Jikinya Dance Festival needs Govt support
THE November month has literally been the Jikinya month. For the uninitiated Jikinya is the biggest dance programme for primary schools run by the National Arts Council in partnership with National Association of Primary Heads (Naph). This programme, run as a competition, sees almost all primary schools participating. It is one great example of child participation in schools. And you should see the commitment and investment by schools. It is amazing. The way schools and their heads have bought into this programme is beyond words. This is what everyone doing programmes in schools should aim for — total buy in by the schools.
I was called in to adjudicate at district level. The best part for me was always seeing how the teachers and the heads dress up for these activities. They make the events platforms to showcase their African attire. Different designs. Different colours. They make one feel proud to be African and associated with Jikinya and traditional dance. The second highlight is always the participants’ dance costumes. Gone are the days when schools would ask children to make their own costumes from mealie-meal plastics and old sacks. Now schools invest in proper costumes and the children look very beautiful. You should see them strutting up and down the stage or backstage waiting to show off on stage. Schools must really be commended for owning this initiative and going all out to make the children look good and enjoy traditional dances. Of course the total highlight on these events is the beautiful dances themselves — there is so much investment by schools to have the children do so well that now the standards are so high that adjudication is no longer an easy task. Yes, back then anyone would just easily pick the good schools. Not anymore. The competition is now that tough.
This competition has been growing every year. This growth has been due to the commitment of both National Arts Council of Zimbabwe and Naph. Delta Beverages has also been instrumental in keeping this programme and competition alive for many years by sponsoring the provincial and national prices. In fact, Delta has been a serious supporter of the arts for a long time. They support music through the Chibuku Road to Fame programme. They also support traditional dances at a higher level through the Chibuku Neshamwari Traditional Dance Festival. Delta Beverages is known to have supported the likes of Hifa and Intwasa Arts Festival koBulawayo. With business not as good as in the other years I strongly believe it’s high time Government came in and started supporting Jikinya with proper resources, and not by sending Government people to make speeches at these events. Now Jikinya needs resources — good prizes and good publicity to keep it at the top. To be honest Jikinya is now a national treasure and Government should be putting into place a system to make sure the festival lives on forever.
Back to the competition itself. The prescribed piece was mbakumba. A lively narrative dance from Masvingo. Here the choreographers had room to tell the story of harvest, courting, celebration and life in a normal African village. Most schools fell short on this narrative assignment, most choosing to focus on the dance steps and basic choreography. I believe dancers and their choreographers should explore beyond the prescribed settings of the dance. They should try new things and enjoy doing that. The school own choice selection tended to be predictable — past dances. Amabhiza. Amantshomane. Isitshikitsha. One group totally blew my mind with their setape dance. This was totally new and fresh from the kids. Something that needs to be encouraged.
I conclude this with an appeal to Government to offer proper support to this wonderful children’s platform.