Sekunjalo to represent Byo at Chibuku Provincial dance competition

Sekunjalo dance group members celebrate after winning the Chibuku Neshamwari Bulawayo Provincial competition held at Habane Beer Garden, Esigodini, Matabeleland South yesterday

Nhlalwenhle Ngwenya
SEKUNJALO dance group is set to represent Bulawayo in the Chibuku Neshamwari Provincial Dance competition national finals after it secured top spot at the provincial finals held at Habane Beer Garden in Esigodini on Saturday. This will be the second time Sekunjalo will represent Bulawayo at the national finals as they did so in 2014.

For their efforts, Sekunjalo walked away with $500, with runners up Thandanani dance group getting $300 followed by Iluba lemvelo who walked away with $200. Director of the youthful Sekunjalo dance group from Magwegwe, Arnold Ndebele, attributed their success to restrategising.

“After we won in 2014 we tried our best to get the national prize, unfortunately we didn’t. As a result we sat down and recruited a lot of young blood which with no doubt aided our success today,” he said.

Ndebele added that it will be a blessing if this time around they secured the number one spot in the finals which are going to be held on July 30 in Bulawayo. Zimbabwe National Traditional Dance Association chairman Kennedy Kachuruka attributed Sekunjalo’s success to resilience.

“They’ve improved in every aspect and they continue to ooze with energy in their performances. Even in terms of costumes and new members they managed to bring that Umzansi dance flair to action,” said Kachuruka. He added that the Chibuku Neshamwari dance competition had improved in terms of gender inclusivity.

“After five years we can safely say that the participation of women in the traditional dance competition has improved. Estimates show it’s now 58% women and 47% men which is a very good thing in comparison to five years ago when we had 38 % women participation,” he said.

Kachuruka said the traditional dance competition was targeting rural based traditional dance groups. “We’re trying to promote the rural community which doesn’t have the privilege like other groups to commercially add value to their talent. In Binga where we recently held the Matabeleland North competition, we saw a lot of talent there,” he said.

In the Manicaland Provincial traditional dance competition that was held concurrently with Bulawayo Province, Beni Arinoti came first followed by Mawungwe and Chaunwa traditional dance groups.