BY CHIEDZA MAZHANGARA MABVUKU-BASED young dancer Beauty “Stimy Bee” Katiji says she is committed to use art to make a difference in society and help untapped talent mainly in marginalised spaces discover their abilities.
Stimy Bee, in partnership with her sister, Fatima “Stimela” Katiji, formed Stimy Bee Arts Crew in 2020 that trains children in different arts disciplines such as dance, singing and fine arts.
At the moment 35 persons ranging from three to 25 years are being trained under the Stimy Bee Arts Crew.
“We started Stimy Bee Arts Crew as a way of trying to remove young children from the streets as well as fight drug abuse and child marriages,” Stimy Bee said.
The high level of child marriages, said to have become rampant during the COVID-19-induced lockdowns when children were off school, was also a source of inspiration for the Katiji sisters.
“Witnessing what has been happening in my ghetto (high-density suburb of Mabvuku) I called a few girls and started dancing and to our surprise the numbers kept growing each and everyday,” she said.
“When we started it was Stimy Bee Dance Crew and we later decided to rebrand to Stimy Bee Arts Crew to ensure that every talent is incorporated having noticed that a number of children failed to join as they were not interested in dance.”
She said currently they are training children in contemporary dance and how to do theatre plays in English.
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“Having the opportunity to acquire this knowledge is like a step further for these children who reside in the high-density suburb of Mabvuku. Our aim is to improve the lifestyle of children residing in high-density areas such as Mabvuku and at least shape them for an improved future. I believe we are slowly attaining our goals judging from the number of children that have so far stopped engaging in bad behaviours in pursuit of their arts talents,” she added.
Stimy Bee is happy that other artistes are engaging some of the children for live performances thereby monetising their talents.
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