Ballet and traditional Zulu Indlamu dance have very different origins, but both date back to the 17th century and originated from the royal family. When colonization occurred in South Africa, ballet was introduced. Even though Indlamu dance was created in South Africa, ballet was the only dance performed in major concert theaters as it was rated higher and has far more written about it than any other dance form over the years '20s and '40s. This was due to South Africa's socio-political climate caused by colonialism and apartheid. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay According to Homan, when the Italian Florentine Catherine de Medici married the French King Henry II, the Italian and French cultures integrated and this is where the story begins the ballet. (2010:1724) During the 16th century France had many conflicts – involving civil and religious issues – the French kings looked to the arts to assuage the violence that was the result of these conflicts. (Homan 2010:1725) In the 17th century, ballet remained central in the court where the Florentine French queen Catherine de Medici increased the number of ballets performed at court and her son, King Louis XIII, became a great dancer and later his heir, King Louis. XIV. (Homan 2010:1727) To increase the authority of the King, the image and body of the King in ballet became important as his body was seen as indivisible and sacred. "He ruled, the theorists claimed, by divine right: he was already, by birth and blood, closer to the angels and to God." (Homan 2010:1728)King Louis XIV devoted himself to dancing. She danced in over forty major productions starting in 1651 at the age of thirteen. She didn't dance “just for a youthful adventure; it was a matter of state." (Homan 2010:1728) “These performances flattered his couriers and captured the hearts and minds of his people” (Homan 2010:1728) King Louis XIV used noble dances to boost his confidence and ambition, in various performances such as Ballet du Temps (1655) where he portrayed War, Europe, the sun and the god Apollo (suggesting power and empire). (Homan 2010:1728) “Under Louis XIV, dance became much more than a blunt instrument with which to display royal opulence and power. It made him an integral part of court life, a symbol and requirement of the aristocratic identity so deeply rooted and internalized that the art of ballet would remain forever linked to his reign. It was at Louis' court that the practices of royal spectacle and aristocratic social dance were distilled and refined; it was under his auspices that the rules and conventions that govern the art of classical ballet were born.” (Homan 2010:1728) He also founded “the Académie Royale de Danse to improve the level of amateur and professional dance and to establish scientific principles for the art. “ (Baker, Gaynor & Hilton 1981:9) In the 17th century, while the beginnings of ballet were taking place in France, a new dance called Indlamu was flourishing in South Africa. Another similarity of these two very different types of dance is that they both come from a royal lineage. Ballet originating from French kings such as King Louis XIV and Indlamu originating during the reign of King Shaka, famous for being a great king and conqueror. “Zulu Indlamu clothing gained its greatest visibility during the Shaka regime in the 1800s.” (Shawn Manyeneng, 2015) Although both of these dance phenomena formed simultaneously over time, where there is a surplus of transcripts and archives of the ballet and especially its history, there appears to be a dearth of writings on Indlamu dance. “Through colonialism, domination and exploitationeconomic control systems were introduced together with the political ones. African culture has always been seen as vicious and primitive and has led Africans to flee their traditions and embrace Western cultures. As a result, most of the traditions were lost and were not preserved for future reference by African generations. Most of the available documentation on traditional costumes focuses primarily on colorful images and illustrations, without much supporting literature explaining the evolution of customs and construction processes. (Shawn Manyeneng, 2015) Therefore I had to conduct my own research on what I could find about various elements of the dance form, such as the Indlamu costume, to substantiate my work. When colonialism occurred in South Africa in 1652, they brought their European dances with them. For Europeans, dance was a social form of communication, recreation and entertainment like folk or court dances. “Darwin's theories of evolution reinforced the European attitude of racial and cultural superiority. The culture of the indigenous black population was perceived as simple, underdeveloped, and generally at a lower level of “civilization” than that of the European settlers. Their music and dance were seen as primitive and not worthy of understanding or emulation. These attitudes have persisted and are still present to this day. The ethnocentrism of a large percentage of the dance community has allowed them to see indigenous black dance only as "repetitive" and "boring", instead of learning to appreciate the structural subtleties, the rhythmic complexity, the intricate footwork , the sudden changes in weight and the counterpoint of juxtaposed sounds. body parts." Hence the lack of writings on traditional South African dances such as Indlamu, caused by the colonialist attitude of the settlers which caused revulsion towards the culture of the native South Africans. (Glasser, 1991:114-115) According to Manyeneng , the Zulu Indlamu dance originated on the battle fronts. It was later a dance used to celebrate events such as the victory of a war and the inauguration of a king. Shawn Manyeneng, 2015) This traditional dance was heavily influenced by the king Shaka. "All cultural experts agreed that the strong warrior culture embodied in the history of the Zulu nation by Shaka's military and organizational skills played an important role in the evolution and development of the Zulu Indlamu custom." ) “Originally, the Zulu indlamu dance was a military training exercise, which was intended to teach and instill discipline in the men of the Zulu nation. It also prepared members of the regiment for war (Asante, 2000: 68-69)” ( Shawn Manyeneng, 2015) Just like ballet and how King Louis XIV represented things like “war” or “Apollo (suggesting power and empire), Indlamu artists also symbolize war and power. “The Zulu dance, and particularly the warrior dance, served as a symbol of power representing self-control and dominance (Brill, 1977:113); consequently, the Zulu Indlamu dance emerged from the war dances of the Zulu warriors (Dlamini, 2008).” (Shawn Manyeneng, 2015) Similar to the origins of ballet, performed by royalty such as King Louis XIII and King Louis XIV, royalty such as kings also performed. “Leopard skin is used exclusively on the costumes of the king and members of the royal family. These pieces are worn around the head and as a collar. (Shawn Manyeneng, 2015) According to Friedman, the arts of South Africa were shaped by the socio-political climate of colonialism and apartheid. Apartheid was an official system of government that began in 1948 but before such laws were made official,.