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Mutsawashe Mashandure Arts Correspondent
The Chenhaka Trust honoured 60 dance practitioners who excelled in a 3-week Performing Arts Business and Digital Distribution workshop. The celebration of the dance group was held at the National Arts Gallery of Zimbabwe in Harare.
The dance group completed their course with the help of the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Art, and Recreation, the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, and the Culture Warriors Edutainment Trust.
Speaking during the graduation ceremony, the Director of Arts, Culture, and Heritage, Biggie Chamwanda, acknowledged the big role played by the Ministry.
“It’s good to see the sector getting organised, and fellow members are seeing the synergy between Artists, NACZ, and the Ministry.
“More women artists came on board; we need people with disabilities to also be participants in Art as business and artists as business people. The organisation of such important cultural events the Chenhaka Trust is testimony to the importance that the Government places on the cultural and creative Industries sector in matters of national development,” he said.
“The cultural and creative Industries have become essential for inclusive economic growth, reducing inequalities, and achieving the goals set out in the National Arts and Culture Policy, the National Culture and Creative Industries Strategy, as well as Vision 2030 as set out in the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1), “he added.
Speaking at the same event, the executive director of Chenhaka Trust, Taurai Moyo, said that they have completed their 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.
Chenhaka is an innovative creative arts organisation with experience in planning and implementing sustainable projects and programs for the development of communities, focusing on strengthening the capacity of individual artists, groups, arts associations, musicians, bands, and unions in the Cultural Creative Industry (CCI).
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 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 to focus on, and each topic takes three days and has a different mentor.
“The training consists of five distinct topics, which are: three days of arts management and financial literacy; three days of artistic freedom and decent work; three days of performing arts digital distribution skills; three days of tax compliance and obligations in partnership with ZIMRA; and three days of stage management, lighting design, booking, and tour management, “said Mr Taurai.
One of the graduates, 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 and YouTube, and people from ZIMRA are teaching us about tax clearances,” said Jasi.
Online Reporter