The French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) has launched Pantsula, My World, a cultural preservation and transmission initiative dedicated to documenting, strengthening and celebrating Pantsula as one of South Africa’s defining artistic traditions.
The project builds on almost three decades of collaboration between IFAS and Via Katlehong Dance, supporting efforts to preserve Pantsula not only as a dance style, but as a cultural practice shaped by music, language, fashion, identity and community.
Emerging in South African townships during the 1980s, Pantsula became a powerful form of cultural expression during apartheid, offering young people a language of creativity, resilience and self-determination. Its influence continues to shape contemporary South African culture, with its movement vocabulary and aesthetic informing genres such as kwaito and amapiano.
Pantsula, My World fulfils the vision of the late Buru Mohlabane, co-founder of Via Katlehong Dance and one of the country’s leading Pantsula practitioners, who dedicated his career to developing a methodology that would ensure the dance could be taught, documented and transmitted to future generations. A festival celebrating his legacy will take place in his hometown of Katlehong on 6 August 2026.
In the lead-up to the festival, the programme includes masterclasses, facilitator training, school outreach, workshops and roundtable discussions. Together, these activities aim to strengthen Pantsula’s place within South Africa’s cultural landscape while equipping a new generation of practitioners, educators and community leaders to carry the tradition forward.
Read the full press release here.
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