Gumboot dance

The gumboot dance (or Isicathulo) is a South African dance where dancers wear Wellington boots. In South Africa, these boots are called gumboots.

The boots can have bells that make sounds when dancers stamp their feet. These sounds were once used to send secret messages in mines where talking was not allowed. The mines were very loud places, and workers used the sounds to communicate before ear protection was available.

History

Gumboot dancing started in the gold mines of South Africa. It began as a way for miners who could not talk to send messages to each other by tapping their feet. Now, it is one of the most exciting dance styles in South Africa.

Description

Gumboot dancers are often seen in tourist areas of South Africa, like the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town. Their steps and moves copy actions of officers and guards from old mines and barracks where South African gold miners worked. This dance uses rhythm and full-body movement, much like other traditional African dances. It creates beats using everyday objects that shake and vibrate, similar to a style called "stepping" performed by some fraternities and sororities in African-American culture.

Appearances outside core context

The gumboot dance is a special part of performances by the Black Umfolosi group, a well-known South African folk group.

Famous American singer Paul Simon included a song called "Gumboots" on his album Graceland. This song features styles from South African township jive and mbaqanga, with help from the Boyoyo Boys.

Composer David Bruce wrote a clarinet quintet named "Gumboots", inspired by the gumboot dance. Carnegie Hall asked him to create it in 2008, and you can listen to it on their website performed by Todd Palmer and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

A student from South Africa brought the gumboot dance to Pearson College UWC, where students from around the world learn and perform it. Every year in March and April, they perform at the One World festival in Victoria, BC.

Since the 1990s and 2000s, the Drakensberg Boys' Choir School has included gumboot dancing in their shows, wearing white gumboots as part of their costume.

In 2017, World of Step was created to help share the history of the gumboot dance with many people.