28 Mar 2017

Infectious dance crazes have a long history, but in recent years they have been stripped of premeditation and formality.
Thanks to social media, short videos of these dances sometimes incidentally spread quickly and inspire a rash of copycats.
At once silly and profound, these dance phenomena demonstrate the speed at which something can unexpectedly go from being an inside joke among party goers to a universal dog whistle for joy.
One such dance move is Walla Dance 50. It went viral all over social networks, intriguing everyone and thrilling seasoned performers, like Mlesho of Hlomela dance fame, who co-performed with Walaza during the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Accident Victims in Kang recently.
Like some popular dance moves such as hlomela, sbutjwa, hlokoloza, sepantsula and many others, Walla dance 50 made its fame entry during the year of Botswana Golden Jubilee.
This intriguing dance was initially introduced by 30-year-old Kebafilwe Walaza Pego.
In an interview with BOPA recently, Kang born Walaza described Walla Dance 50 as a modern dance yet rooted in tradition, cosmopolitan but authentically African inspired by the fighting skill movements whereby the dancer folds fists like he or she was charging at an opponent or a kangaroo preparing to launch an attack.
He highlighted that the dance move consisted of a lot of foot-work, together with the hips that never stop rotating sideways, heels being off the floor and knees turning in and out, combined with different arm-movements.
‘’It’s a very sensual dance but I also find it having a lot of sepantsula and dikhwaere references,’’he says.
Although the dance started in Kang, it has now started to go viral, across the country. The official video attracted over 6 000 views on Dj Abistone’s official Facebook page.
Asked how the dance came about, Walaza said he was bored by monotonous dance styles so he wanted to introduce something new.
Walaza said he had always loved dance. “Whenever I got the chance to display my dancing skills I mesmerised everybody.
Where other dance styles belonged to dancers who wanted to show off their skill and advocate a feeling of superiority over the audience, my dance was way different in its principles and approach,” he said.
 Walaza found the technique and style of Walla 50 dancing more engrossing, and admitted to have fallen in love with it. “That was the genesis for me,” he says.
Walaza is planning to establishing a dance academy with the primary purpose of keeping children enaged as well as take public oriented classes like dance camps. ENDS