Who takes over from dancing Queen Sandy?
EACH time the name Sandra Ndebele is mentioned or even whispered, thoughts of a buxom but extremely energetic dancer famed for her jaw-dropping dance moves come to mind.
Sandy, as she is popularly known among her legion of fans, has been one of the country’s hottest properties for a long time and has lit up countless festivals and galas such as Umdala Wethu and Unity galas of yesteryear. She pioneered her dancing expertise in conservative countries like India, Dubai, China, United Kingdom, Russia, Canada and Japan.
Since her rise to stardom from the popular dance ensemble, Iyasa (originally Mpopoma Dance Group) and embarking on a solo career in 2003, she has done nothing but wow people and deservedly earned herself the nickname “Dancing Queen”.
In her astonishing career, she has scooped countless gongs which include Best Female Dancer in the National arts Merits Awards (Nama), Best Urban grooves female Artist (Zima), Nominee Best Live Band Act, Director, Best International Act (Umfazi) at the National Student Drama Festival in England 2012, Best and Best Female in last year’s Bulawayo arts awards.
Early this year, the dancing queen celebrated her 36th birthday and wow! Sandy still looks beautiful and gorgeous with no slightest wrinkle on her face. However, at such an advanced age and at the pinnacle of her fabulous career, dancing might prove to be a mountainous task for the City of Kings icon.
In her topping chart Ingoma video with Afro-pop star Mzoe7, it’s clear that age is catching up with the award winning star. In the video, fans note she can only shake her body but fails to go-down and twist her body like she used to do.
However, last year, Sandy vowed to remain the dancing queen after people started questioning her ability to gambol anymore. She said dancing was part of her life, and she was braced to rock the stage for her entire career.
“Dancing is what made me who I am today and it’s my life; I was recognised through dancing since my career took off years back. I will continue dancing in my entire career,” she said on her official Facebook Account.
It’s crystal clear that Sandy’s passion for dancing will never diminish as she has stood strong when her dancing styles were scrutinised by “jealous” people who saw her dancing skills as provocative and indecent in society.
Instead of focusing on dancing herself maybe the Guva rangu hit-maker can initiate programmes and academies of dance which will benefit upcoming artistes so they can take singing and dancing as a profession to enrich their lives.
Sandy is still not done producing scintillating hits to her fans. In the past years, her music has been traditional oriented, as evidenced by traditional attire whenever she spectacularly rocked the stage.
With time and rise of cultural diversity, the Yithi laba hit maker has since moved on to producing house music, one of the leading genres in the country and South Africa.
Last year, she dropped two scintillating house hits, Ingoma and Tshibilika that were both nominated in the successful Bulawayo Arts Awards and Skyz Metro FM awards. They are the tracks that earned her the Best Female gong in last year’s BAA.
Her desire to continue sharing her talent to Africans saw her team up with South Africa’s renowned Kwaito star, Mkhonzeni “Professor” Langa. The much-hyped duet with the Jezebel star had raised eyebrows across the country.
Whether Sandy’s dancing skills have diminished or not, her tremendous contribution to the arts industry will forever be cherished as she undeniably raised the Zimbabwean flag.
Bhekumuzi Ncube