Kaapse Klopse
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The Kaapse Klopse (or simply Klopse) is a minstrel festival that takes place annually in Cape Town, South Africa. Up to 13,000 minstrels in whiteface take to the streets garbed in shockingly bright colours, either carrying colourful umbrellas or playing an array of musical instruments. The minstrels are grouped into klopse ("clubs" in Cape Dutch, but more accurately translated as troupes in English). Participants are typically from Afrikaans-speaking working class "coloured" families who have preserved the custom since the mid-19th century.
Although it is called the Coon Carnival by Capetonians, local authorities have renamed the festival the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival, as foreign tourists find the term "coon" derogatory (there is some debate about this).
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[edit] History
Minstrels from the United States first visited the Cape in 1848. This was ten years after the then-British colony had abolished slavery (but years before emancipation in the US). The American minstrels were white, but they blackened their faces with burnt cork. The inverse of this behavior became popular with the local former slave population who, being dark skinned, whitened their faces instead and wrote songs to mock their former masters. Many of the lyrics make humorous allusions to local figures.
[edit] Inspiration
The carnival is the source of inspiration for local popular music. A number of the troupes drew on the semi-professional musicians of Cape Town for their star performers. Names like Taliep Petersen, Zayn Adams and Robbie Jansen are amongst these. Some of these players are now part of different Cape Jazz bands performing all the year round. Their music is a source of pride amongst the Cape Coloured people of the region. For many musicians involvement in the Cape Town (Coon) carnival troupes was their first musical education.
[edit] Troupe Organisation
The majority of the troupes (169) are represented by the Kaapse Karnaval ("Cape Carnival") Association. In addition, two breakaway organisations (the Kaapse Klopse Karnaval Association and the Mitchell's Plain Youth Development Minstrel Board) represent a minority of troupes.
[edit] The Carnival Today
The festival begins on New Year's Day and continues into January. Festivities include street parades with singing and dancing, costume competitions and marches through the streets. Since 2002 the carnival has been sponsored by local government and business - not without accompanying controversy. The 2005 carnival was nearly cancelled due to an alleged lack of funding, while the 2006 carnival was officially called off [1] [2] for the same reason. However, the troupe organisations subsequently decided to go ahead with the parade despite continued unhappiness over funding, and the festivities were opened by Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool on 2 January 2006 [3]. The festivities are highly disruptive to residents living in the CBD with music continuing to 6am.
[edit] External links
- Cape Town Minstrel Festival 2008
- Tweede Nuwe Jaar 2001 A foreign scholar joins the Lentegeur Entertainers.
- Yankee Minstrel First white American in the Carnival
