On Sunday around noon a congregation of the Zion Apostolic Church (ZAC) was seen on Jan van Riebeeck Drive with colourful gowns that swished and swirled in the dust kicked up by dancing feet.
It was an awe-inspiring sight that triggers one’s curiosity as to the meaning behind this.
The congregation’s head, Marshall Todowa, said the meaning of the dance ceremony to the beat of a drum and a horn, was due to a fellow member who had fallen ill.
“She was unable to attend today’s gathering because of her illness, and so we are engaging in this song and dance as part of a healing ceremony,” he explained.
It is also a form of prayer for God to watch over, protect and bless them, Todowa added.
In a study called Song, Dance And Worship In The Zionist Christian Churches: An Ethnomusicological Study Of African Music And Religion, by author Elliot Sagila Pewa (1997), he unpacks the relationship between music and worship in contemporary African society.
Pewa writes: “Dancing and singing together is a symbol of unity and solidarity and that is how the Zionists use dancing to fight evil.”
He also sites other authors that dance and song play an important role when group solidarity and harmony are most necessary.
“From the Zionist point of view, if a song is not danced to, it creates a feeling of emptiness which does not lead to the envisaged climax.
“The climax is the point where some worshippers begin to speak in tongues which is the attainment of the Holy Spirit called umoya.
“The arrival of the spirits means that the one who is possessed can start with the healing ritual. It is at this point where an outsider, that is, the westerner, can view Zionist worship as chaos.”
One thing is certain from the Paarl Post’s observation of this practice – each and every member partaking in this healing ceremony was driven by conviction, determination and unity.
