Nyandoro Primary wins Jikinya

Entertainment
NYANDORO Primary School from Mashonaland Central province on Friday clinched top prize at this year’s edition of the Jikinya Dance Festival national finals

NYANDORO Primary School from Mashonaland Central province on Friday clinched the top prize at this year’s edition of the Jikinya Dance Festival national finals.

LUYANDUHLOBO MAKWATI OWN CORRESPONDENT

The festival, which was held at Bulawayo Large City Hall in Bulawayo, brought a galore of traditional dances as schools from the country’s 10 provinces converged to exhibit their skills on the dance floor.

The event was marked by well-choreographed dances as pupils were performing their hardstomping dances and drumming.

Nyandoro stole the hearts of the adjudicators with a splendid show of the jerusarema mbende dance managing to shrug off stiff competition from Mashonaland East’s St Joseph Primary School which had to settle for second place despite an energetic performance.

Rusununguko Primary School from Harare came third, while Matabeland South Sabiwa Primary settled for fourth place.

The schoolchildren entertained a packed auditorium with well-choreographed sets that were nothing short of stunning.

It was a beautiful experience to see the enthusiasm with which they displayed their dances.

Meanwhile, National Arts Council of Zimbabwe, which organises the festival, announced that the jerusarema mbende dance would be the common dance for next year’s edition of the festival.

This comes after the dance was also chosen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation for their cultural heritage development programme.

The jerusarema mbende dance took over from the amabhiza dance which was the common dance this year.

Jerusarema mbende is one of the most common traditional dances in the country and at the festival the audience had a chance to sample it being performed by Murehwa-based award-winning Ngoma Dzepasi.

Umkhathi theatre works were the guest group that provided entertainment.