Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. ALEXIS Makaza, the director of Green Stars Dance Troupe, says perfect practice yielded the group the much-desired results, as it won the 2025 Chibuku Neshamwari Traditional Dance Competition.
According to Makaza, the group taught each other chinyambera dance, which is a hunter’s dance, for over five months.
For its superb act, the Harare-based dance group walked away with US$15 000. Goromonzi Arts Ensemble, which came second, pocketed US$7 500, while Semvumba Dance Group got US$5 000, for finishing third.
The event was held at Mutare Show Grounds on Saturday.
Makaza told NewsDay Life & Style that their styles were unique because they had adequately ad-libbed on formation, count, style variation, original contexts and costumes, which eliminated stage fright among group members.
He added that the dancing group had four favourite types of dances, namely mbende, chinyambera, mbakumba and mhande, which they perform proficiently at functions and schools.
“We were happy and at the same time filled with humility to be chosen the best out of such stiff competition from the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe. As the adjudicators named the winners from bottom to top, we became less nervous and accepted the honour with great humility, as all the 10 competing groups had caused a stir.
“Chinyambera is a seriously energetic dance with high-pitched drums, vocals and magagada, Shona for leg rattles. The dance group was founded as a children’s group in 2009. All the members were between 10 and 15 years old. We used to do community participation and one such exciting platform was performing at the Harare Agricultural Show at the Zimbabwe National Traditional Dance Association stand, together with other senior groups from Harare.
“To add on, our membership is a mixture of the less privileged youths, differently abled young people and orphans. As children, we got support from parents and well-wishers who helped child-headed families together with others who needed support,” Makaza said.
Despite the challenges they faced, which included criticism, demotivation and being looked down upon, the group soldiered on, he said.
“After this incredible win, we aim to invest in income-generating projects or investments that will enable us to earn decent incomes every month. This win is enough inspiration to young people of our age and we have a junior policy which aims at tapping into young talent,” Makaza said.
“In addition to becoming the voice of the voiceless and Chibuku brand ambassadors, we intend to promote gender parity, equal participation, inclusivity and turn art into business, while we support educational events and assist with training under the Heritage Based Curriculum and Industry 5.0.
“For the international community, we get there through media and information coverage. We also hope to apply for grants to attend international festivals where we will learn more to solidify our cultural positions.”
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