HIGHLY acclaimed international dance outfit, Tumbuka Contemporary Dance Company is set to execute the return of the Dark Swan dance as part of the Nhaka Tumbuka dance season scheduled to run from June 29 to 30.
BY LORRAINE MUROMO
The group’s rehearsal director and choreographer, Maylene Chenjerai, told NewsDay last week that the Dark Swan was a sensual dance that explored the presentation and representation of the African female body.
She said the new dance season was set to mark Tumbuka’s 24th anniversary and would be used to celebrate the group’s achievements over the past two decades.
“The preparations are set but, as you may know, dancing never ends so this is an ongoing process of making it better on a daily basis,” she said.
She said upcoming artists needed to draw lessons from the forthcoming season where works such as 1 King Lady by Zimbabwe-born, Brooklyn-based choreographer Norah Chipaumire would be showcased.
“Young artistes have a lot to learn from this dance season especially from a short story titled 1 King Lady by Chipaumire and one-on-one question and answer segment with the renowned choreographer and Tumbuka dancers,” she said.
She said four different choreographies — Dark Swan and Portrait of Myself as My Father by Chipaumire and L’apres-midi d’un Fune and Les Sylphides by McIntosh Jerahuni — would be showcased during the season.
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Chipaumire donated Portrait of Myself as My Father to Tumbuka last year.
She was on record saying she made the Dark Swan in 2005 as an acknowledgment of contemporary dance’s debt to the Russian masters who contributed much to the development of contemporary dance.
Chenjerai said artists needed support from the community and Tumbuka dance season was an opportunity for young dance artists to appreciate their Zimbabwean culture in dance styles and techniques while expanding their skills and gaining more knowledge.
Tumbuka, which means to bloom in Shona, was founded in 1992 under the Dance Trust of Zimbabwe.