were used, drums were
relatively unknown. Later, instruments
used in areas to the north of what is
now South Africa, such as the mbira or
thumb-piano from Zimbabwe, or drums
34 UMS 09-10
or xylophones from Mozambique, began
to find a place in the traditions of South
African music-making. Still later, Western
instruments such as the concertina or the
guitar were integrated into indigenous
musical styles, contributing, for instance,
to the Zulu mode of maskanda music.
The development of a black urban prole-
tariat and the movement of many black
workers to the mines in the 1800s meant
that differing regional traditional folk
musics met and began to flow into one
another. Western instrumentation was
used to adapt rural songs, which in turn
started to influence the development of
new hybrid modes of music-making (as
well as dances) in South Africa’s develop-
ing urban centers.
MINSTRELS In the mid-1800s, travelling
minstrel shows began to visit South Af-
rica. At first, as far as can be ascertained,
these minstrels were white performers in
“black face”, but by the 1860s genuine
black American minstrel troupes had be-
gun to tour the country, singing spirituals
of the American South and influencing
many South African groups to form
themselves into similar choirs.
Regular meetings and competitions be-
tween such choirs soon became popular,
forming an entire sub-culture unto itself
that continues to this day in South Africa.
This tradition of minstrelsy, joined with
other forms, also contributed to the
development of isicathamiya, which
had its first international hit in 1939 with
“Mbube.” This remarkable song by Solo-
mon Linda and the Evening Birds was an
adaption of a traditional Zulu melody, and
has been recycled and reworked innumer-
able times, most notably as Pete Seeger’s
hit “Wimoweh” and the international
classic “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
This excerpt is from www.southafrica.info/about/arts/music.htm. For more information on other styles Marabi, Kwela, Mbaqanga, Jazz in South Africa, Pop Rock & crossover, and Bubblegum to Kwaito.
NGUNI MUSIC Nguni is the name ap-
plied collectively to the Zulu, Swazi and
Xhosa peoples of south-eastern Africa,
the largest indigenous group in the
country. Their languages and cultures are
closely related, and their traditional music
is more vocal than instrumental, with
polyphonic dance-songs being particu-
larly important.
Nguni languages belong within the Bantu
language family, but they show certain
features adopted from the neighbour-
ing Khoikhoi (or Hottentots, now almost
extinct), most notably in their use of
three ‘click’ consonants, written as ‘c’, ‘q’
and ‘x’. As with other Bantu languages,
speech-tones influence the shape of
vocal melody. A characteristic of the
Nguni that is rare elsewhere in Africa (but
present in Chinese and German) is the
pitch-lowering effect of voiced conso-
nants, which in song often produces
rising on-glides.
As with other southern Bantu peoples,
the traditional economy of the Nguni is
composite; it comprises cattle-rearing,
the monopoly of men and boys, and
agriculture, which is women’s work.
Men used also to do a certain amount
of hunting. Since the early 19th century,
with the advent of missionaries and set-
tlers, the Nguni have increasingly come
under Western influence. Indigenous
culture survives only sporadically in some
of the remoter rural areas.
Strange as it may seem for an African
people, the Nguni have no history of
drums or percussion ensembles as a basis
for their communal dancing. Dancers
always sang their own dance music, and
although ankle rattles and hand-clapping
were sometimes added, the basis of
their collective music-making was the
unaccompanied dance-song. War-shields
were sometimes used percussively by
warriors in earlier days, and oxhides were
beaten at Xhosa boys’ initiation ceremo-
nies. Drums were not, however, entirely
unknown. Medicine men sometimes
used them, and a type of friction drum
was employed at girls’ coming-of-age
ceremonies among the Zulu. Improvised
drums and wooden clappers are now
used in certain neo-traditional art forms,
such as modern Zulu ingomadancing.
Essentially, however, it is clear that in
the past the Nguni have specialized in
developing vocal polyphony rather than
instrumental ensembles or rhythmic
complexity.
A striking feature of traditional Nguni
choral dance-songs is the principle of
non-simultaneous entry of voice parts,
and the intricacy of their polyphonic
interaction. There are always at least
two voice parts with different starting-
points; their phrases frequently overlap,
but there is usually no common cadence
point where the parts achieve a com-
bined resolution. Instead, each voice
returns to its starting-point as in a round
(though the parts are not identical),
and the process is continually repeated.
Variations commonly occur in the leading
voice part, while the chorus maintains a
constant ostinato.
