1. GUMBOOTS vs. Stepping
Make the connection…

2. GUMBOOTS
Background 411
Translation: Gumboot is the name of the footwear that South African miners wore to protect them from flooding shafts.
The bosses discovered that providing gumboots (Wellington boots) to the workers was cheaper than attempting to drain the mines
Categorized as a World Dance and a Social Dance…why?
Culture of origin: The Gumboot dance developed from traditional African roots and has now become a part of urban South African working-class culture
Timeline: 1880s in the gold mines of South Africa
Way to survive isolation

3. GUMBOOTS
Reason for the dance…workers facing oppression and hardship at the mines, including punishment if they talked to each other while working, were forced to adapt and create new forms of communication and entertainment. Inside the mines, the workers used Gumboots to communicate with each other, by slapping their boots, stamping their feet, and rattling their ankle chains
What were the gumboot workers instruments?
What did they sing about?
What did they wear?
Who did they work with?

4. FUN FACTS
Some enlightened employers eventually allowed the best dancers to form troupes to represent the company, entertain visitors, and for public relations
Content was sung in Xhosa, Sotho, or Zulu which allowed the performers to sing their songs and publicly ridicule their bosses without their knowledge

5. Stepping or step dancing
is a form of percussive dance in which the participant's entire body is used as an instrument to produce complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps, spoken word, and hand claps
Generally performed by groups of three or more, often in arrangements that resemble military formations
Stepping may also draw from elements of gymnastics, break dance, tap dance, march, or African and Caribbean dance
Some forms of stepping include the use of props, such as canes, rhythm sticks and/or fire and blindfolds

6. NOW WE DANCE!
We will learn 3-4 Gumboot Dance Steps and incorporate them into a short combination ARE YOU READY! REMEMBER NO TALKING!