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IOL News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- IOL News
South Africa's amapiano has the world dancing
Dancer and choreographer Bontle Moloi, also known as Bontle Modiselle, centre, dances during an amapiano class at her dance studio in Johannesburg. Image: Michele Spatari / AFP AT A studio in central Johannesburg, dancers from various countries moved together to the rhythm of South Africa's amapiano sound that is taking social media by storm. With energy and purpose, they rehearsed a sequence in the style of the house music subgenre born on the streets of the townships around 15 years ago and now showcased by stars like Beyonce and Tyla. Soweto's Finest Dance Studio draws dancers of all kinds - from ballerinas to party-goers - to learn the amapiano moves sweeping the world through TikTok tutorials and challenges. Amapiano dance craze from South Africa goes global — CGTN Africa (@cgtnafrica) June 4, 2025 Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Amapiano "is not about the words but you feel it inside of you," said Venus Chidinma, 25, a professional dancer from New York who studied at the studio for several weeks. "It doesn't matter where you come from, what race, what colour - you feel it and you have to just move. It's just from inside you," said the Harvard graduate. Central to the sound is the log drum, a distinctive bass that sets it apart from other forms of dance music. It blends soulful jazz and deep house with 1990s kwaito to create a local genre with no strict rules. The dance style mixes up others, from the coordinated quick steps of South African panstula to the "baleka" move that closely resembles Michael Jackson's iconic moonwalk. "Its authenticity to South Africa makes it stand out," said Thando Nhlapho, the 21-year-old professional dancer and choreographer at the landmark Soweto studio. Nhlapho, still glistening from her latest class, creates and posts dance videos on social media to "get my name out there". "I don't only dance to amapiano but I choose to use amapiano as a marketing strategy because it is now the trending thing, the hot thing globally," she said. Global language "Amapiano is so powerful, it's taken over Africa," said Emmanuel Mwenya, 25, a choreographer from Lusaka. "In Zambia, we dance and sing along to the music even though we do not understand the lyrics," said Mwenya, who spent a week in South Africa to learn the style. "We do amapiano but it's never original. So I thought I'd take the time to come here to learn something original," he said at the studio. Amapiano is its own language, said the professional dancer who also uses social media to promote his work. "Whether you speak Zulu, Bemba, Nyanja, English... it all connects, no matter where you're from." This spirit of inclusiveness comes to life on social media, where people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures unite in dance challenges, like the one for "Tshwala Bami" on TikTok that was taken up by US performer Jason Derulo. "My mom is 46 years old today and even at her age, I still teach her some TikTok dance challenges," said 21-year-old South African Snethemba Mathe, her face lit up. Grammy award winning South African musician Tyla. Image: Instagram Xiaoying Zhan, 30, brought three friends visiting from China with her to a class. Zhan, who is from China but now lives in South Africa, said she caught on to the amapiano beat during the Covid-19 lockdown around five years ago. "I was enjoying the music and that is why I started dancing to amapiano," she said. "The music has a lot of upbeat tempo," she said, listing South Africa's DBN Gogo and Uncle Waffles, originally from neighbouring Eswatini, as among her favourite artists, but only after Tyla.
Al Bawaba
03-04-2025
- General
- Al Bawaba
Greece: 2 children among 7 killed in migrant boat sinking incident
Published April 3rd, 2025 - 08:55 GMT ALBAWABA - Greek coast guard confirmed the death of seven people, including two children, after a migrant boat capsized in the Aegean Sea off the Greek island of Lesbos, AFP reported Thursday. According to the coast guard, 23 others were saved on Thursday when an inflatable boat carrying migrants sank. AFP detailed citing the coast guard who said at first four bodies were discovered but later on another three bodies were found raising the death toll in the migrant boat capsize to seven. Migrant boat sinking kills four in Greece: coast guard — CGTN Africa (@cgtnafrica) April 3, 2025 © 2000 - 2025 Al Bawaba (
Asia Times
13-02-2025
- Business
- Asia Times
Chinese media in a good news, soft power push into Africa
Every year, China's minister of foreign affairs embarks on what has now become a customary odyssey across Africa. The tradition began in the late 1980s and sees Beijing's top diplomat visit several African nations to reaffirm ties. The most recent visit, by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, took place in mid-January 2025 and included stops in Namibia, the Republic of the Congo, Chad and Nigeria. For over two decades, China's burgeoning influence in Africa was symbolized by grand displays of infrastructural might. From Nairobi's gleaming towers to expansive ports dotting the continent's shorelines, China's investments on the continent have surged, reaching over US$700 billion by 2023 under the Belt and Road Initiative, China's massive global infrastructure development strategy. But in recent years, Beijing has sought to expand beyond roads and skyscrapers and has made a play for the hearts and minds of African people. With a deft mix of persuasion, power and money, Beijing has turned to African media as a potential conduit for its geopolitical ambitions. Partnering with local outlets and journalist-training initiatives, China has expanded its media footprint in Africa. Its purpose? To change perceptions and anchor the idea of Beijing as a provider of resources and assistance, and a model for development and governance. The ploy appears to be paying dividends, with evidence of sections of the media giving favorable coverage to China. But as someone researching the reach of China's influence overseas, I am beginning to see a nascent backlash against pro-Beijing reporting in countries across the continent. China's approach to Africa rests mainly on its use of 'soft