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Xolani Zingeni plays violin instruments over a muddy courtyard while her teenage sister lays the laundry in a bathtub and her great-grandmother hangs it carefully on a clothesline.
"When I play, it helps me forget the situation I find myself in," said the 16-year-old South African.
Xolani leads a precarious life between her great-grandmother and her mother, who is addicted to "nyaope", a potent blend of cannabis and heroin. His father is not here.
The routine and stay in the small gray house of Soweto bear for Xolani, second brother of five children, all with different fathers.
Clbadical music was his escape for three years.
It follows the path of dozens of young people from the poor region who have learned violin, cello or bbad in a school especially for children of township called Buskaid.
Under apartheid, musical opportunities for black majority children were rare, as the regime considered it a domain reserved for whites.
The orchestra of the public channel was composed entirely of white musicians, and Pretoria's opera was open to whites only on the pretext that blacks preferred "war dances".
Since the dawn of democracy in 1994, South African society has slowly decolonized.
In 1997, Britain's Rosemary Nalden founded Buskaid in Soweto.
Xolani honed his skills at the school, housed in the compound of a Reformed Presbyterian Church, and was accepted after three months of waiting patiently outside every day.
"I saw it in a text book. I just wanted to touch it, "he says disarmingly, his little locks hidden under a baseball cap.
"The first day of my arrival, they did not take me, so I kept coming.
And then Nalden shone in Xolani.
– "Drinking beer and getting drunk" –
"I stuck it (the violin) under his chin and I could see almost immediately that it was perfectly adjusted – it worked. He has a physical talent, he is musical and he has courage, "she said.
His fingering is smooth, his right wrist soft and his tone confident – not the strident sounds typical of beginners.
Xolani's great-grandmother, who looks after the family with only $ 170 worth of welfare money a month, smiles.
"I would like his brothers and sisters to go to Buskaid. It keeps them from fighting, drinking beer and taking drugs, "said 83-year-old Flora Vuvama, who has witnessed a difficult life with her calloused hands.
Buskaid has 125 students aged 6 to 35 who come to study after school, weekends and holidays.
In addition to being a refuge for marginalized youth, it is above all a center of excellence.
"It's a social program, but … the music is of such quality," said 75-year-old Nalden, who runs the school with the help of the teachers she trained.
– "Rich White Music" –
"It's not just a gesture … give them an instrument and tell them it keeps them off the streets.
"It gives them an instrument to say," It's very difficult, and you have to work very hard if you want to go anywhere, "said Nalden.
For those who work hard, the results are impressive.
During weekly practices, the orchestra performs clbadical artists such as Mozart and Sarasate, Gershwin jazz and South African varieties.
The rhythm comes naturally and the orchestra sometimes spontaneously begins to sing and dance.
But Nalden, with her emerald eyes and shocking white hair, was not satisfied while she was sitting on a chair.
"It's so wrong," she told the cello section.
"We have a lot of work to do."
The musicians took up the challenge without hesitation.
Nalden is also demanding with beginners, playing the piano to accompany their efforts.
"If I do not do my job, she will shout at me," said Mzwandile Twala, the orchestra's first violin and, at 19, one of the youngest teachers.
"In my neighborhood, you had to smoke to have drugs, to be popular … I'm lucky to have something (otherwise)," said the young prodigy who dreams of studying in London like six former Buskaid students – three of whom are now playing professionally.
"The violin has become like a part of me now, my other half."
His tuition in Buskaid costs him a small amount and is mainly financed by donations.
The school has several hundred instruments that it gives to novices.
"Do not cover the violin (he must smile)," reads a large poster representing violins, violas and cellos.
Former student of Buskaid, Gilbert Stoke, cellist working in finance, is enthusiastic about the school.
Aged about thirty years, he has toured internationally, including Europe, South America and the United States.
"People are shocked and delighted to see that we can look like honest musicians," he said.
"At home, we did not even call it clbadical music, but" violin music ". We saw it as the music of rich whites. "
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