The Xhosa Ntsomi

"The Xhosa ntsomi (sing. intsomi; pl. iintsomi) is a performing art which has, as its dynamic mainspring, a core-cliché (a song, chant, or saying) which is, during a performance, developed, expanded, detailed, and dramatized before an audience which is itself composed of performers, everyone in a Xhosa society being a potential performer."--Introduction.