The Sunday News
Lance Chigodo
ONE of the best music, theatre and dance groups in Zimbabwe, Siyaya Arts will hold the Zambezi Express show after a four-year hiatus.
The music and dance show is set for 20 to 30 May at the Bulawayo Theatre and tickets are already selling at Bulawayo Theatre Club.
Siyaya Arts Ensemble told Sunday Leisure that this year’s addition of the award winning Zambezi Express was part of their silver jubilee anniversary celebration. The group walked away with a couple of awards in 2010, as they won a National Arts Merit Award (Nana) for the outstanding dance group of the year and an MTM music and theatre award in the United Kingdom.
The 4th edition of the show will consist of 30 dance groups showcasing their talents in music and dance. The show will be a mixed bag of different music genres which includes traditional and contemporary dances.
Zambezi Express is the brainchild of Siyaya director Saimon Mambazo Phiri which was taken up, sanctified and made a dream come true by Jerry Cottle in the United Kingdom in 2009. In an interview with Sunday Leisure Phiri said Zambezi Express stopped in 2010 because they were working on other productions and this year the show would be held as part of their 25th anniversary celebrations.
He said there were no significant changes to the script of the show that was held at its inception and in the years preceding its birth although he said this year’s show would be bigger, bolder and better.
The assistant director of Siyaya, Tawanda Moyo, told Sunday Leisure that since Zambezi Express is one of Siyaya’s best productions it will be held as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations.
“We are very glad to host 25 years of excellence in arts as a group and we chose to add Zambezi Express as part of our 25 ideas of celebrating our belated silver jubilee which also includes a fundraising dinner that will be held on the 16th of May,” he said.
The show consists of a cast of 25 with five of the members from Iyasa and five crew. It is about a young man called Mzilikazi who left the country pursuing his dream to play soccer at a top plight football club in South Africa where he faces some challenges. The story is told through music and dance.