power,' manifested through things like the media and cultural programs. Beijing presents this as 'win-win cooperation' – a quintessential Chinese diplomatic phrase mixing collaboration with cultural diplomacy. Key to China's media approach in Africa are two institutions: the China Global Television Network (CGTN) Africa and Xinhua News Agency. CGTN Africa, which was set up in 2012, offers a Chinese perspective on African news. The network produces content in multiple languages, including English, French and Swahili, and its coverage routinely portrays Beijing as a constructive partner, reporting on infrastructure projects, trade agreements and cultural initiatives. Moreover, Xinhua News Agency, China's state news agency, now boasts 37 bureaus on the continent. By contrast, Western media presence in Africa remains comparatively limited. The BBC, long embedded due to the United Kingdom's colonial legacy, still maintains a large footprint among foreign outlets, but its influence is largely historical rather than expanding. And as Western media influence in Africa has plateaued, China's state-backed media has grown exponentially. This expansion is especially evident in the digital domain. On Facebook, for example, CGTN Africa commands a staggering 4.5 million followers, vastly outpacing CNN Africa, which has 1.2 million — a stark indicator of China's growing soft power reach. China's zero-tariff trade policy with 33 African countries showcases how it uses economic policies to mold perceptions. And state-backed media outlets like CGTN Africa and Xinhua are central to highlighting such projects and pushing an image of China as a benevolent partner. Stories of an 'all-weather' or steadfast China-Africa partnership are broadcast widely, and the coverage frequently depicts the grand nature of Chinese infrastructure projects. Amid this glowing coverage, the labor disputes, environmental devastation or debt traps associated with some Chinese-built infrastructure are less likely to make headlines. Questions of media veracity notwithstanding, China's strategy is bearing fruit. A Gallup poll from April 2024 showed China's approval ratings climbing in Africa as US ratings dipped. Afrobarometer, a pan-African research organization, further reports that public opinion of China in many African countries is positively glowing, an apparent validation of China's discourse engineering. Further, studies have shown that pro-Beijing media influences perceptions. A 2023 survey of Zimbabweans found that those who were exposed to Chinese media were more likely to have a positive view of Beijing's economic activities in the country. China's foreign minister Wang Yi, center, holds hands with his counterparts, Senegal's Yassine Fall, left, and the Republic of the Congo's Jean-Claude Gakosso, after a joint news conference. Photo: AP via The Conversation / Andy Wong The effectiveness of China's media strategy becomes especially apparent in the integration of local media. Through content-sharing agreements, African outlets have disseminated Beijing's editorial line and stories from Chinese state media, often without the due diligence of journalistic skepticism. Meanwhile, StarTimes, a Chinese media company, delivers a steady stream of curated depictions of translated Chinese movies, TV shows and documentaries across 30 countries in Africa. But China is not merely pushing its viewpoint through African channels. It's also taking a lead role in training African journalists, thousands of whom have been lured by all-expenses-paid trips to China under the guise of 'professional development.' On such junkets, they receive training that critics say obscures the distinction between skill-building and propaganda, presenting them with perspectives conforming to Beijing's line. Ethiopia exemplifies how China's infrastructure investments and media influence have fostered a largely favorable perception of Beijing. State media outlets, often staffed by journalists trained in Chinese-run programs, consistently frame China's role as one of selfless partnership. Coverage of projects like the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway line highlights the benefits while omitting reports on the substandard labor conditions tied to such projects — an approach reflective of Ethiopia's media landscape, where state-run outlets prioritize economic development narratives and rely heavily on Xinhua as a primary news source. In Angola, Chinese oil companies extract considerable resources and channel billions into infrastructure projects. The local media, again regularly staffed by journalists who have accepted invitations to visit China, often portray Sino-Angolan relations in glowing terms. Allegations of corruption, the displacement of local communities and environmental degradation are relegated to side notes in the name of common development. Despite all of the Chinese influence, media perspectives in Africa are far from uniformly pro-Beijing. In Kenya, voices of dissent are beginning to rise, and media professionals immune to Beijing's allure are probing the true costs of Chinese financial undertakings. In South Africa, media watchdogs are sounding alarms, pointing to a gradual attrition of press freedoms that come packaged with promises of growth and prosperity. In Ghana, anxiety about Chinese media influence permeates more than the journalism sector, as officials have raised concerns about the implications of Chinese media cooperation agreements. Wariness in Ghana became especially apparent when local journalists started reporting that Chinese-produced content was being prioritized over domestic stories in state media. Beneath the surface of China's well-publicized projects and media offerings, and the African countries or organizations that embrace Beijing's line, a significant countervailing force exists that challenges uncritical representations and pursues rigorous journalism. Yet as CGTN Africa and Xinhua become entrenched in African media ecosystems, a pertinent question comes to the forefront: Will Africa's journalists and press be able to uphold their impartiality and retain intellectual independence? As China continues to make strategic inroads in Africa, it's a fair question. Mitchell Gallagher is PhD candidate in political science, Wayne State University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
