On a dark and stormy night in Gaborone twenty dancers, singers and drummers performed to a delighted but small audience at the No 1 Ladies' Opera House at Kgale Siding.

Jonathan Tawana, a final-year music student specializing in traditional stringed instruments, brought his group from the University of Pretoria for a rapid grand tour by bus to Botswana. After the Opera House they were due to give performances at Francistown, Maun, Kasane and then after a two day rest to see game, then back in Gaborone at the Fairgrounds on Thursday November. Perhaps by Thursday he will have found JŸrgen Schšpf's The Serankure and Music in Tl™kweng, Botswana.

Delayed because of the heavy traffic, they eventually performed non-stop for one hour, running through various song and dance routines in the eleven official languages of South Africa accompanied by two small, stocky bald drummers, then ended with only two of the promised three Christmas carols.

The audience was particularly turned on by a song and dance, "When we dance we just don't feel like that" ... and an arrangement of a traditional Kalanga song about two birds arguing. They also responded to the enthiusiastic conductor, Mbuso Ndlovu, who also participatred as a dancer and singer.

The University of Pretoria Choral Choir was eager for their rice and chicken, but a reprieve for the audience, after a standing ovation to the performers, came from the late arrival of a small crew from BTV wanting to film the show. The gratuitous encore allowed everyone to enjoy a number of new pieces plus the repetition of some great ones just performed.

Look for them on the 10th if you missed them at the Opera House.