By Burzil Dube
A ZIMBABWEAN cultural dance group based in Hwange called Pezhuba Pachena will during the Easter Holidays embark on a tour of Namibia and Botswana as part of efforts to promote traditional music and dance beyond the country’s borders.
In a recent interview with Caprivi Vision, the group’s artistic director,Mr Luckmore Munzambwa said the fifteen member group has been invited to showcase their skills in some hotels in
Katima Mulilo and surrounding areas.
“Some hotels in Katima Mulilo invited us to come and showcase our traditional and cultural skills to Namibian residents and guests. We also take the opportunity to lift Zimbabwe’s flag high and show the world that besides coming from a coal mining town, there is untapped talent in terms of entertainment,” said Munzambwa.
In Katima Mulilo they will perform at the Protea Hotel and two other lodges.
In Botswana they will also perform in the border resort town of Kasane where various shows have been lined up for them.
The fifteen member group specializes in community theatre, gumboot dance, xylophone and acapella among others. It is composed of nine males and six females drawn from various cultural backgrounds found in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North province.
Puzhuba Pachena also plays a percussive musical combination of xylophone, djembe, dance and vocals. The group fuses traditional music with western sound effects and a modernized interpretation of time, space and circumstance. Through xylophone the group plays a variety of musical styles that includes Zimbabwean traditional songs, Afro-fusion, jazz, house, gospel, afro-pop and classical sounds. Members of the group respectively are rich in entertainment experience and have performed on both local and international music festivals(concerts).
Pezhuba Pachena is a Nambya term which is translated into ‘the sun that brings brightness’. This is however synonymous with the Hwange climate which is usually hot most of the times during the course of the year.
The group’s vision since its establishment eight years ago has been restoration of African pride and human dignity through arts as they seek to preserve the Nambya, Tonga, Dombe and Lozi cultural heritage for the present and future generations.
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