Revered and internationally acclaimed Tumbuka Dance Company shut its doors sometime in July 2016, but what really caused this amazing institution to close shop after 25 years?
Zimbo Jam caught up with several people who were involved with Tumbuka to find out what really happened.
Outgoing Tumbuka artistic director Anna Morris said, “Funding had run out and the DTZ did not have the ability to provide bridging finance. There have been a couple of projects that have continued under the Tumbuka name since then. One of these is the work at the Friendship Bench at the Harare Psychiatric Unit.
“Selected Tumbuka dancers worked with myself and Tawanda Njanja to bring dance therapy classes to the patients there. It was a 10 month project ending in October but there are hopes it may continue in the future, all dependent on funding.
“In the current economic environment nothing more is really possible. Perhaps in a few years’ time things will be different.
“The Tumbuka brand belongs to the Dance Trust of Zimbabwe which is a membership organisation. If there is ever going to be a reformation of the company it would have to be at the initiative of the members and the board that they elect.”
Probed further on the fate of dancers since its closure Morris said,” Many of them have teaching work with Afrikera Arts Trust and some teaching in their own communities and a couple are still performing their own work internationally.”
She expressed her great grief on the development,” I was extremely disappointed that we could not make it in Harare when we had done so well in South Africa in 2015. Tumbuka had also built a very important relationship with Nora Chipaumire a US based Zimbabwean choreographer who gave her own resources to extend the life of the company during the last year. The work that was being developed under Chipaumire and her Nhaka/Tumbuka project was really exciting but the DTZ could not produce it adequately so it could not fly.”
Marie-Laure Soukaina EDOM the director of Afrikera Arts Trust who formerly headed DTZ’s Dance Foundation Course a three-year professional dance program that groomed most Tumbuka dancers also weighed in on what she thought went wrong for the company to wind up operations.
“I think Tumbuka really started battling at the onset of the economic crisis and the fact that the artistic direction started losing strength and focus. Most founder members left for greener pastures, their own project and or passed away. So the problem was finance of course and surely internal politics,” said EDOM.
Tumbuka Dance Company presents ‘Chenura’ – choreo Gilbert Douglas 2009 from margie mackay on Vimeo.
New York based dancer-cum-musician Mathias Julius who was part of the original outfit did not hide his disappointment.
“I am shocked to hear the sad news. This goes back to years of hard work we put in to preserve that name. Things were different when we were in Tumbuka during the formative years we had multiple donors, sold out shows at 7 Arts and overseas. The political situation and the way we lost most of our audiences got us to where we are today,” bemoaned Julius.
He applauded the later generation of Tumbuka for having worked hard to keep the name Tumbuka afloat and preserving its 25 year bequest.
“I feel sad for all the young dancers who did not get a full experience of dance life like the founder members of Tumbuka. I think their journey was cut too short. It’s not by choice that all except one of the original Tumbuka dancers left the country trying to follow dance and work where it’s still appreciated,” he added.
NAMA award winning female dancer and choreographer Maylene Chenjerai however differed saying Tumbuka had lived its full life and a new chapter has to come.
“I do not even understand the sadness that people are expressing because as far as I am concerned Tumbuka means to bloom/flower and so from the time it was born in 1992 each dancer, manager, sponsors, choreographers, partners, they have all bloomed in their own beautiful way and they live or carry that grace everywhere they go and they will never be separated by anything because Tumbuka lives in each and every individual,” she said.
Macnitosh Jerahuni another award winning Tumbuka product who recently formed his own Jerahuni Dance Factory reiterated the financial woes as the cause for the closing.
“The company was already on its knees as it had a struggle of getting funding for about 10 years. This is definitely gloomy to the newest talent in Zimbabwe as they don’t have anything to look up to,” revealed Jerahuni.
Surely Tumbuka will be missed by many, its great legacy will forever live across the world after having toured around in countries such as Senegal, France, South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, USA, German, Angola, South America, Belgium, and Denmark. The group choreographed dances such as, ‘Diglidi’, ‘Portrait of Myself as My Father’, ‘And Rwanda’, ‘Between The Lines’, ‘Can’t Talk About This’, and ‘Harvest’.
Filmmaker, writer and festival director Tsitsi Dangarembga an avid Tumbuka follower poured heart at hearing the news saying,” Tumbuka’s closure is a one of the saddest things to happen in the Zimbabwean arts scene. It is heartbreaking that Zimbabwe’s world-class dance talent was not given enough support by the powers that be to carry on creating dance narrative that delights the world and inspiring future generations of Zimbabweans. Things fall apart, indeed. Many of these young people will emigrate and the Zimbabwean dance scene will spiral further towards the bottom.”
Tumbuka Dance Company a project of the Dance Trust of Zimbabwe formerly known as the National Ballet of Zimbabwe began as an idea to take ballet to the high-density suburbs in the mid 80’s under the stewardship of British artistic director Neville Campbell and the result was astounding talent which saw the company formation in 1992 and grew to become Zimbabwe’s only professional contemporary dance company at that time and for years.
Zimbabweans will remember it from their silver screens as the ensemble that performed at countless national events such as the National Arts Merit Awards, HIFA, and Zimbabwe International Film Festival among others.