Through European contact during the
past century and a half, many West-
ern musical elements and ideas have
been adopted by the Nguni. Traditional
instruments are almost extinct, surviving
only in some of the remoter rural areas.
Traditional Nguni folk music survives
only where social life retains a traditional
35UMS 09-10
has inspired the celebration of ethnic
identities and cultural roots and has
led to the re-emergence of traditional
performing practices, values and beliefs,
providing the basis for ethnically based
social programmes and political parties
(Meintjes, p.9).
source: www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/43028
courtesy of: www.southafrica.info/
FURTHER READING
V. Erlmann. African Stars: Studies in Black
South African Performance.Chicago, 1991.
L. Meintjes. Mediating Difference: Producing
Mbaqanga Music in a South African Studio.
Diss., U. of Texas, 1997.
basis. For the past century or more,
missionaries and teachers have greatly
influenced musical taste. A Zulu hymn-
book with European tunes was printed in
1862. The first Xhosa songbook, Amac-
ulo aseLovedale(‘Songs of Lovedale’),
appeared in 1884. The tonic sol-fa
system was widely taught, and traditional
music was increasingly displaced by
Western choral music, sacred and secular.
Educated Africans also began composing
pieces for four-part choir with vernacular
words. Outstanding Xhosa pioneers in
this field were the Rev. John Knox Bokwe
(1855–1922) and Benjamin John Peter
Tyamzashe (b 1890); and among the
Zulu, Reuben Tholakele Caluza (b 1895)
and Alfred Assegai Kumalo (1879–1966).
A well-known Xhosa hymn, Nkosi Sikelel’
iAfrika(‘God bless Africa’), composed in
1897 by the Rev. Enoch Sontonga, is now
the national anthem of South Africa; its
tune was also adopted for the national
anthems of Tanzania and Zambia.
Isicathamiya, a male a cappellamusical
genre developed by Zulu migrant workers
at the turn of the 20th century, along
with the elaborate network of weekly
competitions that helps to define the
genre, provides a space within which
black South Africans have been able to
reflect and act on their fractured world
(Erlmann, p.10). Zulu ingoma dances,
once associated with ‘tribal’ dance
competitions on the Witwatersrand gold
mines, and linked to the political history
and ideology of the apartheid govern-
ment, are now fostered in the schools,
and performed at meetings of indepen-
dent trade unions and important state
functions. Ingoma dance troupes perform
at weekends in competitions organized
at the hostels and mines, and in staged
musicals such as the revived IpNtombi.
The post-1994 democratic South Africa
36 UMS 09-10
I S C AT H M I YA
ABOUT
The emergence of a distinctively African-European vocal music rooted in South African Bantu tradition was further enhanced by
the influences of English music hall, school concert, American minstrel and light operatic traditions of touring performance groups
in the latter half of the 19th century. In addition to a powerful, broadly based tradition of hymnography, black South African choirs
developed popular genres that remain important in their performance contexts and musical influence. The isicathamiya of Natal’s
Zulu-speaking migrant workers, thoroughly researched by Erlmann (1991, 1996) and Coplan (1985), is an example of these popu-
lar genres. The tours of the Durban-based Ladysmith Black Mambazo that followed their participation in the successful Graceland
concert tour, video, and album with American popular composer Paul Simon have made this genre familiar to audiences through-
out the world.
“In Zulu singing there are three major sounds,” Shabalala explains. “A high keening ululation; a grunting, puffing sound that we
make when we stomp our feet; and a certain way of singing melody. Before Black Mambazo, you didn’t hear these three sounds in
the same songs. So it is new to combine them, although it is still done in a traditional style. We are just asking God to allow us to
polish it, to help keep our voices in order so we can praise Him and uplift the people.”
Though isicathamiya,particularly through Ladysmith Black Mambazo,has recently enjoyed considerable popular and commercial
success, the style is still predominantly the domain of migrant-workers hostels and their all night isicathamiya competitions. The
groups who enter these competitions normally consist of between about 10 and 25 men; each group will have its own formal
dress style (frequently involving jackets, ties, and white gloves); and in each group the vast majority will be basses, with normally
one or more tenors, one alto, and a leader whowill sing a freer and more soloistic part. (Ballentine, 3-4)
sources: www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber/article/grove/music/43028
http://music.aol.com/artist/ladysmith-black-mambazo/biography/1002785 J. poet All Music
Zulu men eating
37UMS 09-10
LISTEN
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: “ZULU’S
‘TIP-TOE’ CHOIR COMPETITION.”
