WINDHOEK
The oversubscribed “ Dance me This” turned out to be an opportune emotional reunion with many people who have not seen one another for decades shedding a tear of joy or two for re-encountering lost and forgotten comrades or to simply listen to music that is so rarely played today.
The event at the National Theatre of Namibia (NTN) last Saturday in Windhoek proved a real party with the dance floor jam-packed and all the chairs occupied with a crowd of 40 to above 80year-old dancers, male and female in colorful dresses, daring outfits and exotic accessories.
DJ Supply alias Michael Kanundura and Baby Doeseb from the Ugly Creatures started out with some Kwela and Jive records but soon moved on to other more modern genres of music. Meanwhile more people were rushing in and for a moment it felt as if there were too many visitors for the hall to hold.
Thanks to the mindful and experienced staff of the NTN the huge demand could be matched with skillful improvisation by setting up a second dance floor and catering on the parking lot premises to match the massive attendance of more than 300 guests from all over Namibia.
A special event of the evening was a film studio set up right next to the dance floor, where dancers who were not camera-shy could enter and show their dancing skills in front of a photo lens. Over 50 people joined in and gave great performances of a variety of moves and dance styles. The final results of these recordings will eventually be shown in the context of the Stolen Moments – Namibian Music History Untold Exhibition later this year.
Many people stated that they have not been going out dancing for a very long time and that they were waiting for an event like this to happen that brings back together old friends and lovers from the past to cherish sweet memories and wild dancing.
The vibe on the dance floor was hot for almost five hours and the most difficult moves were practiced masterfully with ease and splendour. Joyful whistles and sing-along could be heard with revelers calling out for their most favourite songs gaving the DJ team a hard time to satisfy all people’s wishes.
Around two O’clock in the morning the organisers decided to slow down the event and finally wind up to allow people to catch the last busses booked to take people back home. Even when the party lights switched off the ultimate crowd of party animals continued to dance and sing outside NTN for some time.
All in all one can say that despite some organisational hiccups “Dance me This” was a huge success, and people, especially the elder, are calling out for more cultural happenings of this kind that match their age group and interest, -appropriately though their bodies are still aching from all the dancing. The event was themed “Dance me This” to celebrate Namibian popular music from the 1950s to the 1980s to cater for a 40-years audience and above to find out more about the different dance styles from yester years that are almost about to be forgotten. The gates to the backstage dance hall opened at half past seven in the evening (19h30) and before then people had already been queuing for almost two hours before the show, to participate in this historic dance party. After 20 minutes the dance hall was filled with over 200 guests.