platform in which people can establish a concept of identity in a community. Isicathamiya performers improve their image by winning competitions. In Zulu folklore, bulls are a common symbol of power and masculinity. Other wild animals such as snakes, crocodiles, tigers and lions are expressions of power relations and assertion of power in competitive isicathamiya competitions. Early isicathamiya groups were named after animals such as Empangeni Home Tigers and Brave Lion Singers. The fireplace is used metaphorically for the "cooking of songs" in isicathamiya stage performances. Emphasis is placed on the social organization based on the Zulu indigenous residence which took form in a circular bee-hive grass hut and at the center the head of surrounded by wives and children. The same formation takes places when isicathamiya songs were created with the leader in the center of the group. Dreams were an essential part of communicating with ancestors and formed part of a deeply rooted Zulu religious process. Some isicathamiya musicians claim some of their songs were created in the spiritual realm given to them by ancestors. Joseph Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo dedicating their fifth explains he composes through dreams whereby for six months in the 1960s he was visited by voices in his dreams. These were spiritual elders who were singing in the isicathamiya style. He experienced a final examination where each of the twenty-four elders asked him a musical question and Shabalala achieved a perfect score. Pre- and post-Ladysmith In the 1980s, isicathamiya competitions were held in male hostels such as Glebeland, in Umlazi, one of townships in Durban. The groups were allowed to perform two songs adhering to the competition formation. Joseph Shabalala formed Ladysmith Black Mambazo and had the opportunity to work with Paul Simon on the Graceland album which included two tracks, "Homeless" and "Diamonds on Soles of her Shoes", which gained the group international recognition. The influence Joseph Shabalala had would change the context of isicathamiya in the late 20th century. Shabalala, Bongani Mthethwa and Paulos Msimango formed an organization called South African Traditional Music Association to help reclaim isicathamiya as a form of traditional music. Competitions were no longer in hostels but at the YMCA in Beatrice Street in the city center of Durban. The change in venues allowed for variation in the basic theme of the competitions. A competition for the best dressed man was implemented and on occasion for the