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.
php?storyId=1847340
THE NPR 100: GRACELAND
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.
php?storyId=1076475&ps=rs
WATCH
AMAZING ZULU ISICATHAMIYA CHOIRS www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWkIsSKWhWc
F U R T H E R R E S O U R C E S
EXPLORE
Seroff , Doug. “A Brief Introduction to
the Zulu Choirs.” Black Music Research
Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Spring, 1990),
pp. 54-57. www.jstor.org/stable/779532
Accessed: 12/11/2009
Shoup, John. “Pop Music and Resistance
in Apartheid South Africa” Alif: Journal
of Comparative Poetics, No. 17, Litera-
ture and Anthropology in Africa/ 1997),
pp. 73-92 www.jstor.org/stable/521608
Accessed: 12/11/2009
Erlmann, Veit. Music, modernity, and
the Global Imagination: South Africa
and the West. Oxford University Press,
1999.
Erlmann, Veit. Nightsong: Performance,
Power, and Practice in South Africa.
University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Muller, Carol A. Focus: Music of South
Africa. Routledge, 2008.
Lucia, Christine. The World of South
African Music: a Reader. Cambridge
Scholars Press, 2005 Drewett, Michael
and Martin Cloonan. Popular Music
Censorship in Africa. Ashgate Publishing,
Ltd., 2006.
READ
ARTICLES Ballantine, Christopher. “A
Brief History of South African Popular
Music.” Popular Music, Vol. 8, No. 3,
African Music (Oct., 1989), pp. 305-310
www.jstor.org/stable/931280
Accessed: 12/11/2009
Erlmann, Veit. ““The Past Is Far and
the Future Is Far”: Power and Perfor-
mance among Zulu Migrant Workers.”
American Ethnologist, Vol. 19, No. 4,
Imagining Identities: Nation, Culture,
and the Past (Nov., 1992), pp. 688-709
www.jstor.org/stable/644914 Accessed:
29/11/2009 18:45
Erlmann, Veit. “’Africa Civilised, Africa
Uncivilised’: Local Culture, World System
and South African Music.” Journal of
Southern African Studies, Vol. 20,
No. 2 (Jun., 1994), pp. 165-179. www.
jstor.org/stable/2637385 Accessed:
12/11/2009
Erlmann, Veit. “Migration and Perfor-
mance: Zulu Migrant Workers’ Isica-
thamiya Performance in South Africa,
1890-1950. Ethnomusicology, Vol.
34, No. 2 (Spring - Summer, 1990), pp.
199-220. www.jstor.org/stable/851683
Accessed: 12/11/2009
38 UMS 09-10
C O N N E C T I O N S
Photo: Mambazo Freedom
39UMS 09-10
A P P R E C I AT I N G T H E P E R F O R M A N C E
ENGAGE
Grade Levels: K-12 ARTS STANDARD, CONTENT STANDARD
Arts Education 3: Arts in Context Language Arts 3: Meaning and Communication Social Studies II-1: People, Places, and Cultures
OBJECTIVE Students will gain increased appreciation for and understanding of Ladysmith Black Mambazo by observing the per-
formance closely.
OPENING DISCUSSION Going to a live performance is different from listening to a CD. The audience gains visual cues and clues that can
enhance the music (or even detract from it). The following questions can help you feel more “tuned into” what is happening onstage.
ACTIVITY Encourage students to look for the following at the Youth Performance.
1. Who appears to be leading the vocalists? What is this person’s role called?
2. Does the director lead the melody, harmony, or rhythm? Does the same person lead each piece?
3. How does the director use his/her body to show the singers what he/she wants to hear?
4. Do the singers look at and listen to each other? How can you tell?
5. How are the musicians dressed? Tuxedo? T-shirt and jeans? Suits? How does their clothing affect how you respond to them as
people? As musicians?
40 UMS 09-10
6. Do the musicians use their bodies or faces to express how they’re feeling?
7. Do any of the musicians sing more than one part? Who? How are the sounds of those parts similar? Different?
8. Which singers seem to be the most important? The least? How did you determine how important they are? Do the leading
and/or melody vocalists stay the same with each song or change?
9. Songs can convey different moods, emotions, stories, or feelings. Do most of the performed songs communicate similar feelings?
