adminBongani Ndlovu Showbiz Correspondent
CELEBRATED dance school Iyasa are back from their five-month European tour encompassing Poland, the Czech Republic and Sweden where they were involved in various cultural exchange programmes.
In an interview, Iyasa director Nkululeko Dube said they returned home on Sunday and were happy to be back, describing their tour as a success.
“Our tour was successful as we collaborated with various Austrian artistes on a collaborative album titled Amaculo: Zimbabwe meets Austria. “We will travel back to Austria in September for the album launch. We will be there for 10 days and return to Zimbabwe to continue our programmes here,” he said.
During their tour, the group had an opportunity to perform at various festivals. They shared the stage with African music greats Angelique Kidjo and Manu Dibango at the Africa Tag Festival held in Austria. So great were their performances that they graced front pages in various newspapers in Austria and Sweden.
Dube said performing in Europe had greatly assisted them as some group members were furthering their arts studies in that country.
“Our artistes have benefited from these cultural exchanges as they get opportunities and money to further their education. People like Future Sibanda are now studying Theatre Arts in Austria while Noma Mkhwananzi is in Australia singing with Cirque Mother Africa,” he said.
Mkhwananzi is the lead singer at Cirque Mother Africa — a circus show that travels around the world performing at various venues.
Dube said the creative arts industry in Europe presented more opportunities for artistes from Africa as it was developed with theatres specially dedicated to showcasing productions every day.
“The creative arts industry in Europe is well developed than that of our country. They have 10 or more theatres per city dedicated to the performing arts. We on the other hand do not have that in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Dube added that their tours of Europe were always strategically scheduled as they coincided with the summer season where many festivals are held.
“We always leave Zimbabwe around March and return in August. This is because the summer season will be beginning in Europe and many festivals will be kicking off there,” he said.
Online Reporter