Song and Dance..... a true passion

[Johann van Rensburg]

The performers below are Not on the grand scale of the "world famous" performing arts, but nevertheless passionate in what they do. Working for "peanuts" but loving every moment they are on stage.

I make this post hesitantly because I'm not sure that my contribution is appropriate.
I must however clearly state my sincere appreciation for Asher's effort, and that of others who pass comment on my humble attempts.

If inappropriate, please delete.

Shivers up the spine

The warm glow of success

The mystery of the language of "movement"

And the sweat........what energy ?

​

 

[Asher Kelman]

Johann,

I feel the individual drive of all these artists to entertain with music, words, songs and dancing. South Africa is a cooking pot of cultures. Here we have so many divers lines of culture cross blending and fighting for attention. I still have Miriam Makeba's click song in my brain to recall at any time, (I can do the click with my tongue snapping away from the roof of my mouth), there's a later version, here (which has evolved to a softer less visceral version), and then there's "Och please daddy wont you take me down to Durban?" (Pleeze don't be offended by the N-word as it was part of the cultural world of that time 50 years ago and this song is a satire anyway. The accent is amazing and does sound like South African twang.

So your pictures bring some now ideas to the S. African scene. Do you have links to the music? I hope you'll share more!

Asher

 

[Rachel Foster]

I particularly like the last one.

 

[fahim mohammed]

Can we ' comment' on unprefixed posts?

Johann, I have read your post

Best.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Can we ' comment' on unprefixed posts?

Johann, I have read your post

Best.

All threads are for C&C unless stated to the contrary!

Asher

 

[Johann van Rensburg]

Comment you may indeed. Your input is always appreciated, and I promise, I will try harder to return the favour - but I still find myself very intimidated by the tremendously educated, well traveled etc members on this site. My world is a small one, my images taken as I see them.

I originally posted this under Asher's thread about making music with photography, and as stated in my post, it could be deleted if inappropriate.
Obviously someone thought it was better to move it to a new thread - accepted(and the prefix got lost).
It only dawned on me later that none of these shots include any instrument, and that maybe because the artists are in a much lower league, they did not fit under that thread. However, whoever moved the post did not provide any feedback, so I'm really just guessing here.

My comment -
These shots were taken at a corporate event in 2008. The artists in the last 3 are unemployed freelance guys, almost off the street. The first is a regular performer at many events, but has not entered the commercial world of CD sales etc. Asher, Miriam was streets ahead of these guys in terms of success, but also part of a very different era for our country. So was Jeremy.

Thanks for posting the links - even I did not think to search for any. And no, I take no offense at all - living in this country one needs to be broad minded to survive, and realise that a mere 15 years of democracy can not change many decades of the sad legacy of apartheid and all that goes with it.

Sadly I can not even remember what songs they sang, so sorry - no links Asher.
I do however remember the vibrancy of their performances clearly. They worked with a passion beyond that of performers who are just working for the money - they really love what they do.
I thought that somehow that spirit was coming through, and therefore I posted it under the other thread.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Comment you may indeed. Your input is always appreciated, and I promise, I will try harder to return the favour - but I still find myself very intimidated by the tremendously educated, well traveled etc members on this site. My world is a small one, my images taken as I see them.

Don't even think of stratifying yourself in relationship to others. OPF is more like a get together in someone's home, so we want to eschew rank! We just work on feelings and then if someone can reference this to knowledge of composition, esthetics, art history, that's great. What we want is honesty as we would in a personal meeting. No flattery, just helpful feedback. So please feel at home. After all, everyone has feelings. So we are at least qualified in that respect. In addition, we've grown up in a culture of music, religion, politics etc, so we have references to draw on for what we like and don't like and what we find beauty to be. So you are as gifted & informed, or awkward & foolish, as anyone else! It's all a matter of what proportion of what we say tends to be wise rather awkward! None of us, however, gets a free pass!


Your reportage form modern South Africa is fresh and original and deserves it's own billing! So that's why it's moved! I want your voice from a place I love to be in the spotlight!

Sadly I can not even remember what songs they sang, so sorry - no links Asher.
I do however remember the vibrancy of their performances clearly. They worked with a passion beyond that of performers who are just working for the money - they really love what they do.
I thought that somehow that spirit was coming through, and therefore I posted it under the other thread.

Next time, you might get the artists name and do a search or ask them so we can hear it too. That would be a treat!

Asher