“I am stepping down from my role as the creative and projects director at Jibilika Dance Trust. I don’t want to hold on forever. I am turning 35 and our programming is youth based and I am growing out of that zone and want to let new blood take charge and chart the new course with new energy,” reveled founder of Jibilika, Plot Mhako, on Wednesday morning.

Get paid to write app reviews

“The new director will be Nyaradzo Nhongonhema and a new creative director Blessing ‘Christyles’ Fire.

“Nyaradzo comes in with new zeal and a great record in theater and dance. Blessing has been part of the movement from day one as a dancer and he has a moving story of sheer courage and determination, for someone born disabled but to become one of the finest dancers in the country. That alone speaks to the new possibilities Jibilika has to overcome and inspire. I will be a more advisory role in the organization,” revealed Mhako.

“From here Jibilika consolidates itself as a creative social enterprise. Our focus is now more on developing creative programmes for social and economic impact. I want to let a new generation run and lead the organisation. I have done my part.”

On this very day back in 2007 the Jibilika Dance Trust was formed and has over the past ten years grown to be a powerful youth run social enterprise that promotes the development of popular youth engagement and empowerment through the arts.

“It’s not been easy at all but worth it. I started off with little knowledge about dance and arts industry and had blind faith that what we were doing was right, serving a purpose and one day going to make an impact. That conviction kept us going despite the challenges. There was no funding, an audience and a following but through consistent efforts this started to grow,” recalled Mhako.

“I never had the slightest of a clue that one day Jibilika would grow to this level and let alone survive beyond two years. The economy was very fragile when we started. 2007 and 2009 were the worst economic years but somehow we steered through the turbulent times and that made our resolute even stronger and more determined.

“At inception the idea was just to create a festival that would showcase and celebrate youth dancing talent but today Jibilika represents much more. It’s a vehicle that celebrates youth culture and runs on youth energy. An institution that promotes talent whilst impacting on young people socially through civic engagement and development,” he added.

On what the major highlights of the journey have been he said, “There have been several major developments but the most outstanding ones have been our ability to run the annual festival for all the nine years, taking it to every corner of the country.

Street performance courtesy of Jibi Lika PIC COURTESY OF: JIBI LIKA
Street performance courtesy of Jibi Lika PIC COURTESY OF: JIBI LIKA

“We have hosted the African qualifier for the world Breakdance championships Battle of the Year (BOTY) in 2011. That was a huge development to the local dance industry. Another great development has been the Step Up 2 HIV project which has revolutionized the way young people receive and disseminate crucial information on sexual reproductive health and HIV.

“The programme has impacted on thousands of Zimbabwean youth’, both in and out of school and we also won an award in 2013 for Best Social Impact at the Zim Hip Hop Awards.

“The other achievement in the years gone by is that we used to work from the streets but now we have office and dance space in town and in Highfield.”

He also indicated that they have built a community and inspired dreams.

“We have built a community, an industry and inspired dreams. Jibilika has played a pivotal role in making dance a worthy art form in the country, we introduced beat-boxing. We groomed and exposed talent that went on to tour out of the country and win awards at NAMA such as Magesh and Sean Mambwere. We have great examples of the talent we have raised who are doing amazing. We have given the youth positive entertainment and good programming.”

As highlighted earlier by Mhako, the journey has not been a walk in the park for the trust.

“The lowest moments were in 2011 when immigration deported two dance groups from South Africa and Tunisia who had come in for the African Breakdance championships. That was the worst experience.

“Another one was in 2008 at the height of inflation when we had a sold out festival event at 7 Arts but woke up to find the money we made was worth nothing when we had huge costs to settle,” reminisced Mhako.

Mhako indicated that they will be hosting a number of celebratory events in 2017.

Continued Mhako, “We are hosting our 10th festival in Masvingo in August. This year we are not doing provincial preliminaries but taking the best talent from the 9 years to come a showcase as a celebration of our impact and success.

“We will also be staging a number of events at provincial and national level to celebrate our 10th anniversary.”