Diary of a female dancer

Takudzwa Chihambakwe Leisure Correspondent—

“MOST of the times when people hear that I am a dancer, they straight away place me in the category of strippers and all those who specialise in erotic dance. They skip all other genres of dance and picture me in a club on a pole. Some even call me horrible names but because I love what I do, my passion drives me to keep dancing,” said energetic dancer, Nyasha Madzinga, aka Noni the Dancer.

Zimbabwe got to know about the 23-year-old when she featured on ExQ’s award-winning “Hallelujah” video as one of the backup dancers – right towards the end of the video she is given a solo and she nails it, exuding some infectious moves full of energy.

The Mbare-bred dancer said her interest in dancing developed due to Missy Elliot’s videos.

“I decided to get into dance when I was 15 years old. I always watched Missy Eliot’s music videos and they had something that always caught my eye, and it was one of the five elements of hip-hop, which is dance,” said Noni.

“I would try and copy the moves but they didn’t sink in and I had never seen anyone do those difficult moves in person, but that didn’t impede my desire of becoming a hip-hop dancer one day.”

Noni, who has also now grown to be a choreographer, said things changed when she wandered into the illustrious Mbare Stodart Hall on her way from school.

“As I made my way home from school, I always passed by Mbare Stodart Hall but I had never gone inside to see what people would be doing. One day, something caught my eye, I couldn’t help myself but to follow this guy who was wearing a very colourful pair of shoes, loose fitting clothes and a woolen hat. He entered the door to the hall and I followed him in – I was in for a big surprise.

“Upon entering I saw boys spinning and dancing, and sometimes using their heads to temporarily support their entire bodies. I could not believe it, this was exactly what had seen on Missy Elliot’s videos. After a moment of comprehending what was happening, I walked fast toward a guy who looked like the leader and asked to join them and he agreed.

“Weeks passed and they taught me a couple of moves until they introduced me to a crew that did what related to me, called Fussion X, specialising in animation dance.”

Although she now had a place to develop her passion in the craft, for a while she struggled to find herself in dance.

“Time went on, I was really confused on who I was as a dancer. Sometimes I would face challenges, I would be weakest in the crew and there was the recurrent thought that since I was a girl I could never square up to the guys in the crew.

“Fortunately during this difficult time I then met up with Plot Mhako and the Jibilika Dance Team in 2013, hey began to mentor and expose me to the bigger world of dance and before long I was appearing on posters and performing at various places I never imagined I would perform at.”

Noni has worked with a number of top choreographers in the country but she dreams of attaining a diploma or degree from a dance institution.

“I did not go to any dance school but learnt some of my skills from places such as Lifestyle Studios who taught me hip-hop lessons and JCola studios who taught me rhumba and stage presence.

“I basically learnt about dance from people who understand dance in a way others can’t, but I still desire to enroll at a dance school.”

To date, Noni has performed at various international events that include the Harare International Carnival, Shoko Festival, Miss Tourism Zimbabwe, Hifa, Zimbabwe Fashion Week, as well as the 2016 Jah Prayzah album launch.

As is common with most families when one decides to venture into the arts, they face a lot of opposition and Noni has had a fair share of battles with her family. However, she has conquered them all and is making a living out of it.

“It was really difficult the first days to convince my family to support me in dance. They would tell me bluntly that this dance business was a secondary matter, which I should pursue in my spare time – but knowing what I wanted I kept fighting for their support and am glad that today they fully back me as they see how l am really determined to build this career.

“I am making a living out of dance, but there is no such thing as an easy way up. It earns me something decent to take home but I wish to do other things like fashion designing and stage make up, however my time is consumed by dance.”

Her ultimate goal is to better the standards of dance in terms of remuneration, general perception of dancing by the public and create more exposure for dancers.

“One thing that I would want to change in the dance sector is to have people view us as equals to any other art form. Many times when we attend shows as back up dancers to musicians, we are taken as second class citizens.

“We at times are not even offered meals when others get meals or we are the last because people fail to see our worth off stage, but after we stage a sterling performance, the very same people neglecting us will be showering us with praises.

“I also desire to up the remuneration levels. As I mentioned earlier, people view dance as an art form which complements other genres and yet dance is a stand-alone art that if taken seriously will be more impactful in conveying messages to the masses.

“Lastly I would really love to get more local dancers exposed to opportunities not only within Zimbabwe but on the bigger global stage. Because of lack of knowledge, most of the local dancers are left scrambling for the smaller local cake.

“I desire to have more of us tapping into various international platforms, thereby creating networks that will create growth of the genre back home.”