Let’s dance! Introducing Mwedzi Muchena – the Clear Moon Arts Ensemble, Victoria Falls

After enjoying a traditional dance performance given by Mwedzi Muchena, a tribal dance group, Usch Pilz, a German writer and translator who spends several weeks each year in Zimbabwe, took the opportunity to talk to two members of the ensemble. Pardon Kanda and Simbarashe Chilenga from Mwedzi Muchena were happy to answer her questions.

UP: How do you choose the dances for your repertoire?
SC: We want to give people an idea of our traditional Zimbabwean culture, and there is a dance for almost every important occasion: A hunting dance, a war victory dance and – of course – a lovers’ dance.

UP: And the name of your group?
PK: We call ourselves the Mwedzi Muchena Arts Ensemble. Mwedzi Muchena means ‘Clear Moon’. SC: Because nights with a clear moon are nights for celebration.

UP: Tell me more about the ensemble.
SC: We have been together for about a year, but all of us have been involved with traditional dancing and music before.
PK: Most group members have known each other a long time. But some new dancers have just arrived from Harare. That means extra rehearsals...

UP: The instruments you feature …
PK: Our drums are the driving force. They power our dancing and make people move …
SC: And then we have the mbira for the quieter moments. The mbira is a very old and spiritual instrument. We think, especially our foreign guests should see it, hear it and know about it. This instrument is traditionally used for communication with the spirit world.

UP: But how about this world in the here and now? Can you make a living with the work you do?
PK: It is very hard, and we are not quite there yet. I give drumming lessons and do fire shows as well. Sometimes I teach gymnastics or help other artists with their training.

UP: Pardon, I think, I have seen you on TV!
PK: (laughs) Yes, together with a friend I was hired to do a fire show for a German production called Million Dollar Model. We were breathing fire and juggling with fire for a whole day while the models were posing for the cameras.

Read the full article here.