jibilika dance festival report, 8th edition 2015
DESCRIPTION
A report on the 8th edition of the annual Jibilika Dance Festival held in Bulawayo from the 21st to the 22nd of August. The festival promotes dance as a vehicle for youth talent development and a platform for recreation. The festival is organized by Jibilika Dance Trust with support from the Culture Fund Zimbabwe in partnership with Embassy of Sweden and Danida. The Jit exchange was initiated by Zimbabwe Cultural Centre in Detroit a Knights Foundation granteeTRANSCRIPT
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FESTIVAL REPORT
CONTENTS
Jibilika Dance Festival 2015 | Report
Page 1 ContentsPage 2 Word from Festival DirectorPage 3 Meet the TeamPage 4 Festival HistoryPage 5 Jibilika - Year By Year Page 6 2015 Festival In Numbers Page 7 Provincial PreliminariesPage 8 ThemePage 9 Day 1Page 10 Day 2Page 11 Cultural ExchangePage 12 Media CoveragePage 13 Social MediaPage 14 Festival OnlinePage 15 Word From ParticipantsPage 16 Festival Partners
Report by: Plot Mhako
"This is our dream come true, being winners for the third time. Dancing is a career that needs to be taken seriously as it will also sustain livelihoods. I thank Jibilika for the exposure they are giving to the youths as it is
promoting our culture. Dance is a tool that can be used to communicate," said Magesh crew. (The Herald)
Images: Mgcini Nyoni / Plot Mhako
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Design: Plot Mhako / JIBILIKA CREATIVE
Magesh anked by Bulawayo National Arts Council Provincial Manager Mrs Nyathi
Jibilika Dance Fest 2015 was one of a kind probably the best since Jibilika started. Dancers had
“a great time the service was superb. Each dancer got a chance to explore other dance styles
and despite our differences in where we came from and our dance styles, everyone got along.
Jibilika gave us a chance to showcase our Talents and i greatly appreciate. Thanks To the Jibilika
Team. Hopefully the next Jibilika will be as great and Thanks To the All Mighty for giving the
Jibilika Team the strength to make such an Event possible.” Bruce Mugozhi Province Masvingo,
Crew-Prototypes
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WORD FROM FESTIVAL FOUNDER / DIRECTOR
Jibilika spelt Tjibilika is native Kalanga meaning dance, move, act, in essence express yourself.
Jibilika shares the idea of art in its different forms is a universal language transcending all communication boundaries, hence the use of dance to engage, inform, empower, transform and entertain.
The 8th Jibilika Dance Festival is testimony of this transformative power. The power of positive youth energy which has sustained the festival
for years despite the harsh economic situation and a lot of challenges in building the brand. Iam delighted and thankful to the dancers, dance enthusiasts, our funding partners and the media for supporting the dream.
Each year young people look up to Jibilika Festival for entertainment and creative engagement. Its these expectations that keep us running and aiming to improve our programming and enhancing the impact in the hope of creating a self sustainable festival that is always connected to the roots of our culture and the people.
Thank you for a wonderful festival. Keep Dancing
Plot Mhako
FESTIVAL TEAM
Kudakwashe Charwadza - Festival Manager
"Excited to have been part of a ground breaking Jibilika 2015 festival that brought together 100s of dancers for dialogue, exchance and expression” through dance.”
The 8th edition of Jibilika Dance Festival was made possible through a collective effort from dedicated youthful provincial coordinators and key festival team.
Each preliminary had a coordinator based in that respective province which gave the local community ownership of the grassroots process.
The same team was instrumental in ensuring transportation, welfare and participation of their respective teams.
Several Bulawayo practitioners were engaged for the grand nale, i.e Sound Technicians, Lighting Engineers, lming, photographers, Caterers, festival runners
This was part of a goal to give equal opportunities to the local community and empower them.
Jibilika Dance Festival Team
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HISTORY
Jibilika Dance Festival was founded in March 2007 as an eclectic national dance
festival and has remained an annual event since then. It has become 'Zimbabwe's
premier annual youth dance festival. The festival celebrates both urban and
cultural dances and runs in competition format.
The platform seeking to herald Zimbabwe's hidden artistic talent and use the energy
to express, engage and empower the youths. The festival aims to promote dance
as a vehicle for youth, talent development and a platform for recreation. The
festival carnival encompasses mentorship on a wide range of youth related issues,
offering training and development workshops, exhibitions and performances.
