The Sunday News
Ngqwele Dube, Sunday Life Correspondent
MANY experienced arts organisations in Bulawayo have come up with programmes to nurture the young, as they see the need to create future stars in the industry.
While the majority of groups have focused on grooming youngsters based in Bulawayo, one of the foremost dance groups in the city,
Umkhathi Theatre has gone against the grain and remembered the usually forgotten rural community.
or the past five years they have been heading deep into the rural areas of Matabeleland provinces imparting dancing and acting skills to school children.
The group’s administrator, Joseph Ngubo says they realised there was an overflow of skills training programmes in the city while little was being done to train those in the rural areas.
The programme began in 2011 and with the support of the Culture Fund they have crisscrossed across the provinces of Matabeleland North and South visiting more than 50 schools in the process. Umkhathi has visited Mangwe district covering schools like Mabuledi, Patse, Nkedile, Bulu Primary and Secondary among others.
“The trainings are not just focusing on dance but we cover all aspects of theatre such that we cover dance, music, drama, storytelling, drumming and poetry. The basic aim is to help the pupils realise their potential in different arts genres which they can pursue throughout their schooling careers right up to university level.
“For most people everything happens in the city and few look beyond their city in any activity but most forget it all began in the rural areas from them. We also realised we could be replicating similar programmes with other groups in the city hence we opted to empower rural-based pupils,” said Ngubo.
The 2013 national Chibuku Neshamwari winning group is intent on spreading arts and honing the skills of young artistes.
Ngubo said it was critical to shape the youngsters at an early age to ensure they easily grasp art concepts faster when they are older.
He said they believed their programme is impacting positively on the growth of arts at schools and also discovering talent at a tender age.
Sigande Primary and David Livingstone Primary headmasters said Umkhathi’s programme had made a great difference in their arts products.
Bernard Dube of Sigande said there was a stark difference between what their pupils used to perform before and after training by Umkhathi.
“We are grateful for their efforts because they made a great impact. Before little attention was being paid to the arts because we were dismissive of the performances by the school children but we have now seen the abundant talent and the group is getting the attention it deserves,” he said.
David Livingstone’s Sithabile Dlamini said while they had teachers training pupils their knowledge in the craft was limited hence they could not impart adequate skills to the upcoming artistes.
“The pupils’ skills in the arts have vastly improved since the training by Umkhathi. The teachers didn’t have the exact knowledge of the craft and were only able to impart so much training, which was however, inadequate. I think such programmes can change the quality of artistes being produced at schools because it greatly improves the children’s skills,” she said.
The group has also held their training sessions in Gwanda with schools such as Mt Cazalet, St Christopher’s, Sabiwa, Enyandeni and Swisha benefitting while in 2014 the workshops were held in Matabeleland North with pupils from schools in Hwange, Tsholotsho and Binga districts being the beneficiaries.
They are running the second phase of the programme with schools that include David Livingstone, Emqwashini, Deli, Mahlothovu, Mfanyana, Nyamandlovu, Sawmills, Igusi, Sigonde & Zikhululeni primary schools with focus on culture impact.
Ngubo said after the second phase which came to an end on 26 February and, the trained schools will converge on a central venue for a mini-festival.
