gumboot dance, noun phrase

Origin:
U.S. English, EnglishShow more U.S. English gumboot Wellington boot + English dance.
A lively dance developed by Bhaca mine-workers and performed in unison, mimicking military marching and springing to attention, the dancers wearing gumboots which are given resounding rhythmical slaps with the hands. So gumboot dancer, also gumbooter, a performer of such a dance; gumboot dancing verbal noun and participial adjective. See also mine dance.
Note:
The gumboot dance is believed by some to be influenced by both Bhaca traditional dancing and by the German Schuhplattler (learned from German immigrants), and by others (see quotation 1980) to be rooted in the Zulu isicathulo (‘shoe’) dance. See also Bhaca.
[1953 Doke & Vilakazi Zulu-Eng. Dict. 103-cathulo...1. shoe, boot, sandal...3. Kind of ‘boot’ dance, indulged in by boys since European contact.]
1963 B. Modisane Blame Me on Hist. (1986) 281We had gone round the location shooting scenes of penny-whistle troupes, gum-boot dancers, singing troupes, shooting hundreds of feet of film to be shown to the Department of the Interior.
1974 S. Afr. Panorama Sept. 26The empty dustbins become drums, the lids become cymbals, grass brooms add to the syncopation and the gum boot dance is a natural and logical conclusion.
1974 P. Vilakazi in Unisa Eng. Studies Vol.12 No.2, 147Oh! exile means Never to see a Baca gumboot dance, never!
1980 D.B. Coplan Urbanization of African Performing Arts. 179Schools picked up new urban-influenced rural dances...One such dance, is’catulo (‘shoe’) was adopted by students in Durban, whence it spread to dock laborers who obtained spectacular rhythmic effects by slapping and pounding their rubber Wellington boots in performance. Such effects made it popular with mine and municipal laborers elsewhere, especially Johannesburg. There it became the ‘gumboot dance’.
1981 Pace Sept. 174Are we going to be shown happy gumboot-dancing and singing miners from the protectorates, flexing muscles and charcoal-stained bodies, entertaining white tourists?
1982 E. Prov. Herald 14 Dec. 24One of the most popular modern mine dances is the rousing gumboot dance — isicathulo — developed by the Bhaca. It bears some resemblance to Cossack and Schuhplattler dances in its body and leg-slapping rhythms.
1988 New Nation 11 Feb. 11He hoped the evening would include..gumbooters.
1990 Sunday Times 24 June 20Here’s a national leader who thinks nothing of gumboot dancing at his birthday party.
1990 J. Michell in Style Nov. 61Choreography that includes anything from gumboot dancing to toyi-toying.
1994 [see isicathamiya].
A lively dance developed by Bhaca mine-workers and performed in unison, mimicking military marching and springing to attention, the dancers wearing gumboots which are given resounding rhythmical slaps with the hands. So gumboot dancer, also gumbooter, a performer of such a dance; gumboot dancing verbal noun and participial adjective.
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19531990

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English
gumba-gumba, nounn.gumpaauw, nounn.
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