Over the years the initiative has exposed and promoted a number of dancers and
groups that are now established, reputable and living off dance as a career.
Years of JIBILIKA
8 Exposing, nurturing and promoting dancing talent.Zimbabwe’s
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Festival History
JIBILIKA DANCE FESTIVAL YEAR BY YEAR
2007Jibilika is founded. 42 dance groups from around the country converged at 7 Arts Theatre to showcase and compete for prizes in various categories, Hip Hop, Pantsula, Rhumba/Sungura, Traditional.Magesh of Bulawayo won the overall title with K-Otics also of Bulawayo taking second place. The festival is propelled to national acclaim and becomes an annual event.
2008The year marks the second edition of the festival. Preliminaries are held in 7 provinces. Finalists meet in Harare at the Harare International Conference Centre for the nale. Magesh of Bulawayo clinched the title for the second time. Harmony of Mutare came second.
2009Jibilika Festival bought the licence for the international breakdance championships Battle of the Year. Flip Floppers won the title at 7 Arts Theatre and went on to team up with other dancers in an all star crew that represented Zimbabwe in Cape Town at the African Championships. Zimbabwe took third position.
2010The festival ran for the second year under the banner Battle Of The Year. Flip Floppers went on to scoop the championship for the second time at the event held at HICC in Harare.
2011Zimbabwe hosted the African chamiponships at the HICC which saw an all star House of Stone crew winning the title.
2012This year saw the dropping of the Battle of the Year component. The festival instead introduced a social element and ran under the theme Step Up 2 HIV as it sought to raise awareness on HIV among the youth through dance. The response was overwhelming. Antivirus of Bulawayo won the contest. The event was held at Harare Gardens. The theme Step Up 2 HIV became a stand alone initiative with support from the and has reached at least 40 000 youths in schools US Embassy and communities in Harare, Masvingo, Mutare, Bulawayo over three years and has won an award.
2013Zimbabwe College of Music played host to the 2013 edition which was a resounding success. The contest was won by Street Madness dance group from Harare. 21 groups from around the country took part in the festival.
2014Jibilika returned to the Harare Gardens under theme Urban Rootz which saw the fusion of traditional and urban dance styles. Explosion Crew from Bulawayo won the national title followed by Break Equation also from the same city and Prototypes from Masvingo coming third.
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2015 FESTIVAL IN NUMBERS
Provincial
Grand Finale
Preliminaries
Audience : On average each provincial preliminary attracted an audience of at least 150 people thus in total we reached out to about 2000 people. Artists: Each event gave a platform to local upcoming musicians to showcase their talent. More than forty (40) musicians participated during the process. Dancers: Gweru had the highest number (15 groups) of groups taking part in a preliminary and Harare had the lowest of (7) seven. Each group had an average of 5 dancers. Tens of solo dancers also participated. More than 400 dancers took part in the provincial nals. Team: Each province had a local coordinator who assembled a local team and helped organize the provincials. In other areas we partnered with local arts groups, venues and promoters to host the preliminary.
Venues: Founders High School, Bulawayo City Centre, Bulawayo Theater
Day 1: BreakDance Workshop, - Alma Manyika, Founders High School Jit Dance Workshop - Haleem Stringz (USA) Jibilika Street Cypher, Bulawayo City Centre, free (Outreach) - at least 300 people - audience 25 dancers participated (19 male, 6 female) Documentary Screening (Shake The Dust) and Discussion Founders High School 119 participantsDay 2 Jit Workshop - Haleem Stringz (USA) - 10 participants New School Hip hop dance workshop - Tanaka Roki 16 participants Afro-house dances - Miriam Kabongo (24 participants) Arts and Gender Discussion - Isheanesu Dzvairo (46 participants)
Festival Team: Plot Mhako, Kudakwashe Charwadza, Milicent Tshuma, Tendai Mushonga, Heather Mlingo, Rose Sadomba, Kudzai Kunaka, Dennis Madyira, Sandra Nyamukachi, Isheanesu Dzvairo, Beverly Mukunyadze, Tanya Charingira, Deborah Kabongo, Delroy Scara, Miriam Kabongo, Sean Ace, Sly Shonhiwa, Noni Madzinga, Jeff Warara Judges: Ricco Andrews (Byo), Mbo Mahocs (Byo), Alma Manyika (Hre),
Haleem Stringz Rasul (USA)
Musical Acts; Our line-up of musicians was entirely from Bulawayo. We had Awa (African Women Arise), Cal_vin, Nashie, Teeko, Psycho
Dancers: 110 dancers took part in the grand festival.Audience: 410 people attended the nale
Post Festival - Cultures Impact Workshops: Haleem Stringz (US)Mutare - Courtauld Theatre, 33 participantsHarare - Mufakose, 10 participantsChitungwiza- Unit K, Mhodzi Centre, 17 participants
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PROVINCIAL PRELIMINARIES
Mutare
Masvingo
Harare
Masvingo
Bulawayo
Gweru
Twelve dance groups competed in the national nal following the completion of
provincial preliminaries. This years nalists were, the defending champions Explosion
from Bulawayo, the 2007-8 champions Magesh also from the host city, Flying Angels
from Harare, B Street crew of Bindura, Juveniles of Mutare, Extreme of Gweru, Jr Fox of
Kadoma, Ghetto Clarks Zone of Chitungwiza, Super Geeks of Bulawayo, 3rd Wave of
Norton, Ebony Arts of Gwanda, Zvaazvinhu of Masvingo.
