Dancing all the way to the top

The Grahamstown National Arts Festival encourages engagement from artists which vary from dancers, to musicians as well as magicians etc. This group is no exception, they are called “Tyhini Kwedini “which expresses the amazement from a boy’s actions. This of course is not a far fetched concept seeing that their group only consists of 14 members, all boys varying from age 15 to 26 years old. All the members are from the townships located in Grahamstown.

They are an epitome of humble beginnings, living in the townships were they found it hard to get employment. However, they decided to do something about it, they resorted to arts. When they started in the year 2001, there were only four members in the group; it was only after a year when the number increased to 14. Since then, the group has grown from strength to strength, “We have been through tough times, mainly because of financial constraints but we kept on going for years,” said the oldest member of the group. It is this kind of fighting spirit that has kept the group intact and it also encouraged them to part take in this in year’s Grahamstown’s National Arts Festival.

“Tyhini Kwedini” will perform six times during the festival and they hope to impress a lot people. One of the members expressed that, “the festival is a stepping stone and we want exposure from the big shots”. Their future plans include an expansion of their group, recruiting other members and to also start their own production company.

Dancing

This video was filmed at the Egazini Outreach Project in Joza Township in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Egazini is a place where children from the area can express and develop their different artistic talents. The video features a dance group made up of three young girls who create and perform their own dances as a way to express themselves.

Also shown in the video is the contrast between the apartheid history of the Egazini Otreach Project building, a building once occupied by riot police, and the positive role that the workshop now plays in the community.

Bongani Diko, the Director of the project, says that this project has had a positive impact on the community’s young people, through providing a recreational facility that keeps young people of the streets and out of trouble.

Since the project started, many youths have been kept from using drugs and being involved in crime.

The dance trio in this video will perform at this year’s National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. The arts festival takes place from 26 June to 5 July 2008.