The Gumboot Dance of Southern Africa

The Gumboot dance has its origins like the blues, jazz, tap dancing and Flamenco in mans inhumanity to man. These art forms were a means of evading certain restrictions whilst also expressing deep human emotions through music and dance.

Tourists to South Africa who are visiting Johannesburg will usually be taken to see a replica of a working gold mine. Part of this experience is likely to include a performance of the gumboot dance or isicathulo as it is also called.

This dance originated in the gold mines of South Africa which were opened in the 1880s. The system was extremely oppressive and did everything possible to isolate and detribalize the workers.

The conditions in the mines were cruel and absolutely appalling. The miners who worked for three months at a time, were chained to their work stations and operated in total darkness. Talking was forbidden. The white foremen had no compunction about beating and kicking their black employees. Hundreds of them were killed every year in accidents.

The floors of the mines often flooded due to poor or non-existent drainage. Hours of standing in stagnant water up to their knees lead to the workers suffering from skin problems and ulcers. The white bosses rather then improving the drainage issued gum boots (Wellingtons) to the miners - a much cheaper option!

This explains the dancers outfits. Heavy black Wellington boots to protect the feet, jeans or overalls, bare chests because of the very high temperatures underground, and bandanas to keep the sweat out of the men's eyes.

To circumvent the no talking policy of the mine bosses the workers learned to send messages to each other by slapping on their boots, stamping their feet, and rattling their ankle chains.

Conditions above ground were equally grim. Workers were housed in crowded unhygenic quarters. They were forbidden to wear traditional dress. All workers of the same ethnic group were housed together. This was to make sure that divisions and suspicions between the different ethnic groups were maintained..This way organizing uprisings became more difficult. But this ethnic and tribal segregation also contributed to developing relationships through the shared language of rhythm and music

The result was that the workers adapted traditional dances and rhythms to the only instruments allowed them which were their boots and bodies.Many of the steps and routines are parodies of the officers and guards who controlled the mines and workers barracks.Nowadays the boots may be decorated with bells, so that they ring when the dancers stamp on the ground. The songs they sang expressed feeling about their working lives, such as low wages and mean bosses or about drinking, love and family.

More "enlightened" employers finally gave permission for the best dancers to form troupes which represented the mining companies and entertained their visitors. The songs in Xhosa, Sothi or Zulu often made fun of the bosses and criticized wages and conditions in general.

Gumboot dance is now a popular art form performed worldwide to entertain and pass on aspects of South African history to new generations and other cultures. Like folklore worldwide, it has been adapted to the modern contexts in which it is performed.

Gumboot dancers are a common sight on the streets and plazas of tourist areas in South Africa. The album "Graceland" by the American pop singer Paul Simon has a song entitled "Gumboots" which is performed in the style of South African township jive (mbaqanga) and features performances by members of the Boyoyo Boys.

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