Mbende festival preps on course

Showbiz Reporter
Ngomadzepasi, 2014 winners of the Chibuku Neshamwari dance festival, will be heading to Murewa for the Jerusarema Mbende Dance Festival which kicks off on September 20. The festival, that brings Zimbabweans together to celebrate their intrinsic values, will be held at the Murewa Culture Centre with president of the Chiefs’ Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira expected to officially open the event.
Other groups billed to perform include Shingirirai Jerusarema and Zevezeve Dance Group.

National Arts Council of Zimbabwe communication and marketing officer, Catherine Mthombeni, said a lot of activities had been lined up for the festival.
“Apart from dance, registered visual associations will exhibit traditional food as well as instruments and costumes such as drums, mbira and rattles among others especially for Jerusarema Dance,” she said.

Mthombeni said preparations for the festival were at an advanced stage with a dance workshop for teachers and dance practitioners slated for September 19.

“Teachers and other workshop participants will be taken through theoretical as well as practical lessons on the two traditional dances of Jerusarema Mbende and Ihosana,” Mthombeni said.

She said the facilitators of Ihosana would be Bulawayo-based Umkhathi Theatre Works while Jerusarema Mbende would be facilitated by the Murewa and UMP Jerusarema Master Practitioners.

According to Mthombeni, NACZ chose the Jerusarema Mbende dance as a common dance for the 2013 and 2014 Jikinya Dance Festival as a way to safeguard and promote the dance in Zimbabwe.

“For two years the dance was compulsory for all the performing groups that participate at Jikinya Dance Festival in addition to performing their own choice dance as well. Ihosana will be the Jikinya Dance Festival’s common dance for 2015-16 hence it being part of the dance to be learnt during the 19th September workshop.”

Mbende Jerusarema Dance was proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity with Murewa Culture Centre acting as the reference place for safeguarding purposes. It is performed by the community of Murewa and Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe (UMP) in the North Eastern Districts of Zimbabwe. The ancient fertility dance was called dembe or mbende, a Shona word for “mole” which signified fertility and hence the dance became very popular with the locals.