A legend after 35 years of boldly going where no white musician had ever gone before, Johnny Clegg spent a long weekend at Dartmouth College as a visiting Montgomery Fellow.
More than just an epic performer, Clegg has a true passion for and profound theoretical understanding of South African culture, politics and traditions. He spent a couple of hours in an intimate discussion with a small group of Dartmouth students discussing gender, power, oral tradition and the concept of physical space, while also demonstrating his mastery of Zulu language and dance.
Above all else, he is an incredibly warm and compassionate human being; close to 60 years old, but still has a youthful, mischievous twinkle in his eye as he recounts stories of his years as an activist and groundbreaking musician and dancer in South Africa.
I was fortunate enough to see Clegg live in Cape Town in the late nineties, and again in 2013 at a concert in Hanover. But it was a real privilege to hear him explain some of the cultural factors underpinning his intricate and mesmerizing art.
