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Tafadzwa Zimoyo
Senior Arts Reporter
Female dancers are famed for decorative outfits, explicit attire and explosive body work that often attracts negative responses from fans, but beyond that, few people really understand their motive.
They will be at work!
The late music icon and national hero, Oliver Mtukudzi aptly captured the importance of treating dancers with respect in the song “Shanda”.
“Mendinangara meti jee… shanda, shanda nesimba… ndirikushandira mhuri yangu.. shanda mwana, shanda… Mendinangara meti jee Seiko?” he sings in affable Korekore dialect, where kunangara is staring in awe.
Beneath the dance is a bread-winner, taking care of a family and herself through fancy foot work and body gyrations. It is a perspective we often choose to ignore in our knowledge, or lack of it, but this is just another profession.
More often than not, female dancers are perceived as characters of loose morals or failures in society, but little is known that their work dates back to the Biblical times when King David is said to have danced until his mother rebuked him.
Many people are guilty of stereotyping and abusing female dancers during the course of their work.
These women have managed to fend for their children and even build houses.
Not much is said about male dancers because they are seen as being at work.
Regionally we have female dancers like South African Mimz, Samantha Mangold, Nigeria’s Kaffy, Zambia’s Mampi, and Botswana’s Slizer while international we have the likes of Americans Ciara and Beyonce, and Colombian Shakira among others.
In Zimbabwe there are many women making a living through traditional, contemporary and exotic dancing. They have not only managed to entertain fans, but have also overcome challenges in the arts sector.
You can’t talk about traditional dance in Zimbabwe without including the women as they play a major role in the entertainment industry.
As the rest of the world celebrates the International Women’s Day, there is also a sector — female dancers – that is not celebrated but whose services are required when a music video is shot or at any celebration.
Mbare-bred dancer Vein Ndineyi Alfazima, affectionately known as “Mama Dollar”, said dancing is not a stroll in the park, but she has managed to survive in the cut-throat world.
“It is not an easy journey at start. You are called different names and you are even not supported by your own family members because they fear that if they support you, they are regarded as immoral by the society, especially those who go to church,” she said.
“But with time they accepted my profession and I am happy that now everyone understands me. I am also happy that I am now competing against men in the sector,” she said.
Alfazima is a full time dancer and a multi-talented choreographer and dance teacher. She has been dancing for the past 15 years.
“I perform and teach contemporary dance and traditional African dance routines. I have done modern, ballet and jazz styles as well. I have worked with musician Jah Prayzah as a dancer and choreographer. I started dancing at Stodart Hall in Mbare with Zvishamiso Arts under the guardianship of Brian Geza. I later went and joined Dika-Moka in South Africa under director France Ramoba and this is where I got myfirst diploma in dance foundation.
“While in South Africa, I got a chance to be part of World cup 2010 and shared a stage with Colombian dancer and singer Shakira during the opening ceremony of the World Cup,” she explained.
“I came back to Zimbabwe and joined the Tumbuka dance company for three years under the watchful eye of Anna Morris who was the director at that time. I am a graduate of Afrikera Dance Foundation course,” she said.
The talented dancer oozes amazing energy and is a National Arts Merit Award 2019 winner. That very same year she scooped the trophy twice for talent show “Dream Star”.
Pole dancer Zoey Sifelani said people are now appreciating her set although some still believe it is immoral and don’t respect her hustle.
“Some people have accepted my profession. I am a pole dancer and I survive on selling clothes (mabhero), but dancing is my passion. Some people still find it hard to believe it. I am even called to dance at functions, and while other women think I am after their men, which is not the case. During lockdown, things were hard for dancers as we survived on dancing for the crowd,” she said.
Children Performing Arts Workshop (CHIPAWO) manager Chipo Basopo said just as music and theatre are professions, so is dance.
Basopo, who works with children, said the girl child needs to be protected if she chooses dancing as a career.
“A lot of young women have taken the route of dancing and are very good at what they have chosen, hence society looks at them otherwise and view them negatively.
“On the other hand, some musicians have in the past abused female dancers and used them as tools to gain attraction. It is high time society and those that work with dancers respect and see them as professionals who also have chosen dance as a profession, and not just to entertain, but to make a living out of it,” she said.
Basopo added that women dancers deserve to be supported.
“Society needs to be educated about dancers so that they start supporting and empowering them by giving them life skills, opportunities and space to bring out their creativity,” she said.
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