When it begins, it is like a murmur against your eardrums, a fluttering in your heart. You feel a subtle vibration running through your body like a drumbeat. You turn your head to hear it more clearly but then you realize that it is a constant pulse, a deep rhythm pushing life through the veins of Limpopo. Some may say that this is the real heart of Africa, a primal force.
And the musicians of Limpopo echo the beat of the father drum. They allow its voice to reverberate through the hills and whisper to the valleys. Tucked into the hills of Tshivuyuni, the young men of the Vhutsila Indigenous Music band welcome you with a steady beat of marimba and drums mixing Shangaan and Venda musical stories to create a powerful experience for young and old.
Thomas Kubayi, the teacher, the voice of the ancient rhythmical tempo, completes the circle beneath the Marula Tree… and the music begins. The strong hands of Kenny Nonyana flex over the fire-warmed skin of the drums and his body becomes one with the instrument as he finds his rhythm. The other musicians tune in, finding their common pulse, as the songs of ancestors pour out of the marimba, the drums and mbira.
Your soul connects to the somehow familiar tune and your heart picks up the beat. As you sit on hand-carved benches around a crackling log fire, the sun turns the sky a hundred shades of gold and you find yourselves making music under the stars. You are invited to forget the racket of daily life and join in the ancient rhythms of the African soul, mixing Shangaan and Venda musical tales of old with your modern story to create musical magic.
Spend a few hours at the Vhutsila Art School in Tshivuyuni or they can enchant you and your guests at the lodge where you are staying. Experience the ‘Art-beat of Limpopo. Enquire now through LOVE LIMPOPO
