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Nhlalwenhle Ngwenya
DRIVEN by a passion to take traditional dance and music to the rest of Southern Africa, Ezimnyama Dance Ensemble is working on a new production that will match international standards.

Titled, ‘I am an African’, the production that will have 18 artistes, is set to premier at the Bulawayo Theatre next month before it is taken to other parts of the country and then the SADC region.

The group’s director, Phibion Ncube, said ‘I am an African’ will be a one hour, thirty minute long stage production which will see the group adopting dances from Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Swaziland.

“It’ll be a celebration of the African culture through traditional dance and music. The production will be diverse as we want to cater for diverse audiences in different countries. It’ll therefore include dances from other countries in Southern Africa,” said Ncube.

Comprised of eight females and 10 males, the traditional dance group strongly believes that originality is a key factor in their production.

“What drove us to working on this play is mainly originality. The production will be based on an original concept story, which we are going to fuse with energetic traditional dance and music without distorting its original feel,” Ncube said.