REDES Dance

As part of the celebrations for September 25^th, Armed Forces Day in Mozambique, REDES Murrupula presented for the first time on stage in front of the town’s most important leaders and other members of the community. 

As I climbed the stage in front of a few hundred people with the other 8 girls, I didn’t really feel nervous as one might expect.  I love performing and I figured people have already laughed at me so many times here that I’m pretty immune to it now. 

In tune with Mozambican tradition, performers face the table of administrators, presenting the dance to them while keeping their backs to the audience.  Several occasions throughout the dance, we turn around, and I would lock eyes with of my students, a huge smile across his face, watching his teacher, a white girl, dancing “African style” dancing.  I could begin to imagine what types of comments I would receive later that afternoon and in class the next day.

However, people were extremely receptive to my participation.  I had people coming up to me after saying, “Teacher, you can dance!” and “Wow, you’ve learned our style and African rhythms!” and one colleague “Wow, you can really move your butt!” 

Though I went in to the performance with selfish reasons of not wanting to leave here without dancing on stage, I was surprised on how influential it seemingly was on my sense of integration in to the community here.  It really made me feel good when another professor told me how I had represented all the professors at the school.  I wasn’t just seen as the white girl trying to dance, I was truly dancing with the girls and seeing the excitement before and after the dance was quite priceless.

Though  it's taken from the back, but because I apparently have no shame still, here is the video from our dance!  The words to the song are in Mecua but roughly translated mean, "Who says people in the North can't dance?! Dance a little for me!" Hope you enjoy!