SNIPPETS
PROVINCIAL FINALS
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Festival THEME
“The festival allowed young people to freely express themselves through dance,
celebrating their uniqueness whilst embracing their cultural diversity, displaying
high standards of choreography and professionalism as a way of making
dance entertaining, engaging and economically empowering.”
#FREESTYLEFreedom and Style
“Ebony Arts would love to thank u for yo appreciation, support and
platform...We are proud 2nd runner ups and we look forward to working with u
more from now than before...Thanks to Jibilika, yo team and yo tireless efforts to
see us grow.May God Richly Bless You” Manue Luyanda Nyika (Group Leader, Ebony
Arts - Gwanda)
Social Media
Comments
EBONY ARTS - from Gwanda (3rd Place)
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THE FESTIVAL
DAY 1/2 WORKSHOPS / STREET CYPHER
COMMUNITY OUTREACH FILM SCREENING INSPIRATION > > >
ENGAGEMENT
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The festival encompassed several artistic development workshops which are conducted by professional choreographers during the preliminaries and on the grand nale.
Jibilika Dance Festival 2015 | Report
GENDER STEREOTYPE ARTS PATRIARCHY> > > > DISCUSSION
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We had a documentary screening, conducted a series of workshops and a discussion
focusing on gender inequalities in the arts.
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THE FESTIVAL DAY2 - IN PICTURES
Jibilika Dance Festival 2015 | Report
RESULTS> Dance Groups
1st > Magesh (Bulawayo)2nd> Explosion Dance Crew (Bulawayo)3rd> Ebony Arts (Gwanda)
SOLO DANCE CATEGORY RESULTS: B-boy :1. Sylvester Shonhiwa aka Silva (Harare)2. Biliard Kambona (Bindura) Krump: 1. McDonald Jonasi aka Hurricane (Harare)2. Bright Monga Dhlamini (Bulawayo)New School Hip Hop Dance 1. TK Madaka (Bulawayo)2. Clarence Tendai Koga (Chitungwiza
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CULTURAL EXCHANGE
The Knight Foundation, USA and the Zimbabwe Cultural Centre of Detroit supported the
festival through facilitation of an exchange that saw dance choreographer and hip hop
organiser Haleem Stringz Rasul from Detroit, USA spending a month in the country where
he conducted workshops, master classes and exhanges with local dancers as part of the
festival program. Haleem jointly created the opening act with dancers at the Jibilika
Centre, Higheld in Harare.
JIT / JITI DANCE EXCHANGE PROGRAM
“Understanding other cultures can prevent prejudice and hate. It contributes to mutual
understanding between societies and people. Cultural exchange also enriches our own lives
by inspiring new forms of artistic expression and providing fresh insights that broaden our
horizons.” Plot Mhako, Festival Director
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PEACE BUILDING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
Mutare
Arts Management
Chitungwiza Mufakose
Belgravia
Jibilika Centre, HarareBulawayo
Jibilika Dance Festival 2015 | Report
The exchange centered around our taditional dance style of Jiti and a similar US dance
form called Jit which is found in Detroit, Michigan. The program involved a multi-faceted
cultural interaction with traditional dance experts such as Zimbabwe National Trditional
Dancers Association, Dzimbanhete Arts Interactions, famed sungura dancer Franco Slomo,
Warriors Dance ensemble of Mufakose, a youth urban cultural organisation Mhodzi Centre.
