Festival of South African Dance

Featuring the Gumboots and Pantsula Dance Companies

Direct from Johannesburg, South Africa, two dynamic dance companies share the stage for a pulsating, rhythm-filled evening of urban street dance. Featuring 20 dancers with live musicians, the Gumboots and Pantsula Dance Companies use dance to respond to cultural and political issues in their communities by conveying real-life stories of hard work, human struggles, and longing for a better life. Wearing Wellington boots, Gumboots dancers urgently pound the floor in a popular dance originally conceived by South African miners who used foot tapping to communicate underground when talking wasn’t allowed. Pantsula is rooted in urban street culture and uses the sounds of busy city life, house music, and technical dance moves akin to hip-hop and breakdancing to express social problems in hopes of spearheading change.