Siyaya Arts collabos with Hawaiian trio

26 Apr, 2015 - 08:04 0 Views

The Sunday News

Ngqwele Dube Sunday Leisure Correspondent
LOCAL arts ensemble Siyaya Arts have started their 25th anniversary celebrations with a collaboration with a three-member Hawaiian outfit that is being shown at various venues in the city. The production, titled “Aloha Meets Ubuntu” was showcased yesterday at the Bulawayo Academy of Music while today they are performing at Zim Kids orphanage in Pumula in the afternoon before heading to Stanley Hall in Makokoba.

The show will then be transported to Harare where it is lined up for the Harare International Festival of the Arts which runs from 28 April to 3 May.
The producer and director of the production, Saimon Mambazo Phiri, said Siyaya Arts and Sabela Music Projects will be teaming up with Keola Beamer, Jeff Peterson and Moanalani Beamer from Maui, Hawaii in the show that is supported by the United States Embassy in Zimbabwe.

“The major focus of the “Aloha meets Ubuntu” programme is to connect Hawaii’s rich musical and cultural heritage with Siyaya’s traditional Ndebele/Zimbabwean cultural connections and create a space for the sharing of traditional music and culture.

“Traditional Hawaiian instruments like the Hawaiian slack key guitar, ukulele, nose-flute and calabash drum would complement traditional Zimbabwean music and instruments of Ngoma, Ingungu, Hosho, Amahlwayi & Mbira. Furthermore, traditional elements of Hawaiian chant would create a dynamic cultural interplay with southern Africa’s own chanting traditions of Amabutho.

“The talented entourage brings together Hawaiian legend Keola Beamer, who has stretched the boundaries of slack key guitar music while remaining true to the soul of its deeply Hawaiian roots, with a rising star of the next generation of slack key players Jeff Peterson. They are joined by lovely dancer Moanalani Beamer, who brings hula and Hawaiian chants to the stage, and adds musical texture with ancient Hawaiian instruments,” he said.

The term Aloha, is much more than a simple greeting, but rather embodies the spirit of love, compassion and kindness. As such, the “Spirit of Aloha” is very much akin to the southern African concept of “Ubuntu,” which expresses notions of humanity towards others. Both Siyaya Arts & the visiting ensemble will work to share the spirits of Aloha & Ubuntu and teach about the ephemeral meaning of Aloha & Ubuntu as a form of nation building, musical and cultural healing.

This is the second time Sabela Music projects and the American Embassy are bringing an act to the city after hosting country outfit Blended 328 last year.
Siyaya is one of the country’s leading performing arts group and this year they celebrate coming of age, having been formed in 1989 as a small group of five young performers interested in creating new theatre, dance and music in the townships.

Based in Makokoba, Bulawayo’s oldest township, Siyaya (meaning On the Move) is a literal description of the act’s journeys all over the world, playing at the major venues and festivals of this world, as well as of an identity, an ethos and a heartfelt belief.

“Our main pursuit is to continue to create an arts company with a strong touring policy producing and presenting music, dance, theatre and new work at festivals, schools and venues the world over,” said Phiri, who is the group’s director.

The ensemble is has lined up several activities to celebrate their anniversary including a remake of one of their most successful shows, Zambezi Express.

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds