This vibrant South African dance style is soon set to visit Birmingham as part of the Capsule curated Discovery Season and you can learn their moves and dance alongside the collective by joining a free dance workshop.
Shangaan Electro -the high-speed dance phenomenon from South Africa has risen from streets into clubs and venues all around the globe. The creation of charismatic producer Nozinja, this is a very contemporary product of Africa. Based in Soweto, Nozinja saw the chance to update Shangaan music for the 21st Century, replacing its traditional bass/guitar instrumentation with midi-keyboard sounds and repitched vocal samples (in English and seemingly sampled from rave anthems). Propelled by jacking four-to-the-floor beats and trademark drum-fills, the sound quickly became a hit at weekly street parties in Soweto, with young and old competing to show off their moves to this dizzyingly fast music, which can reach speeds of up to 188 beats per minute.The craze soon went viral in Europe and the US via a vast archive of youtube videos.
We are looking for people of all ages and experience to join a dance workshop on Friday 25th October. Shangaan Electro will lead the session, giving people of all abilities the chance to learn the wildest Shangaan dance moves step by step – dazzling footwork, rubber-limbed body shakes, hyper-accelerated beats and some crazy, colourful costumes all feature.
Workshop: Friday 25 October (Time TBC) DanceXchange, Birmingham
Performances: Friday 25 October Rainbow Warehouse (part of Bring To Light) / Saturday 26 October Library of Birmingham
Please email Laura Coult [email protected] for a registration form if you are interested in taking part.