On Sunday, September 29th the festival program was the likonyana (di-kon-ya-na), or pre-schoolers', dance competition (Saturday was the high school competition, Friday the primary schools). My friends and I laughed imagining little Basotho kids "dancing;" crying, picking their nose, just standing in place instead of dancing. Boy, were we wrong.
The dances were spectacular, the discipline of the kids exceeded the high school students' and there was no fear on their faces. We took videos and stayed for the whole event.
I wanted to share these videos with you all. I've spoken about traditional Basotho dances before but these are just so adorable! After all, who doesn't want to watch cute, little, African children shaking their boo-tays?
Ndlamo
Ndlamo is a male dance with a lot of kicking. To be honest I have seen better Ndlamo dancers (granted they were done my adult men who are professionals) but it's still sweet to watch these boys try so hard.
Mohobelo
This is another dance done by males. This was the last dance of the day and these boys were tired from rolling around on the dirt the whole morning. I've seen this dance done with sticks with reflective surfaces and it's amazing to watch.
Litolobonya
I've uploaded a video of this dance in a previous post but these guys were so good (especially the tiny girl in front). Besides, I've always felt this dance is a little girl's dance.
Mokhibo
I showed this video to my colleagues are they were shocked at their co-ordination and poise. This group was my favorite the whole day.
A little history on these dances. Back in the day women would never perform these dances in public; they were done behind closed doors when women would get together for some fun. In fact, my teachers tell me, that if they caught a man trying to sneak a peak, they would catch him and strip him naked (traditionally these dances would be done topless).
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