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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

WHEN groups of tourists arrive in Victoria Falls, they are welcomed by traditional dance groups that showcase different types of local dances. This is a sign of hospitality and a way of welcoming guests and making them feel at home through music and cultural displays.

There are over a dozen dance groups in Victoria Falls whose day-to-day conviction is to welcome guests at the airport, hotel entrances, and at the Rainforest.
Inguquko White Stars dance group is one of the many groups and is usually found at the Rainforest entrance and Elephant Hills Resort where they have a contract with African Sun Limited.

Inguquko White Stars dance group

The group heavily relies on the money which visitors throw into their tray (ingcebethu). However, sometimes, they can perform for the whole day without guests placing any money.

Vitalis Nkosi, director of Inguquko White Stars said hopes are high that the year will be better as the outfit plans to record its music so as to reach a wider audience.

“Inguquko White Stars has 13 members, nine males and three females. We’re based at the Rainforest entrance where we welcome visitors and we also have a contract at Elephant Hills where we perform for guests,” said Nkosi.

“We practice five days a week in the bush near Mkhosana where we cleared a small piece of land. This year, we’re planning to showcase our dances and music to more people. We have choreographed our dances and composed songs, but we’re short of money to record and market our music and we wish to get help,” said Nkosi.

He said the money that they get from hotels where they perform is sufficient to sustain their livelihoods and sadly, cannot cover recording costs.

Vitalis Nkosi, director of Inguquko White Stars

Nkosi said since its formation a few years ago, the group has only recorded one song “Welcome to Victoria Falls” while several others remain unrecorded because of lack of money.
The group is diverse as it does not specialise in a particular dance. It showcases all traditional dances found in Zimbabwe as well as Botswana’s Setape and Mzansi from South Africa.