So, here it was, the African pattern. First, the struggle, then the euphoria of the freedom dance, then the collapse into grandiose caricature and chaos. And after that, the pale new dawn, the promise, and sometimes the reality of ascent.

After the Dance first appeared in 2004, 10 years after South Africa’s wildly enthusiastic embrace of freedom and democracy. Its value now, 15 years later, seems to be as a portrait of a new democracy that is losing its innocence. The optimism remains widespread, but the cracks, first hinted at in the 2004 edition, are beginning to show. The halcyon days of the Nelson Mandela presidency have slipped away too rapidly, replaced by early signs of that distinctive post-Uhuru pattern.

Is South Africa at the start of its pale new dawn? Or, is the country still in the grip of its collapse into grandiose caricature and chaos? Time will tell. The chief value of After the Dance is that it describes a country at the tipping point of its own history. The hope is there, as are the seeds of its travail. And they are placed before the listener by South Africans themselves, people prepared to look the listener in the eye and candidly share their circumstances as well as their anxieties and dreams.