The Sunday News
Raisedon Baya
WE began the year with a showstopper from Iyasa. What a show! Their Two Decades of Dance had everyone who saw it excited and raving about it for a week or so.
It was the most successful performance of the Arts Extra shows as it recorded a full house — some people were even sitting on the steps having failed to get seats. In the current economic situation Zimbabweans are living in, a full house is a rare occasion. And this had us all smiling. Celebrating. But now that the excitement has faded we pause for some lessons.
Big brands must always prove themselves
There has always been a silent debate within the sector about who is bigger than who. We are not going to answer that question here.
What we are aware of, however, is that every time we have talked to Nkululeko Innocent Dube, humble as he always tries to be, he always says Iyasa is a brand.
And on 1 January the group just proved to all doubting Thomases that indeed it is a big brand. We were at the door when people were coming into the theatre. The stories that they told about Iyasa varied. And they were many. We remember trying to thank this old man and his family for supporting the arts and him laughing and saying, “I’m here to support Iyasa.
The group was formed at Mpopoma High under the Ndebele Department and I was part of that department.” The pride in the old man’s eyes was like a field of yellow sunflowers, visible enough to be seen from miles away. A good brand must always do that, make its users/ consumers proud of it.
Serious need for family friendly shows
One of the reasons for the success of the Iyasa show was that it was family friendly. Read that as child friendly. We remember our first Arts Extra under Intwasa there was a comedy show where one parent brought her children and ended up locking them in her car. She was really not pleased about that. We haven’t seen her coming for shows after that incident. The Iyasa show was different. Cars trooped in. Parents brought their whole families. One man brought his entire family.
The family had never seen Iyasa on stage and he was so convinced they would love it. After the show he was the happiest man. “I’m happy, man. I got to do something with my family on New Year’s Day. The kids loved the show. No regret at all.”
Hearing stuff like that is pure gold for artistes. It makes them want to go back on stage and do it over and over again. In simple terms we seriously need content suitable for children and their families and with it we will never go wrong.
Working together good for the sector
One person who has freely and genuinely opened up to the idea of collaboration and working together is the director of Iyasa. He is always bringing in people he knows will add something new to the group’s work. On this particular show he brought in Saimon Mambazo Phiri for lighting and stage design.
The results were there for everyone to see and experience. The show also had a surprise package in the form of a young dynamic dancer from Botswana. She brought a different dimension and angle to the whole show. If we really took collaborations seriously imagine how much in terms of costs we would cut.
Good day to go out
When programming we all debated about 1 January as a good day to put up a show. The argument with most people was that it was a bad day as most people will either be drunk or nursing hangovers. In short no one would want to attend a show.
One group we had programmed to perform on the same day pulled out citing the same reasons.
They felt we wanted them to perform for no one. Iyasa proved everyone wrong by pulling the largest crowd of the Extra, especially on a day when everyone thought otherwise.
