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What happens during the Reed Dance?
The Umhlanga, or Reed Dance, brings together the unmarried girls and young women of the country to cut reeds for the annual repairs to the windbreaks of the queen mother’s village; it lasts for five days.
What is the most famous dance in Swaziland?
Umhlanga Reed Dance
This is Eswatini’s (Swaziland’s) best known cultural event, and has a more open feel than the Incwala. In this eight-day ceremony, young girls cut reeds, present them to the Queen Mother (Indlovukazi) – ostensibly to repair the windbreak around her royal residence – and then dance in celebration.
Who qualifies for Reed Dance?
It is a great honour for the young women to be invited to take part in the Reed Dance ceremony, and its also a source of great dignity and pride for their families and communities. According to Zulu traditon, only virgins are permitted to take part in the festival to ensure that they are ritually ‘pure’.
What are the advantages of Reed Dance?
The Reed Dance does many good things: it fosters self-esteem, strengthens community, and provides a strong sense of cultural identity essential for nation-building.
What is the purpose of the Reed Dance ceremony?
The Royal Reed Dance is an annual event which aims to celebrate and unify the Zulu nation as well as honouring the nation’s virgin maidens. In light of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, this cultural practise hopes to curb this epidemic by promoting a culture of respect for young women who, vow to remain virgins until marriage.
Why is it called the Reed Dance?
The name of the festival was derived from the reeds that grow around a riverbed and also form part of what young Zulu women who have passed a virginity test carry in a procession when they are invited to the King’s palace.
How old is the Reed Dance?
The eight days celebration is often preceded with months of preparation and excitement. The origin of Reed Dance is traceable to Goodwill Zwelithini when he introduced it in 1991 in South Africa.
What is important about Royal Reed Dance?
What is the aim of reed ceremony?
Who created the Reed Dance?
The origin of Reed Dance is traceable to Goodwill Zwelithini when he introduced it in 1991 in South Africa. The Reed Dance takes place in a royal kraal of the Zulu king known as Nongoma in KwaZulu-Natal. Besides the dance, there is a deep mythical connection between the reeds and the origin of the Zulu people.
How did the royal Reed Dance originate?
What is the meaning of Reed Dance?
The Reed Dance Ceremony is an annual event sponsored by the honorable Zulu King, where Zulu women are taught the meaning of ethics, good morals, life principles, and appropriate etiquette. The celebration includes dancing, music, drumming, and fabulous food.
What do they wear in the Reed Dance?
In addition, the Reed Dance is also a lively celebratory occasion which shows-off the cultural heritage of the Zulu kingdom. Since the festival’s introduction, tens of thousands of young women have participated in the ceremony, dressed in short Zulu beaded skirts and necklaces over their bare breasts.