*S stands for Song, a category I apply to part of the repertoire of recreational folk dancers. Songs are just that – songs, or sometimes merely melodies, that are well-known in their country of origin, but aren’t necessarily associated with any particular dance. They may be traditional folk songs, or pop songs written in the folk style, or ‘pure’ pop creations that are dance-able. People will dance to them, but there is no culturally agreed upon ‘traditional’ dance that is particular to that song, just as we don’t associate any particular dance with “Blowin’ in the Wind” or “Lady Madonna”. For more info, click here.
Many thanks to Rosemarie Keough, who first exposed me to this song and dance when she taught it at a dance event she organized on Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada in 2023. Rosemarie generously provided most of the information for this posting.
Amavolovolo – the Song
About Amavolovolo
From a 2009 Master’s degree thesis by Marit Bakken, found here, and greatly edited for brevity. I recommend clicking the link for further information. Amavolovolo is a traditional song, now regularly performed in black community weddings….. the song has been used in black communities since the establishment of the kwaMashu township in KZN in 1959. Amavolovolo is mostly famous in the black communities, since it is a Zulu song from KZN [kwaZulu-Natal, a county in South Africa].
Ngeke siye le la kwaMashu Sisaba mavolovolo we ma
‘(Mother), we will never go to kwaMashu. We are scared of revolvers’ is the direct translation of the lyrics, linking the song to kwaMashu, fear and revolvers.
KwaMashu was the first township to be established in Durban, hosting labourers which came to work in the city. They were often placed in single-sex hostels for influx control, making it a rough environment where political engagement was burning. Very soon the community became uncontrolled; violence and crime happening on a regular basis. Amavolovolo has many historical connotations linked up to it, a wide range of possible interpretations both connected to the apartheid era, to crime and to culture. Now Amavolovolo is widely known as a wedding song used all over the country for celebration, mostly by black South Africans with a certain relation to Zulu culture.
There are two quite opposite interpretations of the lyrics available from my data material. Most of my research participants explained the song as a song about the fear people in and around kwaMashu felt. People affected by violence and crime are the voices behind the lyrics. This interpretation is easily relatable to the struggles that found a place in the township in the 1960s, and the blood-shedding and the suffering the people went through. Rosemarie adds “it could be worth mentioning a bit more about why there was fear for young women to leave their home villages for the young male-dominated kwaMashu. Can you imagine… going to a community with no grandmothers, no aunties, no mother-in-laws, a “township” inhabited primarily by working-age men? And knowing that visits home would be rare or not at all?”
Brown from KZN explains the song differently. She understands it as filled with sarcasm, giving the voice in the song to the ‘apartheid police’, because they were too scared to enter the township to stop the political opposition. When the black people in kwaMashu sang this song it was as a victory to them, having power over the police who were too scared to approach the township (Brown, KZN). This interpretation can explain the happy feeling and the groovy rhythms the song has, which also is recognized in other songs from the apartheid struggle. Music was used to make fun of and fool the apartheid government.
Amavolovolo is now used as a wedding song. Thusi says that in this modern interpretation of the text, marrying someone from kwaMashu means you put yourself at risk. It can be the simple fact that people from kwaMashu were not trustworthy, as they might be potential criminals with a gun. He also highlights that many wedding songs do not actually mean what the words are saying, pointing at the rhythm and the action going with the rhythm as the most significant aspects in interpreting the song. Papiki from Soweto also explains the interesting aspect of how a song about revolvers and fear becomes a wedding song: ‘This is kind of in a happy rhythm and happy spirit, singing it – they can also play it in a wedding despite the lyrics. The rhythm and the melody make it a jolly song, a nice song to play in weddings and parties’
Source: http://annalisesears.weebly.com/musicianship/folk-songs-and-cultural-meaning African songwriter and composer Rudolf de Beer wrote [arranged-DB] Amavolovolo. The text of this piece is a traditional Zulu Dowry song. A traditional Zulu marriage is a very amazing part of the Zulu culture. In these marriages, there are many different arranged meetings with family on the bride’s side. The objective of these meetings is to confirm the intentions of the bride. The groom is not present, but the elected spokesperson for the bride’s family must state what is required for the dowry. After the wedding, there is a large celebration for the new couple. Everyone must dance at the reception. This is a song that might be performed there.
The irony is, the translation of this piece does not imply a positive message. “Amavolovolo ngeke siye le la kwaMashu sisa ba ma volovo lo we ma”, means we are too scared of revolvers to go back to kwaMashu. What is significant is that a piece that is supposed to be performed during a joyous portion of one’s life is actually associated with fear of societal conflict. If I were to do this in an elementary school, I would maybe ask students how they might use music to deal with their fears. 9/28/2017.
Ngeke siye kwaMashu* Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma Ngeke siye kwaMashu Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma Ngeke siye kwaMashu (volovolo) Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma (volovolo) Ngeke siye kwaMashu (volovolo) Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma (volovolo) Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma (volovolo) Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma (volovolo) Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma (volovolo) Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma (volovolo) Ay ngeke siye lena kwaMashu Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma Ay ngeke siye kwaMashu Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma Sesaba amavolovolo we Mama Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma Sesaba amavolovolo we Mama Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma Ngeke siye lena kwaMashu (volovolo) Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma (volovolo) Ngeke siye kwaMashu (volovolo) Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma (volovolo) Sesaba amavolovolo we Mama (volovolo) Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma (volovolo) Sesaba amavolovolo we Mama (volovolo) Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma (volovolo) Ngeke siye kwaMashu Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma Ngeke siye kwaMashu Sesaba amavolovolo we Ma Source: https://dcslyrics.com/platform-one-amavolovolo/ *Wikipedia says KwaMashu is a township 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north of Durban, South Africa.
