REDWING Mine Traditional Dance Group from Manicaland are the winners of the 53rd edition of the Chibuku Neshamwari Traditional Dance Festival, dancing their way to a $7 000-bank balance, after putting up scintillating Ben Arinoti dance routines in a tightly contested final held at White City Stadium on Saturday.
BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
Sekunjalo MaAfrica from Bulawayo came second and pocketed $5 000 for their Mzansi dance, while Maramuro Agure from Harare received $3 000 for showcasing the Malawi Nyau dance.
The 18-member Redwing Mine outfit, dressed in white costumes that aped local and regional police officers, was a surprise winner, as How Mine traditional dance group, who also exhibited the Ben Arinoti dance, appeared to be crowd favourites.
Redwing Mine’s artistic director, Tupele Mdala told NewsDay, after their win, that they had worked extra hard during their preparations.
“Our hard work has paid off. We really worked hard for this victory despite that we have two of our members admitted at Mutare General Hospital. The situation did not put off our fighting spirit and we dedicate our victory to them,” he said.
“We had no stage fright and our set had variations, which gave us an upper hand among the other talented competitors.”
Mdala said following their victory, their main priority was to improve their costumes and pay members’ outstanding dues.
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Last year’s winners, Jerusarema Mbende dancers, Makarekare from Murehwa, featured as guest performers.
The annual traditional dance showcase, which is run by Delta Beverages through their Chibuku brand, technical partners National Arts Council of Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Traditional Dance Association, has churned out a number of talented traditional dancers.
Apart from the music and dance extravaganza, three Bulawayo fashion designers, Lilian Nyoni, Yvonne Muzembe and Sidumiso Tshuma showcased their various designs made from Chibuku branded material at the event.
Chibuku brand manager, Karen Dhliwayo saluted their partners for the success of the event and applauded the level of competition.
