LIFESTYLE - The African Mirror

May

08

2021

The #JerusalemaDanceChallenge showed how Pan African styles can be forged

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

A year has passed since an Angolan dance troupe called Fenómenos do Semba released a video of themselves dancing in a courtyard in Luanda to the South African hit song Jerusalema by Master KG. FRANCESCA NEGRO, Associate research scientist, Universidade de Lisboa With over 16 million YouTube clicks, the #JerusalemaDanceChallenge swept the planet as social media users posted their own versions of the dance. Its success has inspired me to offer some further reflections on the importance of the cultural meaning of this dance and its contribution to the creation of a Pan African aesthetic. How Angolans celebrate The dance…

Jun

19

2021

By The African Mirror

Victoria’s Secret says goodbye to its angels

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO VICTORIA’S Secret is shedding its wings and is getting a makeover. The popular lingerie brand announced in a statement that they would be rebranding through two new initiatives: The Victoria's Secret Global Fund for Women's Cancers and The VS Collective. The VS Collective will feature Indian actress Priyanka Chopra; models Adut Akech and Paloma Elsesser, and US footballer Megan Rapinoe as some of the spokespersons. Other figures included as spokespersons are Brazilian transgender model and activist Valentina Sampaio, Chinese skier Eileen Gu and photographer Amanda de Cadenet. They were chosen because they wanted to associate Victoria’s Secret with…

Jun

19

2021

By The African Mirror

The Late Night, Mogadishu

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

JAAMAC JAAMAC MOGADISHU was once known as The Pearl of the Indian Ocean, famous for its architecture, culture and nightlife. A civil war and more recently an Islamic insurgency interrupted that. Now, with elections looming, nightlife is returning to this former Indian Ocean entrepot. At the Late Night restaurant, there's a palpable sense of hope, served up, along with each plate of Jabaati, by the manager himself. It is almost midnight and along Mogadishu's central Maka-Al-Mukarama boulevard, late-night restaurant patrons are coming and going. Three-wheeled "tuk-tuks" throng the area, dropping off customers or waiting for new ones. Judging by their…

Jun

16

2021

By The African Mirror

Ferrari goes from fast cars to haute fashion

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO FERRARI, a dominant force in the motorsport world, have made their entry into the cutthroat world of fashion. Showcased below the factory’s production level, with the V12 assembly line enveloped in a red glow, the “Prancing Horse” launched their first ready-to-wear collection from its Maranello factory in Italy. The collection was created in the classic Ferrari colour palette of Ferrari red, black and Scuderia yellow in light sustainable fabrics. Unlike the conversative and understated clothing pieces that Ferrari’s loyal (and older) fanbase would normally wear, this new collection includes trench coats, bomber jackets, parkas and loose-fitting trousers —…

May

03

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s romcom revolution and how it reimagines Joburg

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

NETFLIX went live in South Africa on 6 January 2016. The arrival of the subscription-based content streaming service was a game-changer for the country’s film and television industry, as it had been for other countries. PIER PAOLO FRASSINELLI, Professor, Communication and Media Studies, University of Johannesburg At about the same time – in 2015 and 2016 – there was another turning point for South Africa’s film industry: the arrival of a new, commercially successful genre, the black romantic comedy. For the first time, the country’s black filmmakers were able to make an impact at the box office – and go…

May

01

2021

By The African Mirror

SA’s Lukhanyo Mdingi is Lvmh Prize finalist

BEAUTY AND FASHION

MPHO RANTAO Lukhanyo Mdingi THE top nine finalists for fashion’s coveted LVMH Prize have been announced, and in a first for the award, the finalists are designers from across the world. USA, England, France, South Africa, China, Albania and Colombia are the countries represented by each finalist, with Albania and Colombia being featured for the first time in an LVMH Prize. The finalists were announced after LVMH held a public vote and, for the first time, a virtual showroom which was available to both the LVMH judging panel and the public. South Africa’s Lukhanyo Mdingi is included as a finalist…

May

01

2021

By The African Mirror

Book Review | 69 Jerusalem Street

LITERATURE

KARABO KGOLENG LINDIWE Nkutha has small feet. For the longest time, she coveted a pair of All Star takkies but she couldn’t find a place that sold them in her size. One day, her partner – raised in Pretoria – suggested they go to Marabastad to look for them. They found the shoes in Marabastad’s Jerusalem Street, a place that evoked for her an atmospheric combination of Diagonal, Bree and Noord Streets in Johannesburg. Anyone familiar with these streets knows they are sites of enterprise, bustling with crowds of diverse people on different missions, hooting taxis and the obligatory dodgy,…

Apr

24

2021

By The African Mirror

“My Octopus Teacher” wins Africa’s only Oscar at historic night

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

SOUTH Africa's first ever Netflix original documentary, "My Octopus Teacher", has won an Oscar. The film, directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, won in a strongly contested category at the 93rd Academy Awards held in Los Angeles today. In her acceptance speech, Ehrlich said: In many ways this really is a tiny personal story that played out in a seaforust at the very tip of Africa, but on a more universal level I hope that it provided a glimpse of a different type of relationship between human beings and the natural world." "Nomadland", the story of van dwellers in…

Jun

12

2021

By The African Mirror

Tems, Wizkid and more nominated for BET Awards

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

MPHO RANTAO NIGERIAN starlet Tems has bagged her first British Entertainment Television (BET) Award nomination. The singer, real name Temilade Openiyi, has been nominated alongside six other artists for BET”s Best New International Act: Viewers Choice, which is usually awarded during the pre-show airing of the BET Awards. Previous winners of this award include South Africa’s Sho Madjozi, Zimbabwe’s Shasha and Wizkid, who has had the most wins in the Best International Act category as an African artist. Tems rose to the top of the music charts with her debut EP, For Broken Ears, but is popularly known for her…

Jun

11

2021

By The African Mirror

The magnificent Mabi Thobejane, master South African drummer

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

WINTER chokes the highveld in Johannesburg, South Africa, and takes from me, from our entire culture, a mighty mountain. Gabriel Mabi Segwagwa Thobejane, the diminutive tower of rhythmic power, has left us: a man who did not so much play the drums, but became The Drum. DAVID COPLAN, Professor Emeritus, Social Anthropology, University of the Witwatersrand He reportedly suffered a stroke at the age of 74 and passed on 3 June 2021. Even though he was both master and a creator of South Africa’s indigenous sonic archive, Mabi, as we all came to call him, was also a showman and…