DISCUSSION/FOLLOW-UP Are you able to answer any of the above questions now that you’ve seen the performance? What was
your favorite part of the show? Is there anything you didn’t like about the show? Some of the songs were not sung in English, how
did that effect your experience? Could you still understand what the singers were trying to convey?
41UMS 09-10
READ
PRIMARY + ELEMENTARY GRADESIgus, Toyomi. I See the Rhythm. San Fran-
cisco, CA: Children’s Book Press, 1998. A
teacher’s guide for I See the Rhythm can
be found at:
www.childrensbookpress.org/our-books/
african-american/i-see-rhythm
Oluonye, Mary N. South Africa (Country
Explorers). Minneapolis,MN: Lerner Publi-
cations, 2008.
UPPER MIDDLE + SECONDARY
GRADES
Rosmarin, Ike and Dee Rissik. South
Africa (Cultures of the World). New York:
Benchmark Books, 2 edition 2004.
WEB
UMSwww.ums.org
The official website of UMS. Visit the
Education section (www.ums.org/educa-
tion) for study guides, information about
community and family events, and more
information about the UMS Youth Educa-
tion Program.
KENNEDY CENTERwww.artsedge.kennedy-center.org
The nation’s most comprehensive web
site for arts education, including lesson
plans, arts education news, grant infor-
mation, etc.
F O R S T U D E N T S + E D U C AT O R S
EXPLORE
NOTE: Although UMS previewed each web site, we recommend that teachers check all web sites before introducing them to students, as content may have changed since this guide was published.
PBS AFRICAwww.pbs.org/wnet/africa/
Students can explore the regions of
Africa and its current social issues with
this interactive website. Site also contains
information about the PBS series Africa,
teacher tools, and resources.
AFRICA: K-12 ELECTRONIC GUIDE FOR
AFRICAN RESOURCES www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/
Home_Page/AFR_GIDE.html
This guide assists K-12 teachers, librar-
ians, and students in locating on-line
resources on Africa that can be used in
the classroom, for research and stud-
ies. Includes sections on country-specific
information, multimedia, languages, the
environment, travel, and lesson plans.
KENEDEY CENTER ARTS EDGE:
AFRICAN ODESSY
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/aoi/
history/ao-guide.html
42 UMS 09-10
EXPLORE
C O M M U N I T YThese groups and organizations can help you to learn more about dance performance styles
and African culture
HERITAGE WORKS
1554 Butternut Detroit, MI 48216
(313) 438-2800
www.africandanceworks.org
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
1080 South University, Suite 2620 Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106 USA
(734) 615-3027
www.ii.umich.edu/asc
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN CENTER FOR AFROAMERICAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES
4700 Haven Hall 505 S State St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109
(734) 764-5513
www.lsa.umich.edu/caas
ARTS LEAGUE OF MICHIGAN
7700 Second Avenue, 6th Floor Detroit, MI 48202
(313) 870-1600
www.artsleague.com
SHRINE OF THE BLACK MADONNA CULTURAL CENTER
and Book Store
13535 Livernois Detroit, MI 48238
(313) 491-0777
www.shrinebookstore.com
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF AFRICANA STUDIES
5057 Woodward (11th Floor) Detroit, MI 48202
(313) 577-2321
www.clas.wayne.edu/africanastudies
43UMS 09-10
A B O U T U M S
44 UMS 09-10
U N I V E R S I T Y M U S I C A L S O C I E T Y
UMS
UMS is committed to connecting audiences with performing artists from around the world in uncommon and engaging experi-
ences. One of the oldest performing arts presenters in the country, the University Musical Society is now in its 131st season. With a
program steeped in music, dance, and theater performed at the highest international standards of quality, UMS contributes to a vi-
brant cultural community by presenting approximately 60-75 performances and over 100 free educational and community activities
each season. UMS also commissions new work, sponsors artist residencies, and organizes collaborative projects with local, national,
and international partners.
UMS EDUCATION &
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
DEPARTMENT MAILING ADDRESS
100 Burton Memorial Tower
881 North University Ave
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1011
STAFF
Kenneth C. FischerUMS President
Claire C. RiceInterim Director
Mary Roeder Residency Coordinator
Omari RushEducation Manager
Carlos PalomaresProduction Manager
INTERNS
Emily Barkakati
Mark Johnson
Neal Kelley
Leonard Navarro
Bennett Stein
45UMS 09-10
K-12 SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS
Working directly with schools to
align our programs with classroom
goals and objectives
• 13-year official partnerships with the
Ann Arbor Public Schools and the Washt-
enaw Intermediate School District.
