Marianne Merten
Take sakkie-sakkie, add a substantial dose of hip-swaying rumba or samba steps and sultry salsa moves. What do you get? Jazzing, a particular Cape style of dancing at the heart of a competition currently on in three cities.
Jazzing was born at the house parties of the Sixties to shake off the frustrations and anger of the apartheid years, says Cape Town jazz lover, ex-club owner, photographer and event manager Rashid Lombard. With the move from vinyl to live music, the dance style spread to club venues.
It remains a strong feature in Cape culture; even aunties and granddads jazz across the dance floor, although more likely at a social function than a disco.
As most Cape Town clubs reserve a Saturday afternoon or Thursday night strictly for jazz, a jazzing culture has evolved with its own personalities, talent and inevitable jealousies and dramas.
It is from the clubs that the dance form has moved into the area of competition. Dozens of couples are currently vying for top honours in clubs across the Cape Peninsula, Durban and Johannesburg in the Spice Gold Set the Night on Fire competition.
Several competitors, such as finalist Kurt Moses, who also teaches the dance style, are regularly seen on the scene, of which Cape Town’s oldest club, Galaxy, remains at the centre.
“It’s in your blood. You just do what makes you feel right. You just have to have passion and a love of jazz,” says finalist Chico Zoutenberg, from Mitchell’s Plain on the Cape Flats.
Zoutenberg (34) started jazzing more than 10 years ago, going to clubs to enjoy the “good atmosphere”. There he would watch others, then would “add my own spice”. His partner Beren-Lee van Harte is a relative newcomer, having started a year ago. “I love it,” she says.
In a series of heats couples have three minutes to impress judges with breathtaking turns, intricate arm moves and steps spiked with a bit of show, compulsory smiles and the odd dollop of aerobic manoeuvring. Some take to the floor in jeans and T-shirt, in keeping with the club dress code; others add a sequinned top or funky pants. Black is de rigueur for the guys, anything body-hugging will do for the girls.
But it must appeal to the audience crowding around the dance floor. Their participation is almost compulsory: crowds show their appreciation with catcalls, cheers and applause.
The venues range from the slightly seedy, quietly middle-class to posh extravagance in various corners of the Cape Peninsula. And the dance floor can span across vast stretches or be one where four large steps take the dancer from one end to the other.
For some, participation in the competition is balanced on a knife-edge finding the right partner is crucial. Finalist Dominic Maruping struggled for months. But when he and Rochelle Thomas met, they clicked as dance partners.
It is the second time Thomas is taking part; two years ago she missed out on taking her turn on the dance floor in the finals because she arrived late.
“I love it,” says Thomas, who has danced for 12 years, doing mostly Latin American styles. But now it is practice, practice, practice until the finals in mid-December.
Finals in Gauteng, where the competition is run for the first time this year, and Durban, where it is in its second year, are in mid-November.
The competition will go national next year following the positive response and great jazzing standard in the qualification rounds outside the Cape, says organiser Rameez van der Schyff.
The details
For information on competition dates and venues contact organiser Rameez van der Schyff on Tel: 083 456-2025.