Online Reporter
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
IF Room 37 at Mpopoma High School had not existed, Inkululeko Yabatsha School of the Arts (Iyasa), the now-iconic Bulawayo arts ensemble, might not have been born.
If Room 37 did not exist, the world might not have had a chance to sample the eccentric talents of Futurelove Sibanda, the angelic voice Nkwali or the prodigious abilities and stage presence of Sandra Ndebele.
Indeed, one can only wonder how many of the city’s budding arts talents would have withered in the darkness if Room 37 and the Mpopoma Drama Club had never existed. As fate would have it, Room 37 did exist, and courtesy of Nkululeko Dube, then a young teacher, it turned from a mere classroom into a theatre of dreams in which young people could find their voices, sing their lungs out, and reach for the stars.
Dube’s relationship with the first group of students and his work in turning them from a ragtag group of young performers into a polished ensemble is perhaps an illustration of the symbiotic relationship between the teaching profession and the arts.
While in the old days the arts were thought to be the preserve of the less academically gifted, some of Bulawayo’s most influential arts practitioners at one point or another broke chalk on boards.
Dube, Raisedon Baya, Thabani Moyo, Desire Moyoxide, Saimon Mambazo Phiri and Mgcini Nyoni are just some of the artistes that have at one point or another been members of the noble profession-teaching.
For Dube, teaching was never something that he abandoned when he traded the classroom for the stage. Instead, he believes that his career in the arts became an extension of the work that had started in schools and classrooms years earlier.
“Once a teacher, always a teacher — and I mean that with every fibre of my being,” he told Sunday Life in an interview.
“Twenty-five years ago I left the classroom, but I want to be clear: I left the building, not the profession. The daily imparting of knowledge, the parental guidance, the discipline, the sheer joy of nurturing raw talent and watching young people build meaningful careers — these are the essence of teaching, and they have never left my life for a single day,” he said.
“My journey into the arts was never a departure from teaching; it was an extension of it. The training, discipline, and human understanding I developed as an educator became the very foundation upon which Iyasa was built.
I still teach, train, inspire, mentor, and guide young people from all walks of life who arrive at our doors with a burning desire to learn music, dance, and theatre. The classroom never left me — it simply grew a bigger stage.”
According to Dube, the patience and discipline that teaching demanded became crucial tools in helping him survive in the often volatile arts industry.
“I genuinely believe that without my grounding as an educator, I would not have survived this long in the arts. You need patience, vision, and the ability to see potential where others may not — and those are fundamentally teaching qualities,” he said.
Dube said that many of the city’s most influential arts leaders emerged from teaching backgrounds because the profession naturally developed communication and leadership skills that later became useful in the creative sector.
“I also draw immense inspiration from those who walked the same dual path before me: Raisedon Baya and Thabani Hillary Moyo, and late legend Sihlangu Dlodlo showed me early on that passionate teachers make the most meaningful arts leaders. And I will always cherish the memory of the late Desire Moyoxide, with whom I shared the journey from student teacher to artiste — we pushed each other to become more than we ever imagined.
“Teaching did not limit my arts career. It is the reason it has endured,” he said.
For playwright and cultural leader Baya, the transition from teacher to arts leader felt almost natural because both professions were rooted in communication and storytelling.
“Because we are artistes, storytellers and communicators by nature, it becomes natural that when you find yourself in a leadership position, much of what you do revolves around communication. You communicate your vision, your ideas and, at times, instructions. At the end of the day, leadership is about communication,” he said.
“Teaching also prepares you for that because it is about taking large chunks of information, simplifying them for students and helping them understand what it is all about. So it is about sharing, sharing information and sharing a vision. For me, that has always been what art is about. Art is about communicating what is inside your mind, inside your heart and what your soul wants the world to know.”
Baya said that part of his mission during his years working with young people was to challenge the stereotype that the arts were only for those who struggled academically.
“Another thing that attracted me to working with young people, and perhaps made me a reluctant leader, was the misconception that surrounded the arts. Even when we started out in drama groups, people were often shocked that boys who excelled academically were involved in drama, because the assumption was that the arts were for people who were not doing well in class or had nothing else to do,” he said.
“There was this ongoing narrative that the arts were not for academically gifted people. One of my biggest motivations, especially in projects connected to education, was to prove that succeeding in the arts requires intelligence and critical thinking.”
Through initiatives such as the Schools, Playwrights and Actors Academy (SPAAAN), which later evolved into the Creative Training Department (CTD), Baya said the focus was never simply on producing performers, but on nurturing educated and well-rounded leaders.
“If you look at the projects I worked on with Nimbe Trust, particularly SPAAAN — the Schools, Playwrights and Actors Academy — which later evolved into CTD, the goal was always to identify young talent in schools and nurture it. Even as we taught drama, we consistently emphasised that being involved in the arts did not mean neglecting education,” he said.
“I am proud that we encouraged many young people to complete Form 4, proceed to A-Level and eventually graduate from university. Many of them are now thriving in different professions. They helped prove that you need intellect and versatility to succeed in the arts.”
Baya said that, ultimately, his goal had always been bigger than creating stars for the stage.
“At the same time, it always came back to a bigger vision. I did not just want to produce another group of artists; I wanted to produce leaders. That is why we promoted a parallel developmental process — while young people sharpened their skills on stage, they were also sharpening their minds,” he said.
“Creativity, if it is to be sustainable and long-lasting, must be supported by something stronger, such as education. We also wanted them to eventually occupy leadership positions themselves. Coming from a teaching background made this easier because teaching equips you with important leadership skills. You learn how to give instructions, manage group dynamics, work with individuals, bring together people with different ideas and guide them towards a common goal. You also learn how to lead by example.”
Looking back, Baya believes that many of Bulawayo’s arts leaders never deliberately sought positions of influence, but simply found themselves becoming leaders because of their passion for the creative sector.
“I think that has been the natural progression for many of us. Most of the people you referred to share one thing in common: we were driven by passion. It was our love for creative spaces that pushed us to leave what we were doing and take risks in this sector because it made us happy,” he said.
“In many ways, we became leaders by default. I do not think most of us entered the arts with ambitions of leadership. We came in as creative minds who simply wanted to create and be surrounded by other creatives. Yet within those spaces, whether fortunately or unfortunately, we eventually found ourselves being pushed into leadership role.”