• Superintendent of Ann Arbor Public
Schools is an ex officio member of the
UMS Board of Directors.
• UMS has significant relationships with
Detroit Public Schools’ dance and world
language programs and is developing
relationships with other regional districts.
• UMS is building partnerships with or of-
fering specialized services to the region’s
independent and home schools.
UNIVERSITY EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS
Affecting educators’ teaching prac-
tices at the developmental stage
• UMS Youth Education is developing
a partnership with the U-M School of
Education, which keeps UMS informed
of current research in educational theory
and practice.
• University professors and staff are
active program advisors and workshop
presenters.
ACCESSIBILITY
Eliminating participation barriers
• UMS subsidizes Youth Performance
tickets to $6/student (average subsidy:
$25/ticket)
• When possible, UMS reimburses bus-
sing costs.
• UMS Youth Education offers person-
alized customer service to teachers in
order to respond to each school’s unique
needs.
• UMS actively seeks out schools with
economic and geographic challenges to
ensure and facilitate participation.
ARTS EDUCATION LEADER
One of the premier arts education
programs in the country
• UMS’s peer arts education programs: Car-
negie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center.
• UMS has the largest youth education
program of its type in the four-state region
and has consistent school/teacher participa-
tion throughout southeastern Michigan.
• 20,000 students are engaged each sea-
son by daytime performances, workshops
and in-school visits.
• UMS Youth Education was awarded
“Best Practices” by ArtServe Michigan
and The Dana Foundation (2003).
U M S Y O U T H E D U C AT I O N P R O G R A M1 0 T H I N G S T O K N O W
UMS
QUALITY
Every student deserves access to
“the best” experiences of world arts
and culture
• UMS presents the finest international
performing and cultural artists.
• Performances are often exclusive to
Ann Arbor or touring to a small number
of cities.
• UMS Youth Performances aim to
present to students the same perfor-
mance that the public audiences see (no
watered-down content).
DIVERSITY
Highlighting the cultural, artistic,
and geographic diversity of the world
• Programs represent world cultures and
mirror school/community demographics.
• Students see a variety of art forms:
classical music, dance, theater, jazz,
choral, global arts.
• UMS’s Global Arts program focuses
on 4 distinct regions of the world—
Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Arab
World—with a annual festival featuring
the arts of one region.
46 UMS 09-10
KENNEDY CENTER PARTNERSHIP
• UMS Youth Education has been a
member of the prestigious Kennedy
Center Partners in Education Program
since 1997.
• Partners in Education is a national con-
sortium of arts organization and public
school partnerships.
• The program networks over 100 na-
tional partner teams and helps UMS stay
on top of best practices in education and
arts nationwide.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
“I find your arts and culture work-
shops to be one of the ‘Seven Won-
ders of Ann Arbor’!”
–AAPS Teacher
• UMS Youth Education provides some
of the region’s most vital and responsive
professional development training.
• Over 300 teachers participate in our
educator workshops each season.
• In most workshops, UMS utilizes and
engages resources of the regional com-
munity: cultural experts and institutions,
performing and teaching artists.
TEACHER ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Meeting the actual needs of today’s
educators in real time
• UMS Youth Education works with a
50-teacher committee that guides pro-
gram decision-making.
• The Committee meets throughout
the season in large and small groups
regarding issues that affect teachers and
their participation: ticket/bussing costs,
programming, future goals, etc.
IN-SCHOOL VISITS & CURRICULUM
DEVELOPMENT
Supporting teachers in the classroom
• UMS Youth Education places interna-
tional artists and local arts educators/
teaching artists in classes to help educa-
tors teach a particular art form or model
new/innovative teaching practices.
• UMS develops nationally-recognized
teacher curriculum materials to help
teachers incorporate upcoming youth
performances immediately in their daily
classroom instruction.
UMS Youth Education [email protected] | 734-615-0122 |
www.ums.org/education
47UMS 09-10
S E N D U S Y O U R F E E D B A C K !UMS wants to know what teachers and students think about this Youth Performance.
We hope you’ll send us your thoughts, drawings, letters, or reviews.
UMS YOUTH EDUCATION PROGRAM
Burton Memorial Tower • 881 N. University Ave. • Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1011
(734) 615-0122 phone • (734) 998-7526 fax • [email protected]
www.ums.org/education