Rough English translation: Amavolovolo ngeke siye le la kwaMashu Revolver – Never – We go to – this – (where) – kwaMashu sisa ba ma volovo lo we ma Causes to go to – be/them/of/it – stand/stop/if/come back – revolver – this – hey – be/them/of/it Guns make us never go to kwaMashu They make us stop coming back to it. Source: https://www.scribd.com/document/390260947/Amavolovolo-Translation#
Amavolovolo – the Dance – L* and 2**
Living* dance
*L – a Living dance is a 1st Generation dance that is still performed in the country of origin (or immigrant communities) as part of a social event like a wedding where others can participate (not for an audience) by people who learned the dance informally (from friends and relatives by observation and imitation, not in a classroom situation). Living dances are not ‘fixed’. There is no set way of doing them, beyond a basic step that keeps the dancers moving in the same direction. Dancers are free to expend as much or as little energy as the mood strikes them. Virtuoso improvisers may move alongside sluggish elders. Music accompanying living dances is usually live, even if played on an electronic keyboard. Musicians and dancers stimulate and challenge each other.For more information, click here and here.
Similar to the Facebook posting here.
YOU TELL ME. Is Amavolovolo still a Living dance? I would greatly appreciate if you would email me at dondancing@gmail.com to tell me of your personal experiences observing or taking part in dancing to Amavolovolo in South Africa or among South African expats. I would especially like to hear from blacks. Your emails go to my private mailbox, and I will not print your replies unless you give me permission.
Second Generation** dance
**2nd G. A simple definition of a 2nd Generation folk dance (2ndG) is any dance that isn’t 1stG. More specifically it’s the context in which the dance was created – formal (2nd existence) rather than informal (1st Existence); conscious creation for a specific purpose rather than gradual evolution in a native context – that separates 1stG & 2ndG dances. 2ndG dances are specific – usually pegged to a specific song with a specific arrangement. The choreography often matches a particular recording and will only work with that recording. Everyone in the line does the same step at the same time. The dance may be a combination of the best bits from several similar dances. It may be the creation of a choreographer who liked a recording and wanted to have “authentic” footwork attached to it. For more detail on 1st & 2nd Existence situations, see A “Real” folk dance – what is it?
Rudolf de Beer, who was a conductor at the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir, made an arrangement of the song Amavolovolo, and annotated the movements the boys did while singing. He wrote (below) The movements can be alternated. Following is a suggested dance, as done by the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir... What Mr. de Beer did not indicate was where the boys got their movements – all of which they did in unison, timed to varying verses and choruses. These movements are not the spontaneous eruptions of a wedding party, they are the carefully rehearsed movements of a performance. Did someone choreograph them? Are they based on movements seen at weddings or other places where the song was sung? Are there movements associated with the song Amovolovolo or are people free to dance whatever they feel like depending on the occasion?
What is clear is that the movements of the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir are the 2nd Generation dance Amavolovolo.
Extra movements taught by Rosemarie Keough
Rosemarie was teaching the de Beer Amavolovolo on a cruise ship from Portugal to the Bahamas when she noticed a woman in a hallway dancing along, and invited her in. She was a worker on the ship’s spa, Lorraine Sibanda. Lorraine is from the Shona tribe and was married at age 16 to a Ndebele, both in Zimbabwe. From Wikipedia “The Northern Ndebele culture and language of Zimbabwe are similar to Zulu culture, as they share ancestry and common origins with Zulu people from the KwaZulu Natal (KZN) province of South Africa.” “Lorraine was very familiar with Amavolovolo, and taught my dance class the styling of the Ndebele. She said the gum-boot influenced fourth verse was one that “all the young people do.”
From what I’ve seen from Lorraine when people get together they dance and are enlivened, the arms unconstrained (unlike the choirs which may be concerned about hitting one another). Lorraine’s Amavolovolo was akin to a video here where is written “dance is our happy pill… we sing and we dance to revive our spirit.”
The way I taught Amavolovolo is, at basis, the same as South Coast Folk Arts of Oregon [above] combined with the exuberant styling of Lorraine.
As this dance has spread among the Zulu to the Ndebele, there are a few changes as compared to the choir version, as you’ve written. One additional change to note is in the chorus. In lieu of one hand raised and simulating the shooting of pistols/revolvers into the air, at least per Lorraine, now two hands are raised overhead, wrists rotating in expression of joy.
Another difference between what I’m seeing in the choirs and how the dance was presented in Oregon is the third verse foot pattern. All agree that the arms extend outward at near shoulder level, parallel to the ground, closed fists and rotate in a large circle counter-clock wise. To my thinking, this is like using two hands to move a grinding stone, or stirring a large pot with a large paddle. The foot pattern I’ve learned from Oregon is as follows:
R L L slow quick quick stomp stamp stamp 1 2 3 4
The dance and the words are South African Zulu…. Lorraine is the closest to the cultural source that I’ve yet had opportunity to chat with.
But about those weddings…Everyone seems to agree that Amavolovolo has evolved from a song protesting fear to a happy wedding song, and that people can’t sing it without dancing to it. But to the de Beer 2ndG choreography or to something more spontaneous?
Folkdance Footnotes 