Baatshwana performs daring dance piece
Mpho Tlale | Friday May 2, 2014 14:38
With her dance piece Keneilwe: A Dance For The Given, Tumisang Baatshwana and her crew Sky Blue Dance Hub are set to go places. They recently performed at the opening of the Maitisong Festival and the group has left for Zimbabwe’s capital to perform at the Harare International Festival of the Arts.
The story of Keneilwe told through dance is that of displacement of Basarwa who have been at loggerheads with the government over issues of relocation. The story line extends to cover issues of language, identity, and self-awareness among others.
The dancer revealed that with the dance compilation, she wanted to tell stories of Batswana.
“I do not think we can tell all the stories but we can only try the best where we can,” she said.
She expressed her excitement for having had the opportunity to showcase her piece in Botswana and taking it to Zimbabwe audiences. To her it is a sign that dance is now being recognised as a form of story telling.
Baatshwana however, encouraged people to lose the view that any form of performing arts is exclusive and only belongs to certain people. She added that people should be involved so that they can learn to appreciate the arts in general. Like other forms of art, her hope is for the nation as a whole to embrace and recognise that dance can be used in development just like mining and tourism. She added that this would be possible only if it is taught and developed from a younger age.