The Sunday News
A MATOPO-based traditional dance group — Amagagasi Olwandle seeks to introduce a new dance to the annual Jikinya Traditional Dance Festival this year.
Renowned historian and culturist Pathisa Nyathi, who is overseeing that the group practises effectively for imparting dance skills to children, told Sunday Leisure that the dance, wosana, would soon be introduced to schools to enable them to practise it in time for the Jikinya festival.
The festival will be held in November this year.
“Wosana is a rain dance that is practiced by traditionalists at the Njelele Shrine. This is a dance practiced when asking for rains from our ancestors. It is a unique dance that will remain in the festival for a duration of two years,” he said.
Nyathi said that a book with illustrations and instructions would be provided to participating schools.
“We are working on a book that will be available to all participating schools. We are also working on a DVD that will further and perhaps better explain the dance. This will all be released in due course,” he said.
Nyathi commended the group Amagagasi for being noble enough and courteous enough to volunteer to teach the dance to pupils.
“Amagagasi is a very authentic traditional group and we hope it will be able deliver the best to the schools,” he said.
Amagagasi was formed two months ago and consists of eight members and practises at Amagugu International Heritage Centre in Matopo.
“When practicing the dance, we all dress in black, as it is a cultural and ancestral dance, which was practiced long before we were born. It is a unique rain dance practiced at the Njelele,” said the group’s spokesperson, Siphiwe Hlabangana.
She noted that the intention of introducing the dance was to promote and maintain our cultural heritage.
“The point is to promote culture and to nurture it at grass roots level. We are organising workshops with willing schools to impart knowledge on the dance and other important cultural information,” said Hlabangana.
She however said some schools were reluctant to have their children practice traditional dances, something she said was the major catalyst in the demise of cultural practices.
“There are some schools that are not willing to have their children practice traditional dances and that leads to the decadence of our tradition. This is our heritage and we should be proud of it. This is just a dance and nothing else is involved. This is just to promote our culture,” she added.
National Arts Council of Zimbabwe Bulawayo province programmes officer William Nyandoro confirmed that the dance would be introduced and be the main dance at the Jikinya festival for the next two years.
Jikinya competitions have over the past years become popular, with education authorities encouraging schools to participate in these cultural enriching competitions.
Various dances are performed during the competitions and these include Jerusarema, Dinhe, Nyau, Umtshongoyo, Isitshikitsha, Wosana, Sitape, Amabhiza, Zana, Chinyambera and Mhande.
Communities have different dances and there are dances for particular events.
Dances like the Dinhe, Jerusarema and Mhande are dances from parts of Mashonaland and the dances could be performed during celebrations, at funerals or during traditional ceremonies such as thanking the ancestors for a good harvest.
