Saturday, April 28, 2007

Basotho Dancing - Mokhibo, Mohobelo and Richa Tetsi

I attended a feast of celebration for a local governement official, as a guest of honour. I felt kind of ridiculous and overly celebrated myself, as I got to sit in a place of prominence (under a tent) and was treated exceptionally well. I was also asked to make an impromptu speech after the hours of performances and speeches. Bear in mind, I barely speak the language, only a few words. Also, there is no electricity in the village, but members of the four surrounding villages attended, and a mic was actually hooked into the power supply from an old beat up pick-up. I demonstrated my "tricks", my Sesotho greetings and then pulled out the old stand-bys, lots of gesticulation, a huge smile and ululation (you'll hear some others ululating the background of these videos).

Here is the men's traditional Basotho dance - Mohobelo....


...And the women's - Mokhibo...


...And a not-so-traditional dance - Richa Tetsi entertaining the other kids


For some reason, Richa Tetsi reminded me of Charlie. It's probably the lankiness. And they're both pretty shy, but when they come out of their shells - look out!

He was 16 and dropped out of grade 4 halfway through my time in Mahlekefane. I was glad to see that he returned to classes.

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