Toyi-toyi is a

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

used in political protests in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Toyi-toyi could begin as the stomping of feet and spontaneous chanting during protests that could include political slogans or songs, either improvised or previously created.

Use during apartheid

Toyi-toyi was often used for intimidating the South African police and security forces during anti-apartheid demonstrations. The toyi-toyi was also used with chants such as the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

's " Amandla" ("power") and "Awethu" ("ours") or the Pan African Congress's " One Settler, One Bullet". After the 1976 Soweto massacre, the

anti-apartheid movement The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system and supporting South Africa's non-white population who were oppressed by the policies ...

became more militant. The toyi-toyi, a military march dance and song style became commonplace in massive street demonstrations. As one activist puts it, "The toyi-toyi was our weapon. We did not have the technology of warfare, the tear gas and tanks, but we had this weapon."

Current use in South Africa

After Apartheid ended, people have used toyi-toyi to express their grievances against current government policies. Use of the dance has become very popular during service delivery protests and among

trade unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

. The Anti-Privatisation Forum has come out with a CD that they see as a compilation of music specially for toyi-toying.

General

The UK band,

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the Grammy ...

, incorporated the "Amandla, Awethu" chant into ''Sing Our Own Song'' from the 1986 album ''Rat In The Kitchen''. In October 2004 Robert Mugabe of

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

banned toyi-toyi even indoors because of its use as a protest.

References

External links

Toyi Toyi Artz KollektiveWhat’s the Deal With Toyi-toyi?
Lisa Nevit, ''Cape Town Magazine'' African dances Civil disobedience in South Africa Activism by type {{Africa-dance-stub