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Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls 

DANCE competition – Tjukutja Kasi to Kasi that airs on national broadcaster ZBCtv moves to Victoria Falls to record Season Two tomorrow and Sunday as the television programme spreads its wings to other provinces. 

Season One’s 13 episodes were shot entirely in Bulawayo’s high density suburbs. For Season Two, four episodes will be shot in Victoria Falls targeting groups and individuals. The other nine episodes will be shot in Tsholotsho, Plumtree, Gwanda and Bulawayo as the show spreads to the southern region.

Tjukutja Kasi to Kasi is similar to South Africa Jika Majika (Ngubani Umanqoba) free style open dance competition and is the brainchild of former ZBC cameraman, Tafadzwa Dube, who feels it is time to give unheralded artistes outside Bulawayo an opportunity to showcase themselves.

“We’re now expanding to other artistes in the southern region. This weekend we’ll be here in Victoria Falls where we will shoot four episodes before going to Tsholotsho, Plumtree, Gwanda and then Bulawayo,” said Dube in an interview in Victoria Falls.

Through his production house, Ubuntu Bomuntu which was established in 2014, Dube was in the resort town over the weekend on a fact finding mission ahead of the Saturday and Sunday Tjukutja recording. 

Dube said the idea with Tjukutja was to entertain and empower youths so they stay away from drug abuse and crime.

“We want youths to realise their talent in music and art. We profile them while they show their talent which exposes them to the outside market. In Bulawayo 10 youths have been identified by an organisation that wants to hire them for corporate functions while some have been promised recording contracts,” he said.

Dube said the show is open to any genre. Group winners in Season Two will walk away with $2 000 prize money while individuals will pocket $800.

The organisers have partnered a Victoria Falls based youth group United Children of Africa (Unica) for Season Two.

Unica founding director Douglas Musiringofa said: “We’re a child-centred institution and we are interested in this programme because it will also enhance our programmes. 

“This is an opportunity for us to bring youths out of risky areas and empower them through programmes such as international cultural exchanges.”

The shooting of episodes in the resort town will be an opportunity for Victoria Falls artistes, to market themselves. 

Victoria Falls artistes are still cocooned in the resort town’s old culture of waiting for conferences and tourists to dance and be given handouts.

As a result, a few of them have made it at national level as the majority lack the initiative to showcase themselves at that stage.

Organisers of events tend to prefer established artistes from elsewhere, which locals have complained about. – @ncubeleon