Bulawayo
Dzimbanhete ArtsFranco Slomo
HICC
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MEDIA COVERAGE
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SOCIAL MEDIA
“Jibilika festival is an amazin one coz it brings dancers together to exchange
culture and showcase talents at many cyphers and festivals ...... and that
actually improves and make the talents more competitive.
Jibilika has been an inspiration to many different kinda genres.” Munya - DNA
Jibilika Dance Festival 2015 | Report
“The Festival was great but for next time I think
if you're to do a festival movement like a power
walk in the city just to create awareness then a
cypher after as well as more workshops but overally
the festival was great” Ralph Simbarashe Bote aka
RageFurie, Harare
"A smart,distinctive
extraordinary
festival full of fun
and activities engaging
youths of all ages around
Zim through music and
dance. #never to be
missed” Rose Sadoma
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OFFICIAL WEBSITES
Jibilika dance festival has not only elevated the dance industry in Zimbabwe but has also
“uplifted societies norms and values so as to create social cohesion and integrating people...it
has also managed to employ globilization which unites people of different cultural
backgrounds and hence the art of dance being used as tool to enlighten people and instill
knowledge....“ Tk jr Krumpkid Madaka, Bulawayo - Salt and light dance crew
Jibilika Dance Festival 2015 | Report
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WORD FROM PARTICIPANTS!
The Jibilika Dance Festival
“2015 did not only give Bulawayo artists a chance to
showcase their skills but it also made dreams come true.It made a positive impact not only to the dancers but the audience as well.It was inspiring, young people came together for a good cause.We all learnt that dance can go beyond a hobby to a profession would like to see the festival growing even bigger” Awakhiwe Sibanda aka AWA, female Hip Hop MC, Bulawayo
iJibilika Festival yakobulawayo ibe
“yigcitshi ekuhlanganiseni lokubuthanisa abasakhulayo
bekhuluma ulimi elulodwa lokugida okwehlukileyo....Abasakhulayo bathole ithuba lokufunda okutshiyatshiyeneyo mayelana ngokugida befundiswa zicitshi ezihlukileyo kodwa bencintisana umanqoba wejibilika festival bejika jika izinyawo lomzimba lowu okumangalisayo sibili....Kubonakala iziphiwo zokugida ezitshiyeneyo okujabulisa kakhulu sibili” Millicent Tshuma, Festival Coordinator, Bulawayo
Iam grateful to Jibilika for embracing other forms of
“arts like gratti. As part of the Still Using Pressure (SUP) crew we are excited to get a chance to mirror the
essence of the festival and its theme through visual art. Spinx Brittan, Gatti artist, Bulawayo - Stage Designer
Jibilika Dance Festival 2015 | Report
Chiedza Heather Mlingo - Provincial Coordinator, Masvingo
“Startled to have been part of the
2015 jibilika festival an edition that inspired the rebirth of culture diversity, love for dance through the attraction of an all age audience and dancers from all corners of Zimbabwe”
From One day to a Two Day Festival + More elementsFirst Time for the nals to be hosted outside of Harare
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Festival Partners
In Partnership with:
Cultural Impact
“The overall project objective is to foster social cohesion, peace and poverty reduction within Zimbabwean communities by harnessing the transformative power of the arts and culture with particular focus on free expression, gender
equality, improved human rights and cultural diversity,” Farai Mupfunya, Culture Fund Director, (Newsday)
Cultural Exchange
The Jit project was initiated by the Zimbabwe Cultural Centre of Detroit (ZCCD)
and Jibilika Dance Trust through a Knight Foundation USA grant.
Workshops were held in Harare, Mutare, Chitungwiza and Bulawayo.
The festival was organized by Jibilika Dance Trust in partnership with the Culture
Fund Zimbabwe in partnership with Embassy of Sweden and Danida.
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JIBILIKA DANCE TRUST 6A Fernleigh Road, Borrowdale
Harare
www.jibilikadance.org / www.jibilikafestival.com Email: jibilika@gmail,com
Graphic Illustration : Manue Luyanda Nyika