Dance group holds 15-day workshop

Gamuchirai Bhachi

BULAWAYO-BASED dance group, Chenhaka Trust, is holding a 15-day workshop at the National Art Gallery of Zimbabwe where they are mentoring 60 dancers.

The dance group is working with the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Art and Recreation, National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority and Culture Warriors Edutainment Trust to deliver a full sermon to participants and individuals.

In an interview with H-Metro, the executive director of Chenhaka Trust, Taurai Moyo, said they are holding the 15-day workshop, which started on July 17 and ends on August 2, to mentor dancers about their rights and how they should conduct their work, including time to be on stage and payment.

He said that they were holding the workshop after a survey showed that dancers are underestimated by society.

“We are targeting the dance sector and we want to educate the dancers on their rights so that they are not looked down upon by other people.

“We want to make dance a profession and teach these young dancers on how to monetise their accounts.

“There are different stakeholders from departments like ZIMRA and other social media experts who are teaching the dancers,” he said.

He said that there are five topics they are focusing on and each topic takes three days and it has a different mentor.

One of the beneficiaries of the workshop, Obery Jasi, a novelist based in Marondera, said that the workshop has brought together people with different artistic backgrounds.

“I am a novelist and this is an opportunity for the artists because they will learn how to have accounts including Twitter, YouTube and people from ZIMRA are teaching us about tax clearances,” said Jasi