Johnny Clegg

I was treated on Friday, 20 June, to dinner and a concert at the Nelson Mandela Theater in the Johannesburg Civic Center.

As we drove downtown shortly after 7PM I was surprised to see two young people spray painting on a wall without a care in the world. I didn’t catch what they were writing, but it gives you an idea about the security.

We parked and went to the theater to find the restaurant absolutely packed, so we asked one of the security people where we could eat nearby. They suggested the Spur and insisted on escorting us for the two block trek and told us they would be back 20 minutes before the show to escort us back.

At the Spur I could not help but order the beef fajitas, even though it was described in the menu as stir-fry. The taste was fine, though it was clearly stir-fried and not grilled before cutting, and the guacamole was fine. As a matter of fact, I’ve eaten more avocado here in the past three weeks than I’ve eaten in the last year- it is perfectly in season. It was far from Mexican food, but it was a tasty and filling meal.

Sure enough, at 20 to 9PM, we were picked up. As we walked there were several men making noise as they climbed out of their truck, just having a good time, but I watched our escort reach into his jacket and pull out some sort of weapon that was small enough to conceal in his hand. I imagine it was some sort of tazer, but I didn’t get a great look. He was noticeably relieved when we turned the corner and had no sign of the men.

Johnny Clegg himself was interesting. He is a “whitey” who does “Zulu dance,” as described to me earlier that day. He has a Phil Collins-sound, and dances his little heart out. He has spent his whole life learning tribal dances and offers a back-story on most of them. The show featured three dance groups and a ballet troupe in addition to his band and backup singers. The dance was impressive, the music was enjoyable, but his explanations were the most interesting. One song was dedicated to a friend and fellow dancer who was assassinated in 1992. One was called “The Revolution Will Eat Its Children,” alluding to the French Revolution and Robespierre’s demise at the guillotine he so championed. Another was a version of Gandhi’s favorite song as an image of Gandhi appeared on the screen at the back. He also performed a song about Robert Mugabe, after explaining how heartbroken he is at the violence, being from Zimbabwe himself. He shared a sentiment I have heard around here often, that Mr. Mugabe was fine, even good, for the first 8 years of his leadership, but things started heading downhill, and no one should run a country for 28 years. I’ve now heard that from at least 7 people, often with different reasons, though I don’t know enough to offer my own assessment.

A word more on the dancing. This is real tribal dancing, including a Zulu war dance with a stick as well as some fusion with modern dance. Now, Mr. Clegg is at least in his 50s, possibly older, and we are talking about dances that involve one’s knee going as high as one’s armpit. It was no surprise when he explained he was taking some of the dancing easy as he pulled both hamstrings on Tuesday.

My words are completely inadequate to describe the sound and visual experience, but to top off the night my hosts were gracious enough to give me a DVD of Mr. Clegg’s show from last year. So everyone can share in the experience when I get home!

Check him out on YouTube and let me know what you think!