The China Mail - South Africa's amapiano has the world dancing

USD -
AED 3.672501
AFN 69.999752
ALL 82.403169
AMD 383.760301
ANG 1.789679
AOA 916.999889
ARS 1185.2553
AUD 1.539955
AWG 1.80125
AZN 1.675304
BAM 1.717535
BBD 2.018204
BDT 122.146455
BGN 1.71288
BHD 0.377046
BIF 2975.573129
BMD 1
BND 1.289325
BOB 6.906787
BRL 5.6339
BSD 0.999794
BTN 85.833842
BWP 13.426656
BYN 3.271174
BYR 19600
BZD 2.007842
CAD 1.367765
CDF 2864.99952
CHF 0.818219
CLF 0.024447
CLP 938.150131
CNY 7.204297
CNH 7.174565
COP 4108.67
CRC 508.371131
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 96.832408
CZK 21.73285
DJF 177.720143
DKK 6.531197
DOP 59.021375
DZD 131.622061
EGP 49.668203
ERN 15
ETB 134.150246
EUR 0.87559
FJD 2.24825
FKP 0.73964
GBP 0.737905
GEL 2.73969
GGP 0.73964
GHS 10.247336
GIP 0.73964
GMD 71.999851
GNF 8663.273954
GTQ 7.681466
GYD 209.119849
HKD 7.844215
HNL 25.999766
HRK 6.596899
HTG 130.767914
HUF 353.140042
IDR 16297.3
ILS 3.48442
IMP 0.73964
INR 85.90375
IQD 1310
IRR 42124.999987
ISK 126.62042
JEP 0.73964
JMD 159.441481
JOD 0.709036
JPY 142.717993
KES 129.504804
KGS 87.449806
KHR 4019.999874
KMF 431.000397
KPW 899.96547
KRW 1362.790079
KWD 0.30632
KYD 0.832964
KZT 510.145029
LAK 21599.999781
LBP 89600.000175
LKR 299.167929
LRD 198.649826
LSL 18.20432
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 5.453468
MAD 9.196858
MDL 17.252932
MGA 4519.999896
MKD 53.881414
MMK 2099.552513
MNT 3575.627882
MOP 8.079336
MRU 39.592874
MUR 45.802891
MVR 15.459766
MWK 1735.000381
MXN 19.201502
MYR 4.232499
MZN 64.010411
NAD 18.26157
NGN 1580.149575
NIO 36.799176
NOK 10.110761
NPR 137.335178
NZD 1.659045
OMR 0.384507
PAB 0.99953
PEN 3.656499
PGK 4.119499
PHP 55.734984
PKR 282.001098
PLN 3.747377
PYG 7987.038078
QAR 3.644443
RON 4.420902
RSD 102.617051
RUB 79.249696
RWF 1414.325923
SAR 3.750585
SBD 8.343939
SCR 14.21698
SDG 600.496907
SEK 9.583196
SGD 1.286055
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.720069
SLL 20969.500214
SOS 571.501438
SRD 37.050119
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.745823
SYP 13001.858184
SZL 18.200902
THB 32.598731
TJS 9.895716
TMT 3.5
TND 2.98
TOP 2.3421
TRY 39.282401
TTD 6.774184
TWD 29.957
TZS 2683.204007
UAH 41.435026
UGX 3640.00404
UYU 41.678559
UZS 12844.999831
VES 94.846525
VND 26084
VUV 120.579269
WST 2.74951
XAF 576.050197
XAG 0.028973
XAU 0.000296
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.716787
XOF 573.999518
XPF 104.749903
YER 243.85012
ZAR 17.817801
ZMK 9001.199783
ZMW 25.813732
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    -1.5000

