Disseminating Folklore through Cultural Dance in South African Contemporary Theatre: A Case of Siva (Seven) Dance Production

Abstract

There is a consensus amongst folklorists that the dissemination of folklore is entrenched in the tradition of orality. The idea that folklores are ‘‘‘passed down’ from generation to generation through ‘word of mouth’ or ‘tales’ confines the folklore tradition to the mono-modal communication platform of the ‘spoken word.’’’ While the authors acknowledge the richness and expediency of this delivery mode, this article advocates for the use of physicality and performance as supplementary embodiments of folklore. It argues that since the aspects of the body in time and space are already phenomenologically- integrated into folklore through the realms of words and imagination, it is necessary to fully synthesise performativity into the folklore tradition both visually and theatrically through dance and movement.