Producer Says African Dancers Are Not Rude

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30934, 15 December 1965, Page 22

Producer Says African Dancers Are Not Rude

For its Christchurch season, the “African Danc*s” company would change its title to “African Follies,” said the show’s producer, Mr Alfred Herbert, in Christchurch yesterday. Mr Herbert said he had decided to vary the show to make it more attractive to young audiences. The first half of each performance would comprise traditional African dances and songs, and the second half would be modern.

Mr Herbert said the 12 girls in the cast of 20 would dance bare-breasted in Christchurch, as they had elsewhere in New Zealand and Australia.

“We have had absolutely no criticism about the show being rude,” said Mr Herbert. “We have had no letters or telephone calls from women. They all go along thinking God knows what is going to happen, and after the first five minutes they have completely forgotten that the dancers are bare.

“When these girls dance with their breasts uncovered, that’s not rude. What is rude is when a white woman wears

a ball gown with her breasts showing ov* the top, or when she wears a skirt with a slit up the side and her suspenders or whatever showing.”

Mr Herbert said the dancers represented four South African tribes—Xhosa, Zulu, Basutu and Shangani. They would present their traditional village dances. “I’ve been running these shows for 14 years,” he said, “and they’ve been seen by about three million people. We’ve toured the Africas six times, and won the Oscar twice in South Africa for the best musical in 1959 and 1980.”

Mr Herbert is a travelling showcase for South Africa’s most glittering exportdiamonds. He wears three diamond rings. Two are large clusters and one is a solitaire, and Mr Herbert says they cost £lOOO altogether. One which he left at home is a 4.75 carat £4700 blue-white diamond which he said would cost about £7OOO in New Zealand. The “African Follies” will play for 10 days in Christchurch, opening at the Majestic Theatre on Friday.