Videos Of Five Traditional Dances From Botswana (Southern Africa)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases five videos of Traditional Batswana dances.

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

While the focus of this post is on the dances which are performed in a line or lines, there are many other aspects of these videos that make them worthy of being shared throughout the world on blogs such as this.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT ADDING COMMENTS ON THIS BLOG
With considerable regret, I have disabled the comment feature on this blog (and on my other blogs except for https://pancocojams.blogspot.com, because of the large number of spam comments that I received on those blogs.

Comments for those blogs can be sent to my email address azizip17 dot com at yahoo dot com for possible inclusion in a specific post on those blogs.

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INFORMATION ABOUT BOTSWANA
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswanahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana
"Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana (Tswana: Lefatshe la Botswana), is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens refer to themselves as "Batswana" (singular: Motswana), but many English-language sources use "Botswanan" instead. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. It has held free and fair democratic elections since independence.

Botswana is flat, and up to 70% is covered by the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. Its border with Zambia to the north near Kazungula, Zambia is poorly defined but at most is a few hundred meters long."...

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FEATURED VIDEOS
(These videos are presented in chronological order based on the date of their YouTube posting, with the oldest dated videos posted first.)

Example #1 Dikakapa-Tsala



4thejuice, Uploaded on May 15, 2008

ao tsala yame!
-snip-
Here's a comment from this video's viewer comment thread that provides some information about this song:
Gofha Ronald Molale, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxlkJ4AN2f8
"this song talks about how some FRIENDS-'TSALA' are good for nothing..and the back up singers confirms this by saying..."Oh wel my friend,yes,you my friend!" "

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Example #2: Tshipidi_botswana Botswana culture



Emmanuel John, Uploaded on Oct 25, 2009

Botswana is made up of numerous ethnic groups, though the Batswana are the most numerous. Music is an omnipresent part of Botswana culture, and include popular and folk forms. Church choirs are common across the country. Music education is an integral part of the educational system. Children of all ages are taught traditional songs and dances.

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Example #3: TSABANA - MAKHIRIKHIRI



TheUwazi, Uploaded on Jun 6, 2010

Jionee mwenyewe burudani iliyomo katika songi hili la Tsabana kutoka katika kundi mahiri la Makhirikhiri la nchini Botswana, ambalo kwasasa bado lipo hapa nchini likiendelea kukonga nyonyo za wapenzi wa burudani.
-snip-
Here's a comment from this video's viewer comment thread which explains what this song is about:

alecshapiro, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLWeBK9pgiw
"Tsa Bana is a Botswana phrase meaning For Children It's a name for a supplementary feeding product supplied by the Botswana Government Once a month you carry your under 5 kid to the clinic for checkups and you get a 5kg bag.It was meant for low income families who cannot properly feed their babies. The product is made of Soya beans, maize meal and fortified powdered cow milk.It was meant for children, BUT it has been a big hit with ADULTS too. That is the story behind the song"

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Example #4: Traditional Dance Troupe, Tlokweng Botswana



Uploaded by kimmy28bots on Jul 23, 2011

A team of young local dancers entertain the crowd with an exciting piece of traditional setswana dance during a wedding inTlokweng..Enjoy the scincillating performance!

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Example #5: culture ambassodors botswana



katlie5, Uploaded on Feb 24, 2012

traditional dance group

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to the composers of these songs, and thanks to all of the dancers, vocalists, and musicians in these featured videos. My thanks also to the commenters who are quoted in this post as well as the producers of and publishers of these videos.

Also, thank you for visiting zumalayah [pronounced zoom-ah-LAH-yah].

Zumalayah showcases videos of dances & singing games done in circles or in lines, and other movement performance arts from African American culture, from African cultures, and from other cultures of the African Diaspora.

Viewer comments are welcome.