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Centuries-old indigenous celebratory dance style inspires learners in a rural community

Centuries-old indigenous celebratory dance style inspires learners in a rural community
Nikita Barneys from Betjiesfontein, Elizabethfontein Primary in Clanwilliam was the best female senior dancer (Photo: Supplied)
Vincent Cruywagen
By Vincent Cruywagen
21 Dec 2023
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The Rieldans, a celebratory dance performed by the San, Nama and Khoi, inspires learners at Elizabethfontein Primary School in Clanwilliam, Western Cape, to persevere and finish matric.

Angelo Cloete, coach of the Elizabethfontein Primary School Under-14 team that competed in the recent Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuurvereniging (ATKV) competition, said the Rieldans is one of the few extramural activities that keep learners off the streets, help them to feel that they belong and offer them travel opportunities.

The school’s team is called Betjiesfontein. Elizabethfontein Primary is a Quintile 1 school, with most of its learning coming from Clanwilliam’s farming community. Quintile 1 to Quintile 3 schools are “no-fee” schools serving the poorest communities.

The Betjiesfontein team, Elizabethfontein Primary in Clanwilliam, won the Under-14 section. (Photo: Supplied)



Teams from Ravensmead, Uitsig, Clanwilliam, Loeriesfontein and even Namibia competed in the annual ATKV Rieldans competition, held on 9 December in Clanwilliam.

Aware of the limited seating at the event, locals brought their own to the venue. Aside from the braai chops and boerewors on the menu, which were served with homemade roosterbrood on the fire, the afval stew was a special dish. 

The donkey rides were also popular with local children and visitors from Cape Town.

ATKV’s executive chief of culture, Gerrie Lemmer, said ATKV has been presenting the Rieldans competition since 2006, but that it took a break during the pandemic. 

The reason for the ATKV’s pivotal role in promoting one of South Africa’s oldest dance styles, Lemmer said, was to ensure that the riel retained its legitimate place as a traditional dance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9sHCLeYiPo

A celebratory dance


Rieldans is the Khoisan name for an ancient celebratory dance performed by the San, Nama and Khoi. It is one of the oldest indigenous South African dance styles, dating back centuries.

It is also known by the Nama as Ikhapara and is danced at a fast pace with a lot of fancy footwork. It became a dance of the working class, especially between the 1940s and 1950s, and was popular in the Northern Cape, Karoo and further afield in parts of southern Namibia.

The frantic footwork and energetic pace of the riel are its most distinguishing features. Because the dance is usually performed barefoot and on the sand, it is best described by an Afrikaans expression: “Dans lat die stof so staan [Dance so it kicks up dust].”

The teams competed for top prizes in different categories. (Photo: Supplied)


Riel helps learners find identity


Daily Maverick spoke with Betjiesfontein coach Angelo Cloete to learn more about what the Rieldans means to the rural farm community and its schoolchildren.

Cloete says the school has an Under-14 team but also attracts high school learners who compete in the Under-20 division, as well as those who have left school but still want to dance in the senior section.

“We ‘riel’ all year and perform at various events, including overseas. This dance helps learners find their identity… They feel like they belong somewhere, and they expand their territory by going to different parts of the country to compete.

“Our learners were able to visit and see places they had never dreamed of before, thanks to the riel. Most importantly, the riel motivates our learners to stay in school and complete their matriculation,” Cloete said.

The riel, he said, opened international doors for the school. For instance, they have struck up a relationship with the Goostrey Community Primary School in Cheshire, England.

Mariëtte Kotzé, team leader and educator at Elizabethfontein, said their Under-14 team was crowned champions in the recent competition. Joevon Zimri walked away with the laurels as the best Under-14 dancer and Nikita Barneys was named best female senior dancer.

Elaborating on the connection with Goostrey Community Primary School, Kotze said: “We established the link 20 years ago. Parents at that school fund a trip and two-week stay abroad for eight students and two educators.

“Abroad, our students participate in a variety of genres, but the Rieldans is our most important item. Thanks to the Rieldans, some of the learners had formed relationships with their foreign parents.”

She emphasised that the school’s rules of no smoking and no alcohol are also applicable to former learners and those working and participating in the Rieldans competition under the banner of Betjiesfontein. They perform as if they are students, she said.

Nikita Barneys from Team Betjiesfontein, Elizabethfontein Primary in Clanwilliam, was the best female senior dancer. (Photo: Supplied)


A lifeline for rural communities


The aim of the annual Rieldans competition, according to ATKV’s Lemmer, is to ensure that riel is preserved in its original form so that the style can take its place among South Africa’s other traditional dances.

“More than 80% of the groups are made up of young people under the age of 18. Aside from the national recognition, there was a monumental feat that the Wuppertal group accomplished in America in 2015.

“During that international cultural event in Los Angeles, the South African team won first place in the category of traditional folk dances,” Lemmer said.

The riel, he added, is an expressionist dance form with hidden symbolism. Apart from the frenetic footwork and energetic pace, the riel also consists of imitations of elaborate symbolic movements which include the throwing of a hat, imitation of different animals and birds, as well as work situations.

“In depicting work situations, children and young adults are expected to be self-sufficient and to know how to make a living for themselves and their families. Thus, courtship without the explicit sex game teaches men and women appropriate behaviour.

“The satirical nature teaches the riel community to enjoy life despite trials and tribulations,” he said.

Lemmer recalled that when the first “stofwolke” was held on 9 December 2006 at the amphitheatre in Paarlberg, very few people were aware of this unique dance.

For many, regaining identity, and re-establishing a sense of self-pride was the goal. Liza Adams (59) from Brandvlei, best expressed a sense of belonging and being able to present one’s cultural activity to others, he said.

He remembered her hugging the project organiser after the competition and joyfully exclaiming in her unique Orange River Afrikaans, “My tjeent, tonight you made me feel like a human being for the first time.”

“The ATKV Rieldans competition was a lifeline, especially for remote rural communities, in combatting youth idleness, which often led to criminal activity. There have been testimonies of young children who were previously convicted of burglary being rehabilitated after participating in the riel.

“Teachers told us that the shy and withdrawn students had transformed and now participate in class discussions with great confidence.

Lemmer encouraged tourism businesses to recognise the value of the Rieldans and incorporate it into their marketing. DM

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