Our Brazen Orchestra

by Aimee Dyamond in January 2011 - Miscellaneous

Every January, a day after the fireworks and festivities of the New Year have been polished off along with the Christmas leftovers, a colourful community of musicians take to the streets of central Cape Town. The hypnotic rhythms of Ghoema drums and a frenzy of cymbals welcome the New Year with a spirit unique to the Mother City. The festival, colloquially known as the Kaapse Klopse, is one of the City’s most vibrant annual parades. In celebration of Tweede Nuwejaar, Cape Minstrel troupes dress in their finest Carnival attire for a full day of entertainment and musical variety.

The annual event promises a dazzling spectacle of music, dancing and kaleidoscopic costumes, attracting over 20 000 performers. While the Carnival is renowned for its comical, often brazen social commentary, it also evokes an unshakable past. Heritage street names, minarets and the colourful houses of the Bo Kaap remind residents and visitors alike of the indelible legacy of slaves in the City – and the birth of the Carnival. Like the Starlite Youth Development, present-day minstrel troupes pay homage to their Klopse ancestors, embodying centuries of showmanship and struggle. The Carnival endures as a tribute to its thespian forefathers, who took Sundays off to march down the streets of Cape Town, playing instruments and singing songs.

Melvyn Matthews, director of the Carnival, emphasizes its historical and commemorative value. “The Carnival showcases the people’s love for singing and music,” he says.

Like many others, Matthews shares a family inheritance with the festival.

“I’m a fifth generation Carnival man. My grandfather was a minstrel back in the 1930s.”

Having been involved in Carnival affairs for many years, Melvyn maintains that he has never before seen a Cape Minstrel troupe of this magnitude.

“They have the ingredients of ten troupes combined and will take your breath away,” he says. Members of the coast-to-coast troupe hail from 40 rural communities throughout the Western Cape, from Malmesbury to Stellenbosch and Strand.

A bus garage in Paarl is the only venue large enough to accommodate the 2500-members troupe, yet the gruelling rehearsals are not the sole indicators of the minstrels’ devotion to their art. While the Carnival event is facilitated by the City, uniforms and instruments are funded and supplied by the performers and their families, most of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds.

On the morning of Tweede Nuwejaar, 30 buses will commute from the furthest reaches of the Cape, bringing the Starlite Youth Development to the streets. Here, with voices raised in song, they will “reclaim the City for a short while,” says Melvin.

The Starlite troupe boasts a 350-piece brass band, providing a herald of trumpets, the booming undertones of tubas and rounds of saxophone growls. The percussion division is made up of 150 cymbals, Ghoemas, rattles and shakers; meanwhile, the corals sing comic songs in Afrikaans known as moppies. Voorlopers and clowns lead the procession, while the voorsinger, flanked by the marching band, heralds each number.

The Tweede Nuwejaar celebration is not only a form of public entertainment, but also a showcase of minstrel talent; throughout January, troupes compete under strict codes for a first-class win. A well-turned out troupe must be uniformly clad the brightly-coloured satin suits, worn with patent white takkies. A bowtie and hat are compulsory.

After months of practice, The Starlite Youth Development is almost ready to gather and usher the spirit of the New Year in full-dress and fanfare. On 2 January at 1pm, the troupe, along with a host of others, will begin its march in satin suits and star-spangled parasols. The procession will follow the traditional 3.5km route used by Carnival troupes for over a century. Starting at Castle Bridge, the vibrant brigade will make its way toward Adderley Street, past the flower-sellers and the Cathedral. With swelling exuberance, the performers will continue up Wale street and end on the corner of Hout and Rose Streets in the Bo Kaap – mesmerising gathering spectators along the way.

“The Carnival gives everyone an opportunity to do extraordinary things,” says Melvyn, who feels that the Carnival should be formalised. “The Tweede Nuwejaar Cape Minstrel tradition plays an important role in preserving Cape Town’s cultural heritage and traditions for our future generations.”

While perhaps a day late, the Carnival is well worth the wait. Tourists and Holidaymakers don’t pack your bags just yet – the true zest of the Cape can be found in the masque and mimicry of the City’s most extravagant New Year’s carnival yet.