Not only has it stood the test of time, it has helped keep Afrikaans alive.
In the dusty streets of rural communities in the Northern Cape, young girls and boys show off their frantic, and certainly energetic, footwork in celebrating culture.
Rieldans is a Khoisan word for an ancient celebratory dance performed by the San, Nama and Khoi people.
It is one of the oldest styles in South Africa and it is performed at an energetic pace, requiring fancy footwork that can be challenging, even for the best of dancers.
Jan Isaacs runs a small rieldans group in Calvinia in the Northern Cape.
His group, Boesmanland Bitterbessies, aims to promote the rieldans and strengthen its impact on Afrikaans.
“It is the oldest dance in South Africa. It is by and large very much a part of Afrikaans and has contributed to the development and promotion of the language. It has a strong impact on the Afrikaans language. It belongs to Afrikaans. It’s part of it. It promotes different Afrikaans cultures through dance and music. There are different types of dances, and that must be preserved,” he said.
Isaacs believes rieldans dancers have a much bigger impact on Afrikaans because they are “actively defending it”.
“Rieldans originates from good Afrikaans music. It is absolutely strong in Afrikaans. It adds to the growth of Afrikaans. We are fighting hard for rieldans to be promoted, and I think it has not taken its rightful place in the South African context. Indirectly and directly, it promotes our language” he said.
Initially, the name of the dance did not contain the word “riel”. It was borrowed from “reel”. It is a Scottish dance and in Afrikaans, the dance became known as the “riel”.
