Pantsula John is John Mpotoane of African Flag Pantsula fame.Pantsula, a Zulu word meaning to waddle like a duck or to walk with protruded buttocks, developed as an artistic depiction of township life. The South African dance form evolved from the Americano township culture of the 1960s and was...
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Pantsula John is John Mpotoane of African Flag Pantsula fame.
Pantsula, a Zulu word meaning to waddle like a duck or to walk with protruded buttocks, developed as an artistic depiction of township life. The South African dance form evolved from the Americano township culture of the 1960s and was originally much more slick and showy than today’s incremental shakes and realignment of the thighs.
Members of the pantsula movement were known for their expensive taste in clothes and harsh township slang. They were easily distinguishable and targeted by apartheid police, particularly following the violence of the 1984 rent boycotts.
It became an underground dance of sorts, practiced secretly in shacks and common halls. After the regime fell, pantsula re-emerged in a more “respectable” commercialised style.
(description of pantsula taken from
Mail & Guardian)
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