2022-03-26

The performance of the Riel Dance by the Net vir Pret group foregrounded a centuries old traditional dance practice of the San and Khoe people. The Riel dance has a history spanning hundreds of years back to when people would dance in celebration after a successful hunt had taken place. The community would rejoice through festivities, song and dance where the sharing of meat would take place. Peter Takelo, leader of the Net vir Pret dance group, emphasises the difference in the dance between the Khoe and San people: the dance was more simplified with the former and would take on more elaborate and complex forms with the latter group. The dance was considered to be only done right when sufficient dust had been shaken from the earth upon which the dancers danced.

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The Afrocentric method is derived from the Afrocentric paradigm which deals with the question of African identity from the perspective of African people as centred, located, oriented, and grounded. The Afrocentric philosophy is based on the principles of inclusivity, cultural specificity, critical awareness, committedness and political awareness. The Nama Stap is the Namas’ entertainment form used as a social, cultural and educational tool by the Nama-Khoisan people. The purpose of this paper is to [re]claim the Nama Stap as a dance of identity, culture and indigenous knowledge by showing ways in which an Afrocentric-ubuntu-based research approach can be used to research indigenous culture. Data were collected through oral history, field notes and stories. A case is argued for using the Nama Stap as Khoisan cultural heritage tool to promote nation building.

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