An a cappella choral music performed primarily by Zulu men in South Africa. The word derives from the Zulu root -cathama, which means to stalk like a cat. Isicathamiya refers to the characteristic choreography in isicathamiya performance, which involves very light footwork often executed in a semi-crouched position with the toe of the foot barely skimming the floor. Isicathamiya choirs (ranging from four to over 20 singers, including at least one soprano and one alto, the leader usually singing tenor while the rest sing bass) perform at all-night weekend competitions (ingoma ebusuku) in hostels in and around Durban and Johannesburg. Each choir sings three songs; the entrance starts outside the hall and continues until all singers are in position on the stage. The performance proper consists of one song, usually lasting about 15 minutes, with a recessional that takes the performers back out of the hall. Choir members are formally dressed in exactly the same way, this being one of the criteria with which they are judged.
Isicathamiya began in the area of the coal mines in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands during the 1920s and 30s, but it is clear that some features such as polished uniforms, often with white gloves and spats, are rooted in earlier performing practices, in particular, 19th-century American blackface minstrel shows. But indigenous musical practices cannot be undermined in determining the history of isicathamiya. Choral partsinging is arguably the basis of all music-making among the Nguni peoples (Zulu, Xhosa and Swazi), who historically inhabit this eastern region of South Africa.
Isicathamiya, Heritage HT313 (1986) [incl. notes]
C. Ndhlovu: ‘Scathamiya: a Zulu Male Vocal Tradition’, Symposium on Ethnomusicology VIII: Durban 1989, 45–8
V. Erlmann: African Stars: Studies in Black South African Performance (Chicago, 1991)
V. Erlmann: Nightsong: Performance, Power and Practice in South Africa (Chicago, 1996)
JANET TOPP FARGION