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See Tumbuka's own website at :: www.tumbuka.co.zw (address not working)
TUMBUKA CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY
June
2002 Studio Show "REUNION"
with Neville Campbell
see "REUNION" press release 13 06 2002
see "HOCHE KOCHE" press release 14 03 2002
Tumbuka, a Shona word
meaning to flower or to bloom, is an appropriate name for this Zimbabwean
Modern Dance Company. Formed at the National Ballet of Zimbabwe in 1992
under the inspirational directorship of Neville Campbell, Tumbuka have
danced their way to critical acclaim both locally and on the international
dance circuit.
1999 saw the company performing at
the pestigious "Biennale Nationale de Danse du Val-de-Marnes"
in April, followed by the Chimamimani Festival & the Harare
International Festival of the Arts (HIFA). During the month long Avignon
Festival in July, the company gave 23 performances in 23 days. This exposure
resulted in a three-month tour of France and Belgium at the end of 2000.
What the critics
say:
"If
you could put magnificent moments in a bottle, you'd fill it with the
stuff of Tumbuka." (Pretoria News)
"Tumbuka strides into Zimbabwe's Dance scene with a vision of movement that is at once African, abstract and universal."
"There's
a very personal vitality and integrity about the dancers of the
Tumbuka Contemporary Dance Company which gives their performance a unique
quality".
Contact
the TUMBUKA via National Ballet
of Zimbabwe Tel Harare: +263 -4- 336676
dtz@ecoweb.co.zw
PRESS RELEASE TUMBUKA 14 03 02
Breaking New Ground
Tumbuka Dance Company has just returned from Johannesburg where it was
invited to participate in the 2002 Dance Umbrella, the 15th National Forum
for the showcase of local, regional and International Dance. The Company
performed Hoche Koche, which is a work born out of collaboration between
the Choreographer Mathias Julius, Botswana Painter, Ann Gollifer and South
African Musician Steve Dyer.
The
55-minute piece is a pertinent presentation of people, episodes and feelings
in an interactive, energetic and dynamic fashion. The eight dancers stretch
their dance repertoire to the limits as they explode onto the stage in
a celebration of movement and expression that is at times hauntingly cerebral,
at others ecstatically happy but always with the background of the wonderfully
soulful sounds that Dyer draws from his range of wind instruments. Set
amidst a series of backdrops charged with emotive forms and colours, the
stage setting is further shifting in mood and forms through the clever
use of lights, while the dancers' changing contexts are determined by,
yet not limited to their relationship with five aluminum door frames.
Tumbuka
performed two shows only and received raucous applause and standing ovations.
The South African Press produced rave reviews and a number of South African
Dance companies and choreographers are queuing up to work with the Company
in various capacities.
The
reaction to Tumbuka in South Africa is one of genuine appreciation for
their art and their craft and the dance fraternity was left marveling
at the Company's skills, discipline and depth of artistic insight and
expression. Interestingly this year marks the tenth anniversary of the
birth of the Company, which was set up by the National Ballet in an attempt
to involve youths from the high-density suburbs in contemporary dance.
Today the Company consists of nine strong and extremely talented dancers
whose ages span from the teens to early thirties. Some of the dancers
such as Shyne Phiri and Gilbert Douglas have been with the Company since
the beginning, while the company now accommodates junior and apprentice
dancers as well. As a professional Dance Company, the dancers are in the
studio five days a week, taking various exercise and dance classes and
exploring different dance genre with the help of a variety of teachers.
In addition, they spend time each day working on new pieces and some time
in rehearsal for forthcoming performances and tours.
The
Company is made up of seven male and two female dancers, and several of
the early members were ridiculed and discouraged by family and friends
when they decided to embrace a contemporary dance career. Their sheer
tenacity and hard work over the years is certainly paying off, as each
of these dancers is not only fully employed and well traveled but is an
admirable role model for a host of other youths. Their physical fitness,
respect for their bodies and serious insight into their art and their
craft means that the Tumbuka team is poised to make a very serious impact
and to carry the flag of Zimbabwe far afield. Ten years down the line,
the Company is a source of admiration not only in this country but also
internationally as it has grown into a disciplined and highly attractive
dance machine.
Already
this tenth year has been marked by a change in Company management with
former Dance Theatre of Harlem
and Hamburg
Ballet dancer, Rena Robinson-Steiner becoming
artistic director and arts consultant/administrator Doreen Sibanda stepping
into the position of company manager. A reunion workshop is scheduled
for later this year when the dancers will work again with the company's
first artistic director, Neville Campbell and Tumbuka will stage a number
of performances of Hoche Koche in France later this year. Local Tumbuka
enthusiasts will be able to enjoy their latest work in May, when they
will perform at the Seven Arts Theatre under the auspices of the International
Culture Week.
Doreen
Sibanda 14.3.02
PRESS RELEASE 13 06 2002
TUMBUKA DANCE COMPANY IN ITS TENTH
YEAR
Often when people hear of the Tumbuka Dance Company they imagine another
traditional dance company until they are told that Tumbuka confines itself
to another segment of the dance spectrum, that of contemporary dance.
This fact indicates that one should expect something different yet really
nothing prepares one for what one encounters when one meets Tumbuka on
the stage. Tumbuka is an extremely accomplished and disciplined outfit
that has a wealth of dance movements and exudes an energy and body language
on stage that is really moving.
The
Company began some ten years ago following a series of workshops and training
courses aimed at introducing contemporary dance to youth from the high-density
suburbs. What has emerged is a phenomenal success story with the creation
of a group of strong and quality dancers who were recently declared Zimbabwe's
best dance company in 2001 at the NAMA Awards. They have also received
major accolades abroad as their album of international press cuttings
testifies.
Neville
Campbell
This week they have been reunited
with their first Artistic Director, Neville Campbell. A most distinguished
dance Choreographer, Campbell was first invited out by the British Council
in 1991 to work with the dancers, and immediately recognized that the
dancers could form a professional company of worth. In 1992, he returned
to take on the task and, as then as the saying goes, the rest is history.
Tumbuka boasts an impressive repertoire of over 50 works, most of which
were created for the Company by Campbell himself. He continued to work
with the dancers up until 2000 when he returned to England to take up
another challenge. Since the beginning, the Company has gone from strength
to strength and recently staged one its most significant performances
to date at the Seven Arts Theatre during the just ended Culture Week.
Under the leadership of new Artistic Director, Rena Robinson-Steiner,
the new works presented at the show were all choreographed by the dancers
themselves.
As
this year is the tenth anniversary of the Company's birth, the British
Council has brought Campbell back to Zimbabwe to mark the occasion with
the production of a new work for the Company. He is very excited to be
working with the 9-piece Company once again and since his arrival on Sunday
has done nothing but enthuse about the capacity of the dancers and the
level of development they have achieved. "It feels really good to
be back and the country feels as good as when I left two years ago despite
all the negative press overseas. Although some of the Company members
have changed, Tumbuka has retained the same good work ethic that it had
before. I am sure that a very positive future lies ahead and I really
look forward to witnessing their success," said Campbell today.
Followers
of Tumbuka can view the results of this latest collaboration at a small
studio show scheduled to take place at the National Ballet on Wednesday
19 June. A much bigger event to premier the piece and celebrate the Tenth
Anniversary will take place later in September.
Doreen
Sibanda 13 06 2002
see more info about Contemporary Dance in Harare?