Mthabisi Tshuma, [email protected]
THE pride of Matabeleland arts, Ezimnyama Dance Ensemble, has expressed gratitude to the French, Spanish, and Swiss citizens who welcomed them warmly during their recent trip to Europe.
Early in July, the group departed for an international tour, and they returned home on 22 August.
The group members who travelled to Europe were Faith Moyo, Faith Dube, Juliet Dube, Belinda Nkhulungo, Dadirai Mupandawana, Sthandweyinkosi Moyo, Nontokozo Maseko, Munyaradzi Chibuswa, Themba Mpala, Tichaona Chiruma, Ernest Chihumbiri, Passmore Maseko, Josam Mwanza, Julius Hlabangana, Samson Mandongwe, Brilliant Sithole and the dance ensemble’s founder, Phibion “Fobie” Ncube.
Fobie stated that they gained a lot of knowledge from the trip and are prepared to further grow their brand.
“It was a great experience to perform in front of different audiences and in particular audiences which don’t understand our language but admire the beauty of Zimbabwean music and dance. It was an amazing experience indeed.
“In the tour we learnt that we have to take arts as a profession and how we manage ourselves on and off the stage is very important. Also there is need to understand the stage use, the lights, sound engineering and time as those are some of the things which are important,” said Fobie.
He said he hopes the tour opens more doors for them.
“The tour was a stepping stone for us because we managed to create networks with other arts institutions across the globe. The idea is to showcase the beauty of Zimbabwean culture.
“Our culture is very unique, they really loved it, what I can say is we took Europe by storm. They learnt about our culture and we also learnt about theirs as well. Many of the people we met they guaranteed us that they will be visiting Zimbabwe just to come and experience our country,” he said.
Fobie stated that they will be working on other joint projects with various international artistes. —@mthabisi_mthire
