Living up to its own prophecy – Intwasa : Blooming

 I was swaying. I was getting there. Then the young lead singer of group upped the ante and swung into a ditty that had a couple of young queens haplessly sashaying closer to the stage. Then they were shaking their derrieres with gusto. Man it was something to behold. Almost like poetry in motion…Yeah it was off the hook. That is the colloquialism to describe the biggest show of the year in Bulawayo. Mokoomba, a Victoria Falls group of gifted musicians commanded the Chibuku stage by Large City Hall with the mastery of true pros belying the ages of the band members. Theirs is a mesh of Tonga/Nambya melodies, calypso rhythmns, West African inflections and something truly original to them.  I saw Bulawayo socialites such as Babongile , Wataffi and singer Eric Moyo in the audience nodding away. There was tacit agreement and approval from  peers in the music game that Mokoomba were that  good. So good in fact that Willis Wataffi of Africa Revenge jumped the stage guerilla style to take a nibble off the glow of Mokoomba’s  stage glory. But they were gracious enough to let the music play. And the band played on.
You had to be there to grasp that this was the stuff that festivals are made of. I mean that all the vital ingredients were there. For once Bulawayo’s cultural pulse quickened and pounded to the beat of the music, dance , theatre poetry that characterised the 2012 instalment of Intwasa Arts Festival – Blooming. An aptly titled showcase of some our nation’s brightest creative forces. You had the workshops on the business of writing, poetry, arts management presented by the American Embassy and British Council. You had book launches by the likes of Dr Yvonne Vera’s mother Erica Gwetai ( Embracing the cactus) and Naison Tfwala (Unfukula Wenhlathu), evocative theatre such as The Immigrants by Homerown Arts Productions. You had vibrant music begging for your attention. It was in my view a tour de force of creativity and the bustling promise of this citadel of the arts that Bulawayo is. There was just so much to sample and in the end one gets overwhelmed by the extravagant buffet meal that the festival was. You couldn’t really decide who the fringe act or stage was in the Intwasa Arts Festival.  Opening performances included what can be described as a homage to the Cont Mhlanga classic Stitsha  produced by Sihlangu Dlodlo’s Qhube Productions. The play did not veer too much from the original as I gathered from the sentiments of some who saw the first production. Was it a desecration therefore ? Not if you were to ask the audience who seemed to lap it all up and seemed oblivious to the two hour stretch plus fifteen minute break that the play. To be fair, Dlodlo’s production had new music and dances that added the vital freshness required when you do good theatre apart from having a play with a good story line to work with.
Theatre -kicked off the performances on the first day. The Lion and the Jewel. The play supported with kind sponsorship from Plan Zimbabwe was produced by Raisedon Baya and Thabani Moyo . . The cast comprised both school leavers and current pupils. A powerful marriage of entertainment and education this theatre initiative was. The Wole Soyinka classic is a current set book in our schools and pupils will be writing the exam come November for their literature exam. Plumtree High, Sizane , Msiteli , G.L.O.A.G., Gifford, Eveline, Townsend , Mpopoma, Mzilikazi, Bulawayo Adventist Secondary School are some of the schools came from far and wide to see the two shows. In the end, the Bulawayo Theatre venue proved to be too small for the throngs of students who wanted to see both the morning and afternoon shows. Standout performances by Charmaine Dawu of Bulawayo Adventist Secondary School and Hazel Sibanda of Mpopoma High School brought a realism to the character of Sidi ( jewel) who later succumbs to the wiles of the Lion. Hazel Sibanda went on to win win best actress award in the High Schools drama competition also funded by Plan Zimbabwe for her role as Lethu in a play directed by one Mr Alistair Mangoro a teacher at Mpopoma High School. The teacher also won the best director award. It was a none controversial result. Hazel Sibanda is a bright rising. Intwasa Arts Festival should be applauded for providing a platform to unearth this gem of an actress. She is however looking toward a career in law. 
Dance -As usual Iyasa did not disappoint.  Ingwenyama and Kwabatsha Dance Company acquitted themselves powerfully and had the dances of their lives. The Tumbuka Dance Company ‘s Between The Lines presentation at the Bulawayo Theatre  was a strange experience for yours truly. I just could not get the concept and thus to be fair I must simply say that maybe it was one of those things such as abstract art. Like Picasso’s paintings where one has to gaze long and hard to get the gist of the piece of art. I can tell you that the dancers were tightly and well – choreographed.
Youth Stage- Da Flow sessions featured Bulawayo hip hop underground artistes headlined by P.O.Y. They were living it up on the youth stage. Didn’t know that there was so much talent . Ok in some places you could always sense that some of the youngsters were tripping in wannabe mode. Of course you could catch an affectation of U.S. rap artists such as Jay Z and Lil Wayne in the rapping style. Overall the platform was another coup de grace for organisers of Intwasa and Naboth Rimayi aka Rizla , a young hip hop entrepreneur and head of Da Grape Vine records and clothing line based   in Bulawayo. The bountiful youthful crowd was to use the rap parlance just wilding !
Workshops-  The workshops on arts management and creative entrepreneurship were well received by Arts managers and artists in the city. Conducted by NATIONAL Arts Council’ s Nick Moyo and David Parrish UK based management consultant ( whose book I have in my possession for review)  respectively the workshops were eye opening . It is in one of the sessions that Nick Moyo a director with National Arts Council revealed that the government is serious about the potential of arts sector as a contributor to the GDP. So serious in fact that he intimated that ZIMRA the revenue collection authority in the country approached his office with a request to be furnished with the complete list of all the musicians on their books. Taxing times up ahead for musicians in the country !!!
Space constraints always mean one can’t possibly exhaust what one colud possibly write and I saw a lot. More  later. For instance I have the Dudu Manhenga interview as well a one on one with David Parrish on the business of Creativity.