That was so this last weekend when the Chinyakare Ensemble Zimbabwe Dancers performed at the Bret Harte Theater presented by the Calaveras Arts Council on February 24, 2013.
Julia Tsitsi Chigamba, the creator of the Tawanda muChinyakare Ensemble, gently told the audience the meaning behind each dance performed. Tawanda muChinyakare means "deep traditional in the arts of our ancestors." Julia had danced all these dances as a child and had grown up knowing innately what each dance was for, but didn't realize the depth of the menaings until she came to America and tried to explain the dances. It was then that she realized she wanted to share her culture and her dance with as many people as possible, to touch lives with her dance.
Dances in her culture were performed when a child was born, when an elder passed, to bless the seeds and the earth before planting and to put the earth to rest in the winter. To be thankful for water and for each gift each day brings, that we are all interconnected, we are all family.
The dances were at times theatrical at others gripping and compelling. The rhythm from the drums, gourd rattles and mbira would grab your soul and have you tapping your toes or swaying with the feeling. Energy pulsed from the dancers, as the rhythm increased the energy from the dancers became palpable. They weren't just dancing to a rhythm they were the rhythm, they were the dance.
Julia's daughter also danced with her and her son played rhythm instruments. With tears in her eyes she proudly told the audience that she left Zimbabwe when her daughter was four and her son ten to come to America, she was able to bring her children to America in 2010.
I would like to thank the Calaveras Arts Council for continually bringing culture to the foothills. Opening our minds, our hearts and our souls.
For more pictures CLICK HERE
by,
Charity Maness