Heritage Day Outfit: Classic Xibelani or a Modern Twist?
Will you wear a classic pleated xibelani this Heritage Day, or give Tsonga heritage a modern twist? Show us how you wear it this year.
Heritage Day is on Thursday 24 September, and in Tsonga families across South Africa and beyond, outfit planning has started. For many, the big decision is whether to wear a classic xibelani or give it a modern twist.
What is a xibelani?
A xibelani is, in the words of the Indigenous African Music Transcription Project, “a traditional skirt worn by Tsonga women, pleated carefully to enhance the motion of the wearer’s hips.” It is also known as tinguvu, and it remains part of Tsonga women’s traditional attire.
The same project describes the skirt as heavy, and made with care so that dancers can move freely in it. Skirts of old, it notes, were made with various fibres, wool, strings and grass. Writing in The Conversation, Owen Seda and Motshidisi Manyeneng describe a skirt gathered at the waist, accentuated at the top of the hips, with many layers of fabric that create a distinctive volume when the wearer dances.
The classic: made for the xibelani dance
The xibelani is made for movement: dancing to mbila xylophones, drums, clapping and call-and-response song. According to the transcription project, the dancer shakes the hips in time with the rhythm, but the whole body guides the movement, and women would take turns to dance in front of the musicians. Werksmans, in a Heritage Month note, describes xibelani as an indigenous dance performed by the Tsonga women of Limpopo.
The modern twist
The xibelani has inspired designers well beyond the dance floor. In 2018 Thabisa Mjo’s Tutu 2.0 pendant light, which Bizcommunity described as mingling the ballet tutu with “hallmarks of an African counterpart, the Xibelani skirt”, was voted Most Beautiful Object in South Africa at Design Indaba. The light used thin steel rods as a frame, woven strands of wool and hundreds of red and black beads, and the title was decided by public vote. Bizcommunity quoted Mjo: “My primary target market is always those whose cultures are represented in my designs.”
Performers such as Sho Madjozi have worn the skirt shorter or longer and paired it with modern fashion. Seda and Manyeneng argue that she uses popular urban youth culture to spread Tsonga xibelani culture in a national space.
Quick facts
- A xibelani is a pleated traditional skirt worn by Tsonga women, also known as tinguvu.
- It is made for dance, with mbila xylophones, drums, clapping and call-and-response song.
- Older skirts were made with fibres, wool, strings and grass.
- Thabisa Mjo’s xibelani-inspired Tutu 2.0 light was voted Most Beautiful Object in South Africa in 2018.
Our question
How will you wear Tsonga heritage this Heritage Day?
- A full, classic xibelani, the way your elders wore it?
- A modern twist, shorter, mixed with streetwear, or reworked by a designer?
- Something else entirely, a beaded accessory, a headwrap, a family heirloom?
Tell us in the comments, and if you are happy to, share who made your outfit. Local makers deserve the shout-out.
Words to know
Words to caption your photo:
| Xitsonga | Meaning | Say it like |
|---|---|---|
| xibelani | pleated Tsonga skirt made for dance | shee-beh-LAH-nee |
| swiambalo | clothes | swee-ahm-BAH-loh |
| Avuxeni | hello, good morning (respectful, any time) | ah-voo-SHE-ni |
| Minjhani? | how are you? (to adults or a group) | min-JAH-ni |
| Ndza khensa | thank you, I am grateful | ndzah KHEN-sah |
| nkateko | happiness, good luck | nkah-TEH-koh |
| Hi swona | all right, that’s it | hee SWOH-nah |
The x in xibelani and Xitsonga is said like the English “sh”.
In everyday conversation
Meeting friends at a Heritage Day gathering? This greeting from our Xitsonga course will carry you:
- Avuxeni! Minjhani? Hello! How are you?
- Ndzi pfukile, inkomu. Wena? I’m fine, thank you. And you?
- Hi kona. We are well.
Frequently asked questions
What is a xibelani?
A xibelani is a traditional skirt worn by Tsonga women, pleated carefully to enhance the motion of the wearer’s hips. It is worn for dancing and is also known as tinguvu.
What is the xibelani dance?
It is a dance performed by Tsonga women in which the dancer shakes her hips in time with the rhythm while the whole body guides the movement, traditionally to mbila xylophones, drums, clapping and call-and-response song.
What is another name for the xibelani skirt?
The xibelani skirt is also known as tinguvu.
Read more from the Indigenous African Music Transcription Project’s xibelani page and Bizcommunity’s report on Thabisa Mjo’s Tutu 2.0, or see another Heritage Day outfit story, Umbhaco and the isiXhosa Words Behind a Heritage Day Outfit.
Find more Xitsonga on the Xitsonga hub. To say your caption with confidence, start a free 5-minute Xitsonga lesson, then keep going with the Xitsonga: Starter Pack (A1).
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Question for you What is a xibelani?
Do you know this tradition, a different version of it, or the word for it in another language? Share it below.