Umchilo Wamakhosikazi mesmerise at Harare Carnival street party

Rumbidzai Mbewe
ALL that people could hear was the deafening sound of whistles, applauses, screams and shouts from men who were on top of trees after they had caught a glimpse of bare-breasted girls. The young and energetic girls, who innocently danced in the streets of Harare during the Harare International Carnival street party last week, caught the eye of and excited the crowd that seemed more interested in their nudity and less with their dance moves.

Many of the people, whose eyes were fixated on the girls, thought the young women were from Swaziland where the reed dance is popular — little did they know that the girls were born and bred in Lupane, Matabeleland North— they prefer to be known by their group dance moniker, Umchilo Wamakhosikazi.

In an interview with Sunday Leisure, the founder and director of Umchilo Wamakhosikazi, Thembi Ngwabi said the group was happy to be part of the carnival and hope to back next year to showcase the Ndebele culture.

“It is of a great honour that we managed to showcase the rich Ndebele culture to many people at the carnival. What gets me excited about this is that we were not exhibiting to the people of Zimbabwe only but to different countries from different parts of the world,” she said.

Gogo Thembi said the name of the group was derived from the rainbow. The dance moves too are also associated with the rainbow as they are a celebration of the rainy season.

During the carnival procession one noticed that not all the girls were bare-breasted. Gogo Thembi said the attire of the girls differed with age as well as maturity. She said the young ones that are still virgins walk around with their breasts out while those who have reached puberty stage and are old enough to marry cover their breasts.

“As you know in the Ndebele culture, young girls who are virgins can walk around half-naked without anyone having to worry because they are considered as children. Changes come when they reach puberty and they are being prepared for marriage.

This is the time when they are introduced to bras and the elderly are grooming them to be mothers and wives,” she said.

Gogo Thembi said the elderly or married women also had their own attire which was different from the girls. She said in the Ndebele culture it is taboo for married or elderly women to walk around with their shoulders and heads uncovered.

“You will notice that the elderly and married women in the group have doeks and their shoulders are covered all the time. In our culture a woman should always cover her head and shoulders as well as the knees as a sign of respect,” said Gogo Thembi.

The group has never participated at any other festival. Gogo Thembi said it was wiser for them to participate during carnivals as this event draws in a lot of people from different countries.

“We do not perform at any other festival except at the carnival. Those who are interested in knowing much about our culture should come for these carnivals because that’s the only event we get to showcase our culture,” she said.