ZULU warrior dancers from South Africa are performing twice today, once at the Englezakis Ostrich Farm in Ayios Ioannis, just outside Nicosia, at 6pm and then at Skali in Agalandjia at 9pm.
The performances are arranged by the Department of Culture and the Cyprus High Commission in South Africa and spectators are promised a unique opportunity to see the group who danced at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration ceremony as president in 1994.
Passed down from generation to generation, traditional Zulu warrior dances recount amazing tribal feats and battles with imaginary animals.
In times of war, the dances were obligatory before going into every battle or hunt – seen as much as a way of developing men’s muscles as psyching them up to what lay ahead.
Accompanying shrieks from women folk were meant to incite their husbands, sons and brothers to be brave.
The Zulu songs re-tell great events in their past and present, affairs of the heart or stories about birds and animals.
The team of dancers, aged between 16 and 30 will also perform at the Ancient Odeon in Paphos tomorrow and on Saturday.
Charges for the performance at the Ostrich Park are £2 for adults and £1 for children and a bus will leave Eleftheria Square in Nicosia for the park at 5pm. The performance at Skali (9pm) costs £5.
For further information please call 02-345444.
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