Sophiatown: the revival of South Africa's 'Little Harlem'

Sophiatown's history is steeped in jazz music and dance

Earlier this year I spoke with Brendan Argent, one of the flag-bearers for Cape Town Swing and Mother City Hop, on the growth of their local swing community and its establishment as a global Lindy hop destination.

It's incredibly encouraging to hear about the success stories of nascent scenes, and especially in Africa where the rhythm roots of Lindy hop and jazz run deepest. But another South African community that is undergoing a swing revival is that of Sophiatown: a Johannesburg suburb that was once the nation's beating cultural heart. 

To get a feel for Sophiatown's former glory you need only discover its former nickname of 'Little Harlem', but its proudly held reputation for multiculturalism also attracted the attention of the apartheid regime which set about Sophiatown's systematic destruction in the early 1950s.

Off the back of my article with Brendan I was contacted by Kristina Kreul who, along with Mtsembeni Masina, is championing Sophiatown's jazz renaissance and is understandably keen to raise the profile of the project they hold dear.

left to right: Mtsembeni Masina, Kristna Kreul and Sakhile Gumbi

Kristina, I understand you're not from Sophiatown, or even from South Africa - how did you come to be involved?

I'm from Germany (currently living in Berlin) and originally I went to Swaziland with a friend from Sweden, Mia Bergdahl, to help build an amphitheatre for a rural community. Sadly, that project didn't get off the ground for a few reasons so we decided to leave Swaziland and travel around South Africa. As I like travelling and discovering different dances I wanted to find out a bit more about pantsula - a dance from South African townships that I'd seen featured in a short TV documentary. The documentary connected pantsula with the Jitterbug dances of Harlem, New York and as a Lindy hopper that really caught my attention.

How did you meet Mtsembeni and what is his connection to Sophiatown?

On my penultimate evening in Swaziland I went to a show where Swati artists were showcasing their music and poetry - so much talent there! And that´s where I met Mtsembeni - he was from Johannesburg and we soon started talking about jazz music and dance. I'd just visited Herräng for the first time in the summer of 2016 and I told him about Herräng and the history of Lindy hop, and then asked Mtsembeni if he knew anything about pantsula - as it happened he was just the right person.

He loves jazz, studied jazz music for a while himself and is deeply into South African jazz music, and on top of that he had worked as a tour guide in Johannesburg so he offered to show me around Johannesburg if I ever visited. And one week later I did just that so I got to see pantsula first hand and learned that it was born in Sophiatown.

I also got to start learning the dance itself and I have Eugene Maliboho to thank for that! He taught me pantsula and is associated with Move into Dance Mophatong in Johannesburg, whose contacts have been really helpful in getting this campaign going!

I was intrigued about this place that had been called Little Harlem due to the obvious reference to the Harlem that holds such a dear place in the hearts of the swing community and shares a similar history. And just as in the Savoy ballroom, in Sophiatown people of different skin colours would dance together, discuss politics and enjoy music. But as the Apartheid was on the rise the South African government levelled Sophiatown to the ground in 1955 as they pushed forward their racial segregation.

Mtsembeni leant me a lot of books, music, photographs and so much more to get a better understanding of this place. Soon I realised that, with its destruction, most of Sophiatown's culture had gone, and the dances that formerly had a home there no longer had a home anywhere anymore, and I then immediately thought of Lindy hop and its comeback in the 1980s after being forgotten for decades.

And though the reasons are very different I thought, well, if Lindy hop could make a comeback, why should that not be possible for the dances and culture of Sophiatown?

What do you most love about Sophiatown's past and present and what do you see for its future?

Its past is just so full of art and political energy, and there was insanely good music and dance. Hugh Masekela, South Africa´s most famous trumpet player got his first trumpet from Louis Armstrong! Trevor Huddleston, a priest in Sophiatown, recognised Masekela´s talent and wrote to Louis Armstrong and he was sent a trumpet in return! And Miriam Makeba, an icon of South African music, also started her career here. 

There was fashion, a special way to dress, that is slowly returning now. There was literature, photography and so much more - all of great importance to today's South African identity. And it was also a very political environment. Nelson Mandela held his first memorable speech there, and it was where people would meet and discuss how to overcome the racial discrimination.

I think I am still very much intrigued by how music and dance were used as a form of protest, as an expression of injustice.

  

Who else has been involved besides yourself and Mstembeni?

My friend Mia Bergdahl helped us with the development of the project as she is very experienced in cultural development. Sadly she had to leave the project though.

Sakhile Gumbi, a visual artist and dear friend of Mtsembeni, helped out with the graphic design and designed prints that are some of the 'perks' available to those who contribute to our crowdfunding campaign, and as part of our crowdfunding promotional video we were able to get a few big names on board to help us!

McCoy Mrubata is a multi award winning composer and saxophonist who has attained national legend status, and Sibusiso Lerole, 'Big Voice Jack Junior', continues to play the same penny whistle that his dad 'Big Voice Jack'  famously played back in the day in Sophiatown and across the world - both are internationally renown South African musicians who have celebrated their connection to Sophiatown and both have featured in our video!

"The Pennywhistlers" by Sakhile Gumbi

The nickname 'Little Harlem' certainly evokes a sense for how lively Sophiatown must have been in its heyday - what similarities were there between the home of Lindy hop?

Yes, it must have been a very vibrant place. People dressed in a special way, spoke their own language created from the different influences of African Languages and Afrikaans, and there were different gangs called the Berliners or the Americans, dressed in funky clothes.

