South Africa--If you have been to the Folklife Festival before, you know each state and country has the opportunity to show off  its culture, including music and dance.  These take place in large pavilion type tents.  This years obvious winner in this category was South Africa.  The music was loud and the performance terrific.  People were squeezing in to see this unique dance and sounds.  You could watch the audiences' eyes just straining to get a better view or different look.  Toes were tapping and hands were clapping throughout the entire show.  Each performance would end with a rousing ovation.  Soon, the tent would slowly empty with each audience member commenting to the next how he/she felt about the show.  If a another performance was scheduled, the pavilion would again fill up quickly, with late arrivals settling for standing in the aisles!! 

Some of the other more interesting things found at the South Africa exhibit included bead making with beads so small you could barely see them. The South Africans also had the coolest series of  "mini murals" (see below). Everywhere you turned you'd see these large 4' by 16' paintings (some larger) depicting South African life and culture. 

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