‘Clicko the dancing Bushman’: Franz Taaibosch, South African Bushman entertainer in London, Paris, Havana and New York, 1908-1940

Prof. Neil Parsons was awarded his PhD in history at the University of Edinburgh and taught history at the University of Zambia, the University of Swaziland and the University of Cape Town before moving to the History Department of the University of Botswana in 1996. His most recent books include Seretse Khama, 1921-1980 with Thomas Tlou and Willie Henderson (Botswana Society, 1995) and King Khama, Emperor Joe, and the Great White Queen (Chicago, 1998).

Franz Taaibosch, a Bushman raised in ‘captivity’ in the northern Cape Colony, South Africa, appeared as a ‘wild dancing Bushman’ in vaudeville in England and France in 1913. Attempts to liberate him from his manager resulted in his being taken away, possibly to Ireland and then subsequently to Cuba. From there he was recruited by the United States where, as ‘Clicko, the Dancing Bushman’, he became a standard attraction in circus sideshows until his death in 1940. His life reflects the relationship between imperialism and entertainment. It is a tale of racial paternalism and ethnic stereotyping, and a story that goes to the shamanistic roots of dance-drama. The author argues that Taaibosch survived, and even thrived, by drawing upon inner resources that enabled him to reconstruct his psyche while being alienated from his roots.