(Last Updated on November 24, 2015 by Editor)
ZIMBABWE – Midlands province has found its representative for this year’s edition of the Jikinya Dance Festival that will be held at Pakare Paye in Norton on November 27.
Matenda Primary School which a school situated in the heart of Zvishavane’s once on the map business centre won their ticket to the national competitions at the Midlands provincial finals that were on held on Friday in Gweru.
The school has been representing Midlands’s province for the past five years and the close they got to the top was fourth position in 2010.
Speaking to H-Metro the patron of the school’s traditional dance club Mr Tanyanyiwa Hakunavanhu said:
“My group is the first in Zimbabwe to go to the national competitions for five consecutive years. It is ranked amongst the country’s 10 best groups.
“This year we are aiming for the Hope Sadza Trophy For Outstanding Common Dance Performance and nothing less.
“We are aiming at making a difference this year, lm glad my group will be amongst the country’s best young artists, it will be good for them and lm sure they will enjoy it.
“My students have been practicing and we enrolled new members, over the years we have not been affected by grade seven pupils’ graduation into secondary school”.
The festival is aimed at encouraging primary school children to appreciate and perform Zimbabwean traditional dances which promote and preserve the country’s cultural heritage.
Last year, the common dance was Jerusarema Mbende Dance and this year’s is Ihossana which is a rainmaking ceremony dance done in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana. .
The festival is a partnership programme between NACZ and National Association of Primary Heads and it is sponsored by Delta Beverages and Culture Fund of Zimbabwe Trust.