    67.5

    -2.22%

  • BCC

    -0.0050

    87.54

    -0.01%

  • SCS

    -0.1600

    10.37

    -1.54%

  • RYCEF

    0.1150

    12.15

    +0.95%

  • CMSC

    0.0899

    22.2

    +0.4%

  • RELX

    0.2950

    54.36

    +0.54%

  • GSK

    0.3300

    40.8

    +0.81%

  • NGG

    -0.2700

    71.05

    -0.38%

  • RIO

    -0.3000

    58.55

    -0.51%

  • BTI

    -0.1750

    46.17

    -0.38%

  • JRI

    -0.0400

    12.94

    -0.31%

  • AZN

    1.1800

    73

    +1.62%

  • BCE

    0.0100

    21.96

    +0.05%

  • CMSD

    0.0587

    22.21

    +0.26%

  • VOD

    -0.0450

    10.26

    -0.44%

  • BP

    -0.6350

    28.92

    -2.2%

South Africa's amapiano has the world dancing
South Africa's amapiano has the world dancing / Photo: © AFP/File

South Africa's amapiano has the world dancing

At a studio in central Johannesburg, dancers from various countries moved together to the rhythm of South Africa's amapiano sound that is taking social media by storm.

Text size:

With energy and purpose, they rehearsed a sequence in the style of the house music subgenre born on the streets of the townships around 15 years ago and now showcased by stars like Beyonce and Tyla.

Soweto's Finest Dance Studio draws dancers of all kinds -- from ballerinas to party-goers -- to learn the amapiano moves sweeping the world through TikTok tutorials and challenges.

Amapiano "is not about the words but you feel it inside of you," said Venus Chidinma, 25, a professional dancer from New York who studied at the studio for several weeks.

"It doesn't matter where you come from, what race, what colour -- you feel it and you have to just move. It's just from inside you," the Harvard graduate told AFP.

Central to the sound is the log drum, a distinctive bass that sets it apart from other forms of dance music. It blends soulful jazz and deep house with 1990s kwaito to create a local genre with no strict rules.

The dance style mixes up others, from the coordinated quick steps of South African panstula to the "baleka" move that closely resembles Michael Jackson's iconic moonwalk.

"Its authenticity to South Africa makes it stand out," said Thando Nhlapho, the 21-year-old professional dancer and choreographer at the landmark Soweto studio.

Nhlapho, still glistening from her latest class, creates and posts dance videos on social media to "get my name out there".

"I don't only dance to amapiano but I choose to use amapiano as a marketing strategy because it is now the trending thing, the hot thing globally," she told AFP.

- Global language -

"Amapiano is so powerful, it's taken over Africa," said Emmanuel Mwenya, 25, a choreographer from Lusaka.

"In Zambia, we dance and sing along to the music even though we do not understand the lyrics," said Mwenya, who spent a week in South Africa to learn the style.

"We do amapiano but it's never original. So I thought I'd take the time to come here to learn something original," he said at the studio.

Amapiano is its own language, said the professional dancer who also uses social media to promote his work. "Whether you speak Zulu, Bemba, Nyanja, English... it all connects, no matter where you're from."

This spirit of inclusiveness comes to life on social media, where people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures unite in dance challenges, like the one for "Tshwala Bami" on TikTok that was taken up by US performer Jason Derulo.

"My mom is 46 years old today and even at her age, I still teach her some TikTok dance challenges," said 21-year-old South African Snethemba Mathe, her face lit up.

Xiaoying Zhan, 30, brought three friends visiting from China with her to a class.

Zhan, who is from China but now lives in South Africa, said she caught on to the amapiano beat during the Covid-19 lockdown around five years ago. "I was enjoying the music and that is why I started dancing to amapiano," she said.

"The music has a lot of upbeat tempo," she said, listing South Africa's DBN Gogo and Uncle Waffles, originally from neighbouring Eswatini, as among her favourite artists, but only after Tyla.

According to Spotify, amapiano featured in more than 855 million streams recorded in 2024 alone, making the genre a powerful promotion tool for career dancers.

"Amapiano is something that's so easy to vibe to," said Chidinma, the dancer from New York who posts videos of various styles on her Instagram account. "Whenever people come up with a dance, it's going to go viral," she said.

G.Fung--ThChM