Improving the World... One Interaction At A Time.
A Performers Guide to Cultural Interactions
By William Draven
As an actor at a major motion picture studio, and theme park in Hollywood, as well as a magician I frequently get the opportunity to entertain for from all over the world. A year ago or so a document was released within our entertainment department that outlined different countries, and some good information you can use to create meaningful, lasting encounters with their people.
I immediately saw the advantage of this information for the magician community because what are we if not entertainers? We can use just about any tool at our disposal to help create that one magic moment with our audience that can make it even that much more memorable. So I got permission to share the information with you. Of course this project will take some time to post up, so I'll be updating this based upon two factors. The first being how well received, and appreciated it is from you the community, and the second how relevant the community feels this information is as applied to their lives. That is to say if not encouraged, I won't keep it up. Otherwise, I'll post new threads titled: "Improving The World: {country name}" that that specific file relates to.
Without any further delay, I bring you our next country: South Africa
Improve the World: South Africa
Country: South Africa
Continental Location: Southern Africa
What They Call Themselves: South Africans
Official Primary Language: English (see cultural notes below)
Prominent Cities: Pretoria [capital]; Johannesburg, Cape Town.
Famous/ Historical Sites: Table Mountain & Cape of Good Hope (Cape Town), Cradle of Humankind.
Currency: Rand
Cultural Notes:
Prominent People/ Celebrities: Nelson Mandela (former President, Nobel Peace Prize winner); Charlize Theron (Oscar winning actress); Hugh Masekela (trumpeter, “Grazing In The Grass”); Ladysmith Black Mambazo (Grammy winning Zulu vocal group associated with Paul Simon; Sesame Street); Basil Rathbone (actor, raised in Britain; Sherlock Holmes).
-South Africa has three capital cities: Cape Town, the largest of the three, is the legislative capital; Pretoria is the administrative capital; and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital.
-Both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans touch the South African coastline.
-Cape Town and the surrounding areas were formerly a Dutch colony. The Afrikaans language, a simplified version of Dutch, is still spoken in many places in South Africa. The British also held South Africa as a colony, so English is widely spoken and locals drive on the left side of the road. South Africa has eleven official languages: Pedi, Sotho, Tswana, Swazi, Venda, Tsonga, Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Xhosa, and Zulu. In this regard it is second only to Bolivia and India in number.
-South Africa hosted the FIFA 2010 World Cup Finals from June 11 to July 11. This soccer tournament is the world’s premier international team sporting event. It will be the first time the Finals would be hosted on the African continent. The host country automatically qualifies for the tournament. This was a huge point of national pride for South Africa.
-Cricket is a popular sport in South Africa. They hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
-South Africa has produced many of today’s top golfing pros including: Bobby Locke, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, and Trevor Immelman and one senior pro considered an all-time great. Gary Player (one of five Career Grand Slam winners).
-The Cradle of Humankind is located just north west of Johannesburg. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the large number of humanoid fossils that has been found here. 13 well explored fossil sites and over 200 caves are located within the cradle which offers a variety of tourist attractions.
-Sun City is a popular Vegas style resort town complete with casino, theme park, and golf courses designed by Gary Player (Note: It was the artistic/ entertainment epicenter of the Anti-apartheid movement of the 1980’s. Some artists boycotted, others played it, leading to tension in the entertainment community and international scandal. This aspect of its history is for your information and is not recommended for use in discussions).
What To Avoid:
References to Apartheid, the systematic segregation which only ended in 1994.
A Performers Guide to Cultural Interactions
By William Draven
As an actor at a major motion picture studio, and theme park in Hollywood, as well as a magician I frequently get the opportunity to entertain for from all over the world. A year ago or so a document was released within our entertainment department that outlined different countries, and some good information you can use to create meaningful, lasting encounters with their people.
I immediately saw the advantage of this information for the magician community because what are we if not entertainers? We can use just about any tool at our disposal to help create that one magic moment with our audience that can make it even that much more memorable. So I got permission to share the information with you. Of course this project will take some time to post up, so I'll be updating this based upon two factors. The first being how well received, and appreciated it is from you the community, and the second how relevant the community feels this information is as applied to their lives. That is to say if not encouraged, I won't keep it up. Otherwise, I'll post new threads titled: "Improving The World: {country name}" that that specific file relates to.
Without any further delay, I bring you our next country: South Africa
Improve the World: South Africa
Country: South Africa
Continental Location: Southern Africa
What They Call Themselves: South Africans
Official Primary Language: English (see cultural notes below)
Prominent Cities: Pretoria [capital]; Johannesburg, Cape Town.
Famous/ Historical Sites: Table Mountain & Cape of Good Hope (Cape Town), Cradle of Humankind.
Currency: Rand
Cultural Notes:
Prominent People/ Celebrities: Nelson Mandela (former President, Nobel Peace Prize winner); Charlize Theron (Oscar winning actress); Hugh Masekela (trumpeter, “Grazing In The Grass”); Ladysmith Black Mambazo (Grammy winning Zulu vocal group associated with Paul Simon; Sesame Street); Basil Rathbone (actor, raised in Britain; Sherlock Holmes).
-South Africa has three capital cities: Cape Town, the largest of the three, is the legislative capital; Pretoria is the administrative capital; and Bloemfontein is the judicial capital.
-Both the Atlantic and Indian Oceans touch the South African coastline.
-Cape Town and the surrounding areas were formerly a Dutch colony. The Afrikaans language, a simplified version of Dutch, is still spoken in many places in South Africa. The British also held South Africa as a colony, so English is widely spoken and locals drive on the left side of the road. South Africa has eleven official languages: Pedi, Sotho, Tswana, Swazi, Venda, Tsonga, Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Xhosa, and Zulu. In this regard it is second only to Bolivia and India in number.
-South Africa hosted the FIFA 2010 World Cup Finals from June 11 to July 11. This soccer tournament is the world’s premier international team sporting event. It will be the first time the Finals would be hosted on the African continent. The host country automatically qualifies for the tournament. This was a huge point of national pride for South Africa.
-Cricket is a popular sport in South Africa. They hosted the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
-South Africa has produced many of today’s top golfing pros including: Bobby Locke, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, and Trevor Immelman and one senior pro considered an all-time great. Gary Player (one of five Career Grand Slam winners).
-The Cradle of Humankind is located just north west of Johannesburg. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to the large number of humanoid fossils that has been found here. 13 well explored fossil sites and over 200 caves are located within the cradle which offers a variety of tourist attractions.
-Sun City is a popular Vegas style resort town complete with casino, theme park, and golf courses designed by Gary Player (Note: It was the artistic/ entertainment epicenter of the Anti-apartheid movement of the 1980’s. Some artists boycotted, others played it, leading to tension in the entertainment community and international scandal. This aspect of its history is for your information and is not recommended for use in discussions).
What To Avoid:
References to Apartheid, the systematic segregation which only ended in 1994.
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