BULAWAYO’S Umkhati Theatre are the winners of this year’s Chibuku Neshamwari traditional dance held at Harare Gardens on Saturday afternoon.
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The Bulawayo group performed a bwakhetse dance, popular with the Nswazi tribe which hail from Plumtree. They walked away with $4 000, while Mashonaland Central provincial finalists Guruve Marimba ensemble was second walking away with $3 000.
In an interview with NewsDay, the group’s manager said they were happy that their hard work had paid off.
“We are really happy to have come second. Of course when we were practising we aimed to be number one, but I believe we lost to a better group,” Paddington Gweshe said.
Third place went to Mashonaland East’s Rarira Dendera. Traditional dance specialist, who also works as a professional physical educator and sports scientist Frank Kurubwe, praised organisers for preserving traditional culture. “I salute the organisers for preserving our culture through art, but there is still a lot to be done to make the competition more educative, for example, giving a brief background on the dance before performance,” Kurubwe said.
Other groups that participated include Chivaraidze Muchongoyo, Hwahwa School of Art, Budiriro Cultural Arts and Lilongwe representing different provinces. Meanwhile, in another show sponsored by Delta Beverages dancehall musician Wallace Chimuriko aka Winky D and King Shady staged spectacular shows in Masvingo on Friday night, while Shinsoman failed to impress.
The show, which was part of the ongoing Lion Lager Campus Nite activations being held at universities as a build up to the Lion Larger Summer Beer Festival next month, saw scores of people thronging Mucheke Stadium.
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King Shady was first on stage dropping hits such as Tsoka yaDanmore, Letter to Mai Huni and Sinhi Rebaccosi among others.
The pinnacle of his performance was when he sang his new hit single Machirachete.
The artiste, known for his controversial lyrics surprised the audience with a new song that suggests naming roads after musicians changing Robert Mugabe Road into King Shady Avenue.
Shinsoman, real name Romeo Anthony, was next on stage taking over the well-charged crowd. The artiste, who is well known for his energetic stagework this time failed to live up to his billing.
However, songs such as Ndodiwa Mhani, Maghetto Youths and Mawayawaya were well received.
Winky D took the stage with his early hit Chatsva being the entry point.
Clad in a black tux, English style, the Ninja President was on fire.
His stagework including the collaboration with Lipsy proved his worthy as the dancehall king.
