Il carnevale dei Cape Minstrels

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Created on Tuesday, 03 January 2012 11:57

Il 2 gennaio a Città del Capo si festeggia il Twede Nuwe Jaar, vale a dire il Secondo Capodanno. Sembra che anticamente fosse il giorno di festa accordato agli schiavi perchè si riposassero e divertissero dopo aver servito i loro padroni durante le feste di fine anno.

Nell'Ottocento questa giornata è diventata per i "colorati" del Capo l'occasione di celebrare il loro particolare carnevale, nato, a quanto pare, da quanto essi avevano appreso dai marinai di colore a bordo dell'Alabama, nave corsara della Confederazione sudista nella guerra di secessione degli Stati Uniti, che era solita trovare rifugio nella baia di Città del Capo dopo gli attacchi ai convogli che dall'Inghilterra navigavano verso l'America con aiuti per l'esercito degli unionisti.

La sfilata dei gruppi mascherati avviene il 2 gennaio verso il centro della città partendo dalla zona del District Six. La parata finale avviene invece nello stadio di Athlone e in quell'occasione è in palio il titolo di "Cape Minstrels" di cui i vincitori potranno vantarsi per un anno, fino al prossimo carnevale.

Qui sotto due diverse descrizioni di questa tradizione e dei suoi protagonisti (la prima da Wikipedia):

The Kaapse Klopse (or simply Klopse) is a minstrel festival that takes place annually on January 2, in Cape Town, South Africa. As many as 13,000 minstrels take to the streets garbed in bright colours, either carrying colourful umbrellas or playing an array of musical instruments. The minstrels are grouped into klopse ("clubs" in Cape Dutch, but more accurately translated as troupes in English). Participants are typically from Afrikaans-speaking working class "coloured" families who have preserved the custom since the mid-19th century.
 
Although it is called the Coon Carnival by Capetonians, local authorities have renamed the festival the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival as foreign tourists find the term "coon" derogatory.
 
One story goes that the carnival was inspired by a group of African-American minstrels who docked in Cape Town in the late 1800s and entertained the sailors with their spontaneous musical performances. The popular song Daar kom die Alibama (There comes the Alabama) refers to the ship that is believed to have brought them. Another story goes that the travelling minstrels were actually white and painted their faces black – hence the painted faces seen today.
 
The majority of the troupes (169) are represented by the Kaapse Karnaval ("Cape Carnival") Association. In addition, two breakaway organisations (the Kaapse Klopse Karnaval Association and the Mitchell's Plain Youth Development Minstrel Board) represent a minority of troupes.
 
The festival begins on New Year's Day and continues into January. Festivities include street parades with singing and dancing, costume competitions and marches through the streets. While many troupes now are supported by corporate sponsors, many refuse and remain sticklers for tradition.

Just what is the significance of the Klopse Carnival? What are its roots?
 
Stripped of their culture, language, heritage and even their names, slaves and indigenes had very little of their ˜own" to hang on to throughout the years of slavery. One thing that was able to survive and shine through was their dance and music. It was a way to escape the horrible world of slavery and to give an outlet for their frustration. Slaves from other African countries, from Madagascar, from India and the Indonesian islands had a great mix of music and instruments. The most famous of these was the Mozambique drum the Ngoma, which became known as the Ghoema. The indigene Khoe music traditions and even the European music also came into this creolised mix. After work on a Sunday and most especially on the day off work on the second day of New Year (Twede Nuwe Jaar) slaves would mill about in groups on the beach or in a local square and engage in music and dance. They would also engage in a form of mime, pantomime and skits which were deeply encoded in their own patois. These would make fun of their masters and mistresses and exaggerate their indulgent behaviours. Sometimes they would dress up in a clownish manner when imitating their owners. Encoded songs would be sung to also make fun of their owners. This characteristic of slave-rooted carnivals could be found around the world and particularly in the Caribbean. When slavery came to and end ˜Freedom Marches` and these earlier ˜fun-days` merged. Marching troupes celebrated emancipation from slavery.

After the British occupation, when American vessels such as the Confederate ship the Alabama came to the Cape, the participants in these ˜fun-days` were introduced to ˜American minstrelsy`. The painted face, the banjo, crooning, and the derogatory name ˜coon carnival`, was introduced. Religious influences also played a part in the development of performing troupes. Alongside the Klopse tradition there also emerged the traditions of the Malay Choirs, Nagkore and the Christmas Choir Bands. Later jazz traditions, pop music traditions and even political song traditions all influenced the evolution of the Klopse Carnival. In time different performing troupes emerged with distinct community identities and rivalries. Competitions began to take place and became a lasting tradition. Costumes, themes, songs, dance and music were judged and prizes were awarded.

The marching tradition became more formalised and this became an expression of asserting the Coloured working people`s ˜Freedom of the City` which had always been contested. Under slavery curfews and other forms of curtailment of movement meant that slaves had no freedom of the city. By the 1660s already, Commander Jan van Riebeeck had also curtailed the Khoe people`s freedom of movement in Table Bay.
 
In 1948, many decades after emancipation from slavery, came Apartheid, the Group Areas Act, ethnic cleansing of the City, and by 1966 the destruction of District Six and finally the prohibition on marching and restrictions on Carnival to be held only at designated stadiums. Coloured people had once again lost the freedom of the city. With the demise of Apartheid and the introduction of a non-racial democratic South Africa, the Klopse Carnival was also liberated and the slave descendent communities and indigene communities could once more parade. Indigene African groups also now joined Carnival with new troupes. The Klopse tradition had survived, but it was bruised and battered. Dominant white (mainly affluent English-speaking) interests still dominate in City political structures and old prejudices are still alive and well. These are now joined by some of those old vocal english-speaking Coloured middle strata prejudices and wedged between these two poles of prejudice the Klopse tradition still gets battered. It does not help that some of the more narrow self-serving interests amongst the Klopse, often aligned with underworld characters, also manipulate the Klopse tradition. Between those who exercise their prejudice and political control and the underworld elements who manipulate Klopse for personal interests, the Klopse tradition suffers.

What the Apartheid era did to cripple the Klopse now continues by other means. Because there is such ignorance about its cultural heritage value and the class divide over the meaning and place of Klopse, we may well end up loosing this meaningful tradition. Klopse needs a development injection of good organisation, finance, breaking of internal exploitation by criminal elements, removing prejudice, a negotiated framework with the city to give it pride of place, and a whole lot of education about its place in our culture.
 
In the meanwhile, it`s New Year, and the Klopse hit the streets. Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy! the music and dance of the heart. If you look very hard, between the dancing figures, you will see our slave and Khoe forebears still dancing and singing and making "guy" out of those who oppressed them.