Kalanga women’s dancing group. Photo: Wiki CC
The Rain Ritual
The Kalanga tribe of Zimbabwe and Botswana have a traditional dance specifically conducted for rainmaking. The ritual usually conducted in August comes with two dances: the hoso and the hosana, which feature heavy use of drums.
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To dance the hoso, you have to be male. The dancers have a specific kilt for the dance that can have any other colour apart from red, as red is considered the colour of blood and death- an antithesis for the rainmaking ritual.
They also wear headdresses made of ostrich feathers and hold in their hand a flywhisk and hand rattle. They then dance at an arena surrounded by supplicants, who sing, dance and ululate to encourage the dancers.
