Cape Town - Beautiful harmonies fill the rehearsal room as waves of brightly coloured costumes swoosh from side to side in a riot of sound and dance. The melody is familiar it is British pop star Ed Sheeran’s megahit Shape of You.
But when these choristers start to sing, they deliver a surprising isiZulu rendition of the hit. The effect is as magical and goose-bump-inducing in real life as it is on the video that went viral of the choir performing the hit track.
The video of the Ndlovu Youth Choir, accompanied by Grammy-winning South African flautist Wouter Kellerman, was shared far and wide and today, as the singers strut their stuff at the Ndlovu Miracle Theatre in Elandsdoorn in Limpopo, it’s clear why it was such a hit.
Wouter posted the video on social media and it wasn’t long before it had reached more than two million views.
WATCH IT HERE:
“It sunk in a week after the video had gone viral,” says bubbly lead vocalist Thulisile Masanabo (21).
“It’s mind-blowing. When I go to the store people say, ‘You don’t look like the person who’s out there, and sings and dances’. What’s even more remarkable is that they started performing professionally only in 2017.
The Ed Sheeran remake was the brainchild of Ralf Schmitt (36), the conductor who formed the choir nine years ago. They covered local songs but Ralf decided they should try something new and he liked the Caribbean flavour of Shape of You.
“It has that marimba sound and I immediately thought it’s a piece that would lend itself to the choir,” he says.
Ralf got in touch with the publishers of the song and they gave him the go-ahead for the choir to do a remake. He came up with a few new lines and brainstormed them with choir manager and one of its members, Sandile Majola (24). It fell to choir member Tabang Sekele (26) to come up with dance moves to accompany the music.
Ralf also asked Wouter to collaborate on the song because he thought the choir and flute combination would be a match made in heaven. Eventually they all got working and filmed the video in Maropeng.
“It was challenging because I had to find the right words to use and the right words to fit with the rhythm of the song and the whole flow,” Sandile says.
“I used some kasi slang to make it catchy so young people could relate to it, especially in the townships.”
Wouter posted the video on Facebook and within a week it had reached a million views. When it went viral, Ralf wondered how to convey to the young stars just what an effect they were having when many didn’t have data or even phones.
“I copied the comments and put them on paper, which we printed out for them. I told them this is what the rest of the world thinks of you and what you created.”
FROM BEING BULLIED TO BECOMING A STAR
For singers like Thulisile, receiving this kind of validation has been a massive confidence boost. She remembers being bullied for being too skinny and for the way she spoke as she was growing up, so singing in front of people was tough for her. But once she joined the choir, all this changed.
“I used to think maybe my voice isn’t right or my voice is too squeaky or just not normal. I started singing in the back row because I lacked self-esteem,” she recalls. “Looking back to six years ago, I wouldn’t have had the strength to stand in front of the camera and just sing.”
Thulisile remembers her first time trying out for the choir.
“I was on my way from school and they were having auditions. They would just come out and call everyone in to audition – even if you couldn’t sing, just to take a chance.
“The best part of being in the choir is being able to do what you love without being judged,” she says.
Sitting behind the keyboard, Ralf calls out directions in isiZulu or “Zulungu”, as many of his choristers call it, referring to his “white man’s” attempts at speaking isiZulu. Ralf, who has a distinguished background singing in the Drakensberg Boys Choir and Kearsney College Choir, drives the two hours from Johannesburg twice a week to teach the kids in this small rural town.
“The challenge of doing it out here and seeing the reward is a hell of a kick,” he says.
“There’s a lot more to South Africa than Sandton, Rosebank and Hyde Park. You need to see what’s out there and you’ve got to try to make a contribution where you can.”
A big thanks to the super talented @CTannian who visited us this week and captured this beautiful image of our choir in the streets of our hometown, Moutse. #Africa #ThisIsHome pic.twitter.com/Lwohnv5ww9
— Ndlovu Youth Choir (@ChoirAfrica) March 3, 2019
The kids are as committed as Ralf and for two hours, twice a week, 40 young people ranging in age from 16 to their early twenties gather to rehearse. Ralf believes it’s important to keep all the members as involved as possible, which is why so many were involved in the Shape of You remake.
“Although I did the musical arrangement, the translation and the whole process is a group collaboration with all these kids,” he says.
“What we’ve tried to do is create employment as the project grows.”
They’re hoping to start a training choir soon, headed by Thulisile, to train up-and-coming members of the choir. The group has travelled to the Netherlands, Germany and Scotland to perform for donors who’ve sponsored previous projects run by the Ndlovu Care Group, founded in 1994 by Dutch physician Dr Hugo Templeman and his wife, Liesje, and they’ve been invited back to Germany next year to take part in an African festival.
It’s been an amazing year and we are off again. Holland and Germany here we come! #NdlovuMagic #Proud #AfricanAmbassadors @TjommieFnd @ndlovucaregroup pic.twitter.com/MGMf9Dihvb
— Ndlovu Youth Choir (@ChoirAfrica) May 22, 2019
Since the release of the video bookings have been streaming in and Ralf hopes this will mean great things for the kids’ financial future.
For Ralf, the biggest reward isn’t the recognition the singers have earned but the change in their confidence levels.
“When you start treating these youngsters like artists and musicians and not just as poor kids from a charity programme, when you say, ‘Actually you’re professional, you’re someone, you’re something’, you see how they proudly raise their chests. That’s quite something.”
2019 has been an amazing year so far! We have had some phenomenal experiences and performed with some special people. Thank you to everyone who continues to support the journey we are on.https://t.co/xH3yONjQhp#music #community pic.twitter.com/MdgiCDeOYw
— Ndlovu Youth Choir (@ChoirAfrica) May 9, 2019