The most obvious link to Harlem was music. Sophiatown was very much influenced by jazz music from the US. Which in the end is music from Africa, so that is kind of a back and forth. And the atmosphere must have been similar, exuberantly showcasing a different kind of lifestyle.

Harlem's Savoy Ballroom was the home of Lindy hop that has now sadly passed into legend - where was Sophiatown's old epicentre and where is becoming the new hub?

Sophiatown´s epicentre was Good Street. That´s where its cinema The Odin stood, which served as a kind of public gathering space and it's something you could compare to the Savoy Ballroom.

There were illegal drinking spots and shebeens that brimmed with life as, at that time, it was illegal for African natives to drink and shebeens were the meeting places - more or less the living rooms of different people transformed into bars, and that’s where everything happened - where jazz musicians performed and people drank and danced and discussed social ills. The most famous shebeen was called '39 Steps' and was located on Good Street.

"Inside Shebeen" by Sakhile Gumbi

And can you tell me about the dancing? Was Lindy hop or jazz dancing popular before apartheid?

The Apartheid regime was officially introduced in 1947 but the racial discrimination had already started well before that. Dance and music had always been a form of protest in South Africa, and I guess that is very understandable as a dancer. Dance and music go beyond words. They deliver a message that can neither be read or heard but be very much felt and understood in the heart. 

Even before Apartheid, Sophiatown was already called Little Harlem, and people were already hooked on jazz music and its blend, or should I say its re-blend, with African music and its dances.

Frankie Manning went to see Sophiatown sometime around 2004 but we couldn´t find out any more about it. It still seems that he also wanted to discover the link to the big Harlem in the US.

What about now - I've read a little about the fusion of swing and jazz with African dances, what are pantsula, township jive and marabi like and what are their origins? Do you have any videos to share?

All origins of those dances are in Sophiatown: Township jive and marabi relate a lot to Jitterbug and swing dances from the US but they have their own African dance influenced elements to it. They are not practised any more in the sense of a social dance community but you can see them on stages where people try to reconstruct them from the rare footage that is left of them. We could only find a few people that actually still remember some moves but the footage is mostly lost.

Pantsula is also rooted in jazz dance moves but kept on evolving until now and is still very much practised in South Africa. You can find some videos online but they are not original footage, rather, they are adaptations of what it used to look like. Unlike in the USA, in Africa at that time the same techniques and technology were not widely available to the African people so less footage was taken and most of it has been lost.

Dancing is impossible without good music - is there a Sophiatown 'sound' and who were/are the most iconic past and present artists and bands who provided it?

There definitely is such a sound. It´s very unique music and has recently been getting more attention. It´s mostly called Kwela and it has a very intriguing sound where you just can't stop tapping your feet! Back in the day, the most famous musicians were Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Dolly Rathebe, The Manhattan Brothers, Todd Matshikiza, Kippie Moeketsi, and Dollar Brand amongst others and today´s artists are reconnecting with that music.

Tell me a bit more about the festival itself - what else is it celebrating? Other art forms, famous former and current residents, food?

The festival is meant to celebrate Sophiatown´s cultural heritage as a whole, meaning its music, dance, literature, fashion, photography and atmosphere, and we want to bring the celebration to the place where it all started: the streets of Sophiatown. Today theses streets are mostly inhabited by white settlers but you can still fell the vibe when you walk around. It's still a very special place.

On the day of the festival, people will be able to experience Sophiatown through the arts that once made it famous. There will be dance workshops where people can learn some Township dance move and there will be literature readings that will give people an insight into what life used to be like. There will be a guided tour through the Sophiatown of today by Mbali Zwane, who was one of the first people to teach about Sophiatown´s cultural heritage and she will take visitors to the places that once played such an important role in Sophiatown, like the place where the Odin stood or where famous shebeens were standing. Her tours are very much alive and full of theatre and singing performances.

We will serve authentic food and the day will end with a big concert featuring famous South African jazz artists showcasing the music of bygone days with photos in the background illustrating how things were. Aaaaand hopefully people will feel inspired enough by their experiences that they will practise the moves they will have just learnt!

And perhaps most importantly, can anyone help make this happen?

Sure, we still have our crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo going on, where people can support us in any way that they can - either by making a donation or by purchasing 'perks' such as art prints, bags or CDs from McCoy Mrubata - and all of these contribute directly to our campaign.

Filming the crowdfunding video: Mtsembeni chatting to McCoy Mrubata, who is sat beside the statue of Sophiatown legend Kippie Moetketsi

Even if people could share and like our Facebook page it would help us get greater recognition and if they know anyone who is funding these kind of projects please help us get in touch! We feel that Sophiatown holds so much cultural heritage that we think it is more than worthy of getting the title of cultural world heritage by UNESCO. So if anybody has contacts leading there please let us know!

We also hope to get attention for the dances and also for Lindy hop. Murial and Brendan from Cape Town are trying to build a Lindy hop scene in Johannesburg but as yet, even in Africa, most of the dancers are white so we hope to attract more people of different backgrounds with the powerful interracial history of Sophiatown.

We want to celebrate the life and legacy that Sophiatown and its people left for us: to keep the spirit of Sophiatown alive for generations and generations to come; to discover and acknowledge.

Mayibuye iSophiatown!

Kristina with Vuyiswa Ntombela from Fruitcake Vintage and Eugene Maliboho.

I'm extremely grateful that Kristina not only got in touch to tell me about this amazing project but also that she took the time to share so much about its backstory and future direction. I shall be paying close attention to the resurgence of Little Harlem! Best of luck!