The performance
The Boma Performance at Lesedi
What Ingoma actually is, and what to expect from the song and dance.
See the Lesedi visit on GetYourGuide ↗What the boma performance is
As the homestead walk ends, the group is brought to the boma — a circular, open-air gathering space — for the song-and-dance performance. The operator's own site names the show Ingoma, and it follows the walk directly rather than being a separate ticketed extra. A boma, in the wider Southern and East African tradition, is simply an enclosed gathering space — here it's built for exactly this purpose, seating the audience around the performers rather than in rows facing a raised stage.
How it opens
The performance opens with drumming and song before the dancing itself begins, giving the group a moment to settle into the boma's seating before the first dance. Arriving from the homestead walk rather than cold from a coach also changes how the opening lands — the drumming reads as a continuation of the walk rather than the start of an unrelated show.
Dances drawn from the homesteads you've walked
Much of the programme draws on the traditions of the five homesteads covered earlier on the walk, performed together as one show rather than five separate acts split by culture. Having already walked through the Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Basotho and Ndebele homesteads gives the dances more context than watching them cold. Exactly which dances appear on any given day wasn't published in enough detail to print a fixed running order here, so this guide describes the shape of the performance rather than a scene-by-scene script.
The invitation to join in
Before the performance closes, guests are invited up to dance — this isn't a seated-only show, and the closing stretch is built around audience participation rather than a formal bow and exit. Guests who'd rather watch than dance aren't pressured into it — the invitation is an offer, not the only way to enjoy the closing stretch.
Respecting the performers
The dances and songs come from real cultural traditions performed by people from those communities, not costumed actors reading a script. Photography is generally welcomed at cultural venues like this, but it's worth asking a representative before filming performers up close, the same courtesy you'd extend anywhere else. The same applies to children in the group: the performance is family-oriented, but it's still a live cultural show with real performers, not a costumed mascot act.
Where it sits in the visit
The boma performance runs after the homestead walk and before the meal, not the other way around — the order is walk, then dance, then table. If timing matters to your day (a flight, a long drive back), ask about the boma's typical length when you book rather than assuming a fixed duration.