Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
WHEN he walked on stage last week after being crowned as the country’s best choreographer at the National Arts Merit Awards (Namas), Khaya Arts founder and director Future Dube was at a loss for words.
This was understandable. Last Saturday was a momentous night for Khaya Arts, as they were finally rewarded by the country’s most prestigious arts ceremony, claiming the Outstanding Dance Group award, while Dube secured the Outstanding Choreographer accolade.
When he founded the group in dusty Sizinda back in 2011, Dube had not thought he would one day be on that stage, cameras flashing and Zimbabweans from all walks of life applauding. Yet there he was, two gongs in hand, ready to bring all the glory back home. Khaya Arts had arrived.
“I wish I could put people in my shoes and help them feel what I felt on that occasion,” he told Sunday Life.
“I can’t express the feeling because I don’t know how to. Sometimes, when something happens to you in life you become numb because the feeling you get from it is overwhelming. If you can imagine that you’re going up against 10 provinces, all of whom have a lot of artistes, it feels great when you win. It is a milestone that I appreciate.”
For Dube, it had been a long journey, one that had seen many of his comrades fall by the wayside as the going got tough. Of those who were with him when the journey began, few remain.
“It is everyone’s wish to become the best in the country, but when you start early in your career, you don’t see it becoming a reality. It seems unachievable but I stayed focused even when things got hard. The first group of artistes that were with me when Khaya Arts started has left and the ones remaining are those that came later. Some of those that left did not believe in the vision and others did not buy into the vision. Some thought it was a joke, but those that came later realised what I wanted to do and now here we are. We always wished we would one day get recognised and now we have,” he said.
Last Saturday night brought double the glory for Dube, who saw his work rewarded while his team was also honoured.
While Khaya Arts is lauded for their discipline, their hard work, stage presence and even cleanliness, it is Dube who puts it all together, knitting the outfit into one cohesive machine that can win over any crowd.
Khaya Arts
“To be a good choreographer, you need to be very observant. You need to be someone who can mix styles and be able to come up with a good production. You need to be able to handle the different energy that people bring because they are never all at the same level. You also need to be patient as well, because when you direct a production full of people who have their brains and think independently, you need to feed into their thought process before you sell them your idea. It is also important to do your research,” he said.
While 2024 was a momentous year for Khaya Arts, with their production Uni Africa dominating stages, Dube said he was hopeful that 2025 would bring even better tidings.
“The year 2024 was a busy year for us and we managed to climb the ladder, coming up with great productions and initiatives. Last year, we worked hard. It was quite a busy year but we felt that it was a build-up to 2025. We feel that we need to push further and get international recognition. We feel that even people who didn’t know us in the country now know that there’s Khaya Arts. People are now curious about what we do and we believe that is largely due to the work done in 2024.
“Professionalism and taking your career seriously are the two things that one must prioritise and I believe we got right last year. In addition, if you take the production that I did, Uni Africa, you will realise that I touched on something topical. Everyone is crying for a united Africa, everyone is yearning for a continent where we have one currency or even an army. So, the production spoke about that and I feel that it propelled us to greater heights because we tried to have songs from every part of the continent,” he said.
After their triumph in the capital, Dube said he was pleasantly surprised when the group was honoured during last week’s City of Bulawayo full council meeting.
“This is a bigger achievement than the award we received. To be recognised by your elders, people who you look up to, is special. This is home and anything we receive here will always feel much more special because of it. We believe we have done a lot as an institution. We have done almost 40 clean-ups in Tshabalala and around the city. We are now known as the group that likes cleaning up. We have our juniors, for whom we pay school fees. We have netball teams that we help. So now that we are being recognised we feel really good,” he said.
