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Naro Giraffe Dance Group (uncredited)

Naro Giraffe Dance Group

The Naro Giraffe Dance Group of Ghanzi, Botswana was created in 1996 in an effort to showcase and preserve the culture of the San people, who have been forcibly relocated from hunter-gathering communities in the Kalahari Desert to government-run settlements. The Naro Giraffe Dance Group has traveled both locally in Botswana and internationally to demonstrate cultural activities that are important to the San such as making fire, shooting bows, using plants for food and medicine, playing traditional games and musical instruments, and dancing. They have participated in cultural exchanges with other indigenous groups such as the American Indians and the Sami people of Norway. An important ritual of the San culture, which dates back thousands of years and is still practiced today, is the healing trance dance.

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Watch Past Performances

Naro Giraffe Dance Group 7/2/11: Naro Giraffe Dance Group

Traditional dance from Botswana. Part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, this year celebrating Rhythm and Blues: Tell It Like It Is, The Peace Corps, and Colombia: The Nature of Culture.

Naro Giraffe Dance Group

Traditional dance from Botswana. Part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, this year celebrating Rhythm and Blues: Tell It Like It Is, The Peace Corps, and Colombia: The Nature of Culture.

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