| dc.description.abstract | This study accounts for my journey with the Kangaroo Zulu Dancers (KZD), a youthful dance outfit based in Durban, to discover how they use indigenous traditional Zulu dances to fight xenophobia. Drawing on existing research on dance activism, I anchored my study on constructivism and interpretivism. The critical theory, social transformation theory and performative theory underpinned both my methodology and interpretation. I applied multiple methods to analyse the data which I had collected through netnography. A large amount of text prompted me to use discourse analysis, while I used dance transcription and movement analysis for the dances. The text analysis helped fill some gaps by explaining relational interactions among the characters, causes of conflicts and resolutions. The results revealed that the KZD used theatre techniques and dance to tell a story. Intrinsically, the dances themselves do not carry literal meaning but are essential in advancing the story. My conclusion was that any dance could have given similar results. Methodological gaps resulted from a lack of sufficient observation due to COVID-19 restrictions. The KZD could only premier the dance drama in virtual spaces, making it difficult for the researcher to immediately follow up on the audience. Perhaps future studies need to look at how the audience reacted to the performance. There is also a need to conduct comparative analyses and artistic research to construct a model for dance to disrupt xenophobia in South Africa. | en_US |
