Umoja auditions start tomorrow

are open to artistes aged between 18 and 30 years who specialise in the genres of music and dance.
“The aim is to select an Umoja ensemble for the year 2012 that will comprise 15 people who can sing, play music instruments and dance. This is the first round of auditions and out of it we are going to select 50 people who will go through to the second round of auditions from which we will select the final 15.
“This group will then rehearse and create a show of about an hour. This is the show they will be performing around Zimbabwe throughout the whole year,” Rumbidzai Chipendo, a member of Umoja’s national organising team, said.
The Umoja group is also expected to perform at this year’s edition of the Harare International Festival of the Arts.
“We are expecting the group to perform at this year’s edition of Hifa to repeat the feat they made last year whereby they were one of the performing groups at the arts fete,” added Tsitsi Tizora, also an organiser.
But the big event is when the group joins others from South Africa, Norway and the host country Mozambique, in Maputo in October for the Umoja Cultural Flying Carpet camp and festival.
“Since Umoja is aimed at promoting cultural linkages, the Zimbabwean group will link up with others that fall under the Umoja Southern Carpet for cultural exchange.
“This helps in that it promotes culture and individual development since the artistes will be exposed to a big international stage where some of the big artistes in the region are also featured as guests,” Tizora said.
Last year, musicians Oliver Mtukudzi, Eric Wainana (Kenya), Ray Phiri (South Africa) and Carola from Tanzania were the guests at the Umoja festival.
Umoja is a Swahili word for working together.