Mabutswapele keep it real
Chippa Legodimo | Friday June 27, 2014 15:39
They have also produced stars like Arnold ‘Ramonyaku’ Sekgee, who is both a solo artist and a member of Tripple R, and Thabo ‘Mapetla’ Ntirang, a hotshot in the kwaito music scene.
Other prominent high flyers to emerge from this modest group are Dikakapa members Esaleone Hendrick and Mosimanegape ‘MC’ Kgaodi.
The group was formed in 2005 by a small a break away unit of the Ditholwana Traditional Dance Troupe. Since then, they have stuck with the original cultural music and dance and have resisted the impulse to shift to contemporary music.
The dexterity and mastery that unfolds when this group performs usually leaves audiences in great awe. Combining different Tswana traditional dances makes them a marvel to watch.
As their name suggests, it is clear in though stage performance that this group consists of veterans of song and dance.
They have specialists in tsutsube, setapa, hosana and phathisi. Apart from African wood drums, Mabutswapele uses no other instruments, but rather produce their own sound by clapping and hitting their phathisi leg sets. This combination creates an interesting and catchy sound.
The group is not among the country’s most talked about bands but they are well traveled. Just months after their formation, the veterans traveled to Zimbabwe for the SADC Music Festival where they were pitted against Botswana’s giants KTM Choir and the late Duncan Senyatso, among others.
They beat a host of favorites to clinch first position, granting them a ticket to tour Europe the following year.
The group has performed twice during South Africa’s Heritage Day celebrations in 2005 and 2006.
They have also featured at Namibia’s independence celebrations and also represented Botswana at the Indaba Expo in South Africa in 2008.But seven years into formation, this well established and traveled ensemble is yet to record an album.
There is a compelling reason. Founder member, Bame Kootshole says Mabutswapele is driven by the desire to promote Botswana culture overpowering that to make huge profits.
“One way of doing that would be by selling records because then the music can reach a lot more people. Lack of resources has prevented us from doing that. But we are not desperate to do it,” she said.
She explained to Arts & Culture that the 25-member group is made up of musicians and dancers from various cultural and tribal backgrounds hence the diversity in their music and dance. “I can assure you, our music shall maintain its originality once we record it. We have no intension of shifting to instruments because the clapping makes us unique and because many groups are now doing contemporary, people miss the old style and we offer them that,” she said. Joseph Kolane is the master phathisi dancer who honed his skills as a youngster in Kweneng district.
The muscular dancer changes steps with such ease, jumping high to throw his hands in the air and then hitting his legs together whilst airborne to produce a booming sound.
Kootshole noted that because the group is serious about their dance, they often travel to those areas where such dancers can be found to learn techniques.
“We have been to places like Ditshukudu where we met old men who are the masters of phathisi and they showed our boys how it is done. One of our members,Zana Sihlupheki, comes from Maitengwe where hosana is very popular. She a good dancer and she has taught other members. Varying our dances during performances makes us appealing to a lot of people,” she said.
Sihlupheki’s expertise helped the group win a President’s Day Music competition award in 2011.They were runners-up in 2010 and 2013.
Founding member, Bullets Motlhanka, has seen it all. His experience has also added good value to the group.
He co-founded Ditholwana with the late Bogadi Sefhako before he opted out in 2005 to form Mabutswapele.
“I have seen this group go through many stages, prove people wrong and scale changes. I have refined my skill and the young ones look up